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Why do people say that the fat in espresso coffee is a scam? What is the Crema of espresso?

Published: 2026-05-14 Author:

Last Updated: 2026/05/14, Almost the vast majority of friends fall into a "scam" about espresso grease when they first start! What "scam"? There are many misunderstandings about the fat of espresso! For example: think that the fat in espresso is fat, think that the more fat there is in espresso, the better the quality of coffee beans, think that

Almost the vast majority of friends fall into a "scam" about espresso grease when they first start! What "scam"?

There are many misunderstandings about the fat of espresso! For example: think that the fat of espresso coffee is fat, think that the more fat there is in espresso, the better the quality of coffee beans, think that the thicker the fat, the better the flower, etc. Most of these misunderstandings are caused by humans, so some people often ridicule it as a "scam."

The reason why I say these are all misunderstandings is that the actual situation and the explanation are different. For example-the fat in espresso is not actually fat in essence.

The essence of espresso grease is... If you are a friend who often watches Qianjie, you will know that Qianjie often shares in articles: The essence of espresso grease is actually a foam composed of countless bubbles, not the fat or oil we usually understand. As for how this foam came about, we have to mention the unique pressurized extraction used to make espresso.

As we all know, coffee beans store carbon dioxide in their bodies after roasting. When coffee is extracted by Italian coffee machines, these carbon dioxide will be forcibly dissolved in water under high-pressure extraction, wrapped by the original lipids and proteins of the coffee, forming bubbles with stable structure and difficult to break. Because they are so numerous and small, when they finally fall into the cup, they will blend into a layer of delicate and rich golden foam.

Because it is very delicate and looks as viscous as cream, people gave it the scientific name-"Crema". Crema means "cream" in Italian, so we can understand it to describe it as silky and delicate like cream. However, after it was introduced into China, this bubble was called "grease", which caused many people to misunderstand it and think it was the fat or oil we come into contact with every day.

Although the composition of this layer of coffee "grease" does include grease, it is still essentially bubbles, so this "grease" is not that grease... This is the most common misunderstanding about espresso grease.

The more fat there is, the better the quality of the coffee... Many friends think that the richness of coffee oil is directly linked to the quality of coffee, but this is not the case. Because as Qianjie mentioned earlier, the oil is mainly composed of carbon dioxide in coffee beans. When there is more carbon dioxide, the richer the oil we extract will be. However, it is not the quality of the coffee beans that determines the carbon dioxide content, but the freshness, roasting degree, or variety of the coffee beans.

When the coffee beans are roasted more deeply, the higher the freshness, and the lower the fat content of the variety, the richer the extracted oil will be, and vice versa. No matter which one it is, it has nothing to do with the quality of the coffee beans. So we can learn that the oil of espresso cannot be equated with the quality of coffee.

The thicker the oil, the better. Is it possible to draw flowers? Not exactly! Although the thickness of coffee grease can indeed affect the difficulty of drawing flowers, it does not mean that the thicker the coffee grease, the better the drawing.

The first thing we need to know is that the thickness of coffee grease can affect the difficulty of drawing flowers is because the thickness of the grease determines the mobility of coffee when we draw flowers. The thicker the coffee grease, the lower the mobility, and vice versa. Too thin grease is not conducive to drawing flowers because the fluidity is too high. If it is not properly integrated, this can easily deform or shift the pattern when drawing flowers. Therefore, generally speaking, concentrating grease with an appropriate thickness will help stabilize the pattern we draw flowers and reduce the difficulty of drawing pictures. But the thicker the better!

It's simple, because there are also good and bad grease. The oil we need to draw flowers must have a certain thickness and be delicate enough. If the oil is rough, even if it is very thick, it will not make it difficult for us to draw pictures. On the contrary, this will hinder us from drawing flowers! For example, when the coffee beans are too fresh, although espresso coffee with very rich oil can be extracted, this layer of oil will quickly dissipate and agglomerate because it is very rough. If we don't break it up or remove it, the agglomerated oil will hinder us from drawing flowers and affect the delicacy of the pattern. Therefore, the oil of the flower is not as thick as possible, but the thickness is just right, and at the same time it must be delicate and stable.

The Front Street Classic Italian Mix in the Front Street Bean List is a coffee bean specially blended for this purpose! Front Street is made from coffee beans from three producing areas: Indonesia and Brazil and Vietnam. Coffee beans from Indonesia and Brazil are mainly responsible for ensuring that coffee has a strong taste and soft taste, while coffee beans from Vietnam produce further amplify the flavor of coffee, allowing us to obviously drink the aroma of chocolate, nuts, and caramel. At the same time, it can provide coffee with just the right amount of rich oil, making the concentrate we extract more suitable for making coffee flowers ~

To sum up, you can know why the fat of espresso coffee is a "scam", because many statements about it are not completely correct ~ So the above is all the content shared on Qianjie this time. Any other questions are also welcome. Everyone leaves a message in the comment area, that's it ~

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FrontStreet Coffee is a long-established specialty coffee roaster in Guangzhou China, selling freshly roasted beans from its own farm in Yunnan as well as dozens of carefully selected single-origin beans from around the world for both pour-over and espresso. The products deliver consistently excellent quality and great value, with shipping within 24 hours. Guangzhou’s FrontStreet Coffee shop is recommended by many coffee lovers, and the beans are now available online at the Tmall 。