Is it necessary to press espresso? The correct way to make espresso liquor!

Just as they pursue a deep and uniform powder pit when flushing their hands, most coffee guys with "perfectionism" will also seek to knock out a whole pressed powder when extracting espresso. Like the powder pit, the appearance of a complete pressed powder does not represent whether the coffee is good or not, but whether the knocked out pressed powder is complete or not will reflect whether the coffee is good or not from the side. Because each step of filling coffee powder will directly affect whether pressed powder can finally be knocked out completely, and they are the key factors that determine the quality of coffee!

It is well known that the Italian coffee machine can bring a large amount of substances out of the coffee powder with very little water in a short time because it uses pressure-assisted hot water extraction. In the face of the extraction pressure as high as 9bar, a piece of 58mm pressed powder will be subjected to about 240kg in the extraction process. However, due to the fine grinding of coffee powder, the resistance of pressed powder is very high, so under the "pinch" of such great pressure and resistance, the inertia of hot water will give priority to flow away through the easy-to-flow channel. If there are a very large number of such channels in a pressed powder, the extraction will be very uneven, with the coffee powder in the channel being extracted hard and the place outside the channel "dripping". In turn, the coffee has the uneven extraction taste of bitterness and sour. This is the channel effect that espresso often encounters in the process of extraction.

If we want to reduce the channel effect so that hot water can extract all the coffee powder as evenly as possible, we need to reduce the channels in pressed powder. To do this, we have to distribute the coffee powder evenly in the powder bowl before extraction. This will not only reduce the channel effect, but also get a complete piece of pressed powder after the extraction.

In other words, a complete piece of pressed powder can appear precisely because our operation is standard and reasonable. So today, Qianjie will share how to make a perfect pressed powder!

First, the selection and extraction of powder has been shared a lot in Qianjie, so this time the content mainly revolves around the operation steps. So first of all, the first thing we need to pay attention to in making a perfect pressed powder is to use the right amount of powder.

In previous tweets, Qianjie has shared a lot about the powder bowl, because whether the amount of coffee powder matches the powder bowl is really very important. There is a limit to the amount of powder that can be filled in a powder bowl. For example, the capacity of a powder bowl used in Qianjie is in the range of 180g / 21g. If the amount of powder we fill is more / less than this range, then the coffee is prone to uneven extraction. Because the pressed powder filled in the powder bowl needs to keep a certain distance from the cooking head, this distance can neither be too far nor too close. If the distance is too far, the hot water will easily break the surface structure of pressed powder and form more channels; if the distance is too close, it will easily cause the handle to get stuck on the cooking head, or because the pressed powder is too thick, the extraction will be insufficient.

The emergence of these problems will make coffee prone to uneven extraction, but also make it difficult to shape the pressed powder. So when making espresso, the first thing we should pay attention to is the choice of powder, try not to use powder outside the recommended range (unless assisted by other appliances, such as secondary water distribution network).

Cloth powder when we grind the coffee powder out, the next thing to do is to fill the coffee powder evenly into the powder bowl. However, whether using the handle to receive the powder or the powder receiver to receive the powder, there will be a certain deviation in the distribution of coffee powder that eventually falls into the powder bowl, with more and less in some places. If it is filled directly, it will lead to uneven distribution of coffee powder and produce channels.

So before filling the cloth powder, we can use our fingers to make a simple distribution of coffee powder, that is, we can use our fingers to put more coffee powder in a place where there is less coffee powder. Then, by shaking, tapping the handle and other ways to reduce the gap in pressed powder.

It is best to have a cloth powder needle, just use the cloth powder needle to stir the coffee powder several times before filling, so that the coffee powder can be evenly distributed while breaking up the coffee powder caked by static electricity, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone. Then when we simply distribute the coffee powder, we can use the cloth powder to "polish" the pressed powder for the first time.

Third, the last action of pressing powder is to press powder! Flatten the coffee powder by a powder hammer, so that pressed powder has a smooth surface, so that because of the uniform force in the extraction process, the channel will be more difficult to produce in pressed powder. The only thing to pay attention to here is whether the force is uniform or not. In the same way as cloth powder, if we exert uneven force when exerting pressure, heavy on the left and light on the right, then we will press a piece of pressed powder with one side low and the other high. This allows hot water to permeate on one side during the extraction process, resulting in a channel.

If we don't want to squeeze out the rugged pressed powder, we need to pay attention to the position of the grip and the center of gravity when pressing the powder. You can refer to the most commonly used powder pressing technique in the front street, press one side of the powder hammer through the thumb and index finger, and then wrap the hammer handle with the remaining three fingers together with the palm, the arm is vertical, and then apply pressure down.

This way makes it easier for us to fill and press out a flat pressed powder, making the extraction more uniform. Of course, the constant force powder hammer can also be purchased through the banknote ability, so that we do not have to worry about the uneven application of force. Then when we have completed the above series of steps, we only need to pay attention not to let the handle bump in the following process. Perfectly stuck on the cooking head, you can minimize the appearance of the channel. Finally, you can knock out a complete piece of pressed powder, and the probability of good coffee is also greatly increased.

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