What kind of coffee beans are suitable for an espresso machine? Characteristics of flavor and taste of Italian coffee beans

Earlier, I wrote an article on the front street, "what about making espresso with lightly roasted coffee beans?" The article (if you haven't read it, you can click on the link to preview it), that article is mainly about choosing several light-roasted coffee beans to make espresso in Qianjie and testing its feasibility. This article is to add some new additions to this article and share the differences in making espresso with lightly baked beans.

Does light baking espresso make it sour?

Including Qianjie's knowledge of popular espresso, it will also be mentioned that the coffee beans used to extract espresso will be roasted more deeply, because the espresso extracted from espresso will be extremely sour. Espresso is a flavor substance that pressurizes coffee powder, while light-roasted coffee has more sour substances, and when the sour substances are concentrated to a small cup of coffee, the sour taste will be magnified and extremely sour.

This is why we all recommend the use of coffee beans above medium and deep roasting, the coffee flavor will be relatively balanced, will not be bitter or bitter.

Another factor is the difficulty of extraction. Qianjie often talks about the channel effect and inadequate extraction when sharing the knowledge of extraction of espresso, even if deep-roasted espresso beans are used. In the case of insufficient extraction, there will still be a sharp taste. On the other hand, the shallow roasted coffee has more channel effect and insufficient extraction when extracting Italian formula. Therefore, the acidity of espresso made from light roasted coffee beans is mainly caused by the flavor and tempering performance of coffee beans and improper extraction operation.

Problems in the extraction of Italian concentration with light roasted coffee beans

-continue to use the degree of grinding

Some friends want to try shallow roasting coffee beans to make espresso, directly replace the original Italian beans with shallow baked beans, and then do some steps to clean the bean grinder and make it according to the original powder parameters.

After receiving the coffee powder of the same weight, I found that the powder was pressed down all of a sudden, and the volume was smaller than that of the deep-baked one. Buckle the coffee machine and press the extraction button, and after a while, the coffee liquid gushes down like a fountain, and it takes less than 10 seconds to extract to the target amount of 1:2.

This is because the expansion of lightly roasted coffee beans is not as high as that of deep-roasted coffee, so the volume of light-roasted coffee powder appears smaller at the same weight. The fast flow rate of coffee liquid is due to the fact that the expansion degree of water absorption of light-baked coffee powder is not high, so the water is very easy to pass through.

Therefore, the first step in extracting light-roasted coffee beans with an Italian coffee machine is to adjust the grinding degree. If you usually use medium-and deep-roasted coffee beans to extract espresso, you need to fine-tune the grinding degree when replacing light-roasted coffee beans. For example, when Qianjie extracted a shallow dry water to wash Yega Chuefei, the Italian grinder was adjusted 0.3 degrees fine. (note: the daily adjustment range of Qianjie is ±0.05)

-the amount of powder used

Without adjusting the grinding degree, the volume of the shallow roasted coffee pressed powder is smaller than the original, and after adjusting the grinding degree, the volume of pressed powder is even smaller. This means that pressed powder is a long distance from the powder water network, so in the process of extraction, the water will have a greater impact on the performance of pressed powder, and serious perforation will appear. And when the thickness of pressed powder is relatively thin, the time for water to pass through will be shortened, the extraction time will be insufficient, and the coffee will show a thin acidity.

The easiest way to solve this problem is to add powder. How much to increase, it depends on the extraction time and the reasonable powder content range of the powder bowl (after powder pressing, pressed powder is attached to the ring of the powder bowl). For example, when using sunflowers to mix coffee beans in Qianjie, the amount of powder is 20g, while it takes 21.3 g to reach the line at the edge of the powder bowl with light baked Yega Xuefei.

-continue to use pressure

The reason why espresso can extract coffee substances extracted from hand-brewed coffee in 2 minutes in about 30 seconds is due to the pressure. Generally, the pressure of Italian coffee extraction reaches 9bar. The greater the pressure, the higher the extraction efficiency.

When you adjust the parameters such as powder quantity and grinding degree, the parameters such as proportion and time are also in a reasonable range, but the extracted espresso not only shows the acidity of shallow roasted coffee, but also has a bitter taste similar to sawdust and herbs.

Therefore, the use of lower pressure in extracted coffee can solve this kind of problem very well. When Qianjie uses light roasted coffee beans to make espresso, the extraction pressure will be controlled at 6-7bar.

The following front street summarizes the changes in making espresso from light roasted coffee, which you can refer to.

1. General criteria for extraction of espresso, light roasted coffee is also applicable, that is, the ratio of powder to liquid is 1:2 and the time is controlled at 25-30 seconds.

2. Compared with the Italian deep-roasted coffee beans we are used to, the grinding degree of light-roasted coffee beans needs to be adjusted more finely, the powder content also needs to be increased adaptively, and the pressure needs to be reduced. The degree of grinding is also related to increasing the amount of powder. the finer the grinding is, the lower the volume of the pressed powder is, the more coffee powder needs to be increased, but the two are constrained by time. The finer the powder, the more powder it will take. So setting an extraction time of 25-30 seconds is also a good way to verify whether your grinding degree and powder quantity are correct. )

3. Hitting the extraction template does not necessarily mean that the coffee is delicious. If it is decided that the flavor needs to be improved, fine-tuning can be made from the degree of grinding, the amount of coffee extraction and the pressure.

Finally, what will be the flavor of espresso made from lightly roasted coffee beans?

First of all, if you don't usually drink espresso, then the espresso made from lightly baked beans will feel so concentrated and sour that it makes people shiver. If you are in the habit of drinking espresso, the acidity of espresso made from lightly baked beans will be very strong, accompanied by a touch of salt water. The mellow thickness is naturally not as high as the traditional Italian beans, but it also tastes like cheese cream.

Second, American coffee made from espresso made from shallow baked beans and water has a good performance. The acidity is bright and thick, while the middle and back part is a good sweet and bitter sweet coffee taste. (this is the flavor of American coffee made from Yega Xuefei, which is not necessarily the flavor of all shallow baked beans, depending on the flavor description of coffee beans.)

Finally, espresso made from shallow roasted beans is not suitable for making milk curry, because the condiment of shallow roasted coffee is mainly sour, floral and other fresh flavors, which are easily covered by the taste of milk. the last drink is milk with a hint of coffee. (friends who like the obvious taste of milk and don't like the bitter taste of coffee should like it.)