How to drink espresso? What is the difference between espresso and American coffee?

On various social platforms, we can often see pictures like this: a coffee lover looks up and gulps down a cup of Italian concentrate. After frowning for a moment, he shows an intoxicated expression as if he has tasted delicious food in the world. Many friends were infected by the emotions of the enthusiasts in the video, so they would happily order a cup of espresso after going to the cafe, trying to experience the world-shaking delicacy brought by the concentrate. The result... Everyone can imagine! You can often see such scenes in Qianjie stores: as the espresso gradually fills the mouth, the experiencer's expression changes from eager to frown, and then when swallowing the concentrate, the expression management is completely lost., he shouted out with a loud sound: Why is it so bitter!! Then he turned his head and poured the concentrate into the complimentary ice water and mixed it into an iced American style, and then blacklisted the espresso on the coffee list.

So that's why most coffee shops in the country use espresso as a hidden dish rather than on the menu. The purpose is to prevent inexperienced Xiaobai from making mistakes and triggering a series of negative reactions. But in fact, espresso is not as bad as everyone thinks. Just like all kinds of bitter coffee, its bitterness is only an appearance, and behind it there are very rich aromas and flavors. However, because the concentration of espresso is too high, the bitterness is too concentrated, and our taste buds are very sensitive to bitterness, so it is often easy to ignore the "colorful" hidden behind the bitterness. (The suitable concentration in the SCA Gold Cup extraction standard is in the range of 1.15% to 1.35%, while the TDS concentration value of Italian concentration can usually reach 7% to 12%)

It doesn't matter. Today, Qian Street will come to share with you how to taste the delicacy of espresso. Not just by drinking, when tasting concentrated, there are many techniques that can help us better experience the delicious concentration.

Tip 1: Stirring In fact, the bitterness that many friends drink from concentrated comes not all from coffee liquor, but more from oil. Because the espresso machine uses pressurized extraction, espresso coffee will have a golden layer of carbon dioxide filled foam-Crema, the coffee grease in our mouth.

Since the density of the oil is much lower than that of coffee liquor, it will all float on the surface of the coffee liquor in just a few seconds after the extraction is completed. If you don't drink it in large gulps, there is a high probability that you won't be able to drink too much coffee liquor. It just happens that many friends often take a tentative sip when they taste it for the first time, so they can often only drink the oil, and then are stimulated by the bitter taste of the oil, so they give up the concentrated taste.

If we don't want this to happen, we just need to take out the small spoon that comes with the cup and use it to stir the concentrate properly, so that the fat and coffee liquor can be reintegrated. Even with just a small sip, you can drink more coffee liquid. The effect of stirring not only allows us to drink the coffee itself better, but also allows the fine powder attached to the oil to blend with the coffee, making the taste of the coffee more mellow.

Tip 2: Drinking two more sips is like drinking cola. When drinking concentrated, the taste you feel is often the strongest in the first sip. This is because the taste buds are not ready yet, so when faced with sudden taste, the feeling they get is often stronger and more exciting.

When we taste the second bite, we will find that the bitterness has dropped a lot. This is because as the taste slowly adapts, the feeling of bitterness gradually weakens. At this time, we can begin to gradually accept the concentrated taste and begin to explore the multiple levels hidden behind it. However, it should be noted that the drinking interval should not be too long. If there is a difference between your previous sip and your next sip by a few minutes, let alone decreasing, the bitterness will increase as the coffee temperature drops. Not only that, the oil and flavor will also dissipate, greatly reducing the experience. Therefore, espresso usually needs to be drunk quickly in a few sips in a short period of time to prevent the delicious taste from dissipating.

Tip 3: Drinking it with ice water. Most coffee shops will include a cup of ice water when producing espresso. However, the function of ice water is not used for American production. Its main function is to gargle. Before tasting the concentration, we can take a sip of ice water first, which will help you better feel the taste of the concentration.

First of all, we first drink a sip of ice water/room temperature water.

Then, stir the espresso with a spoon.

Finally, finish the espresso in several sips or in one sip. Note that after swallowing coffee, we can temporarily shut our breath and feel the concentrated aroma and aftertaste that continues to be emitted in the mouth (this is the soul experience of espresso). After the experience is over, we can enjoy the next tasting ~

When you drink this two or three times, there is a high probability that you will become addicted to drinking concentrated, otherwise you will usually not try it a second time after drinking it for the first time (nonsense). But what you should know is that these methods can only help you better taste the flavor hidden behind the bitterness, rather than remove the bitterness. Therefore, friends who really can't drink bitterness are better not to try it easily! Or add sugar to reduce the bitterness, which is also a very classic Italian drinking method ~

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