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How to visually judge whether an espresso is good or bad? Do you really know how to drink coffee

Published: 2026-08-23 Author: World Gafei

Last Updated: 2026/08/23, The perfect espresso has hazelnut foam, close to dark brown, with reddish dots, and may have consistent light stripes. The texture is compact with tiny bubbles. There must be no obvious bubbles, no white spots, and no cracks in the coffee liquid below. The common bad factors of espresso are close to gray: they may be used too much or too little.

Perfect espresso.

Hazelnut colored foam, close to dark brown, with reddish dots, may also have consistent light stripes. The texture is compact with tiny bubbles. There must be no obvious large bubbles, no white spots, no visible cracks in the coffee liquid below.

Common bad factors for espresso coffee

Approaching gray: may use too much or too little Robusta coffee beans

Close to white: insufficient extraction during coffee preparation (less than 6g of ground coffee, coarse grinding, insufficient pressure, water temperature below 88 ° C, water pressure below 9 atmospheres, extraction time less than 20 seconds), this problem occurs with hard water and coffee that is not freshly ground.

Brown, white buttonholes, foam breakdown: excessive extraction during coffee preparation (coffee powder quantity greater than 8g, grinding too fine, high pressure, water temperature greater than 92 ° C, extraction time greater than 35 seconds).

Lack of foam: insufficient or excessive extraction during coffee preparation, coffee not freshly ground.

Creamy foam disappears quickly: under-or over-extraction, poor baking.

The consistency of a milky foam is determined by proteins, fats, high molecular sugars, and other viscous substances emulsified by the gases in the plant cells. These ingredients also affect the duration of the foam, and sometimes after drinking coffee, you will find that the foam remains on the inside of the cup.

A good espresso should have a compact, well-textured, long-lasting foam a few millimeters thick. In addition to visual beauty, this is also critical for smell and taste perception, allowing aroma to remain until the coffee is finished.

Article Source: Network

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