Introduction to the blending proportion of espresso

In 1992, the second generation of illy management commissioned architect Matteo Thun to design a set of white coffee porcelain cups, which gave birth to a series of popular illy coffee collection cups. Every year illy invites modern artists to collaborate on the design of its annual collection cup. Despite the variety of finishes, the cup itself strictly follows the illy family definition of the perfect espresso cup: "small, thick-walled porcelain cup with a capacity of no more than 50 ml... small in volume to ensure a more concentrated brew; synthetic materials used to ensure that the foam and liquid parts are equally clear."

Roasting is generally divided into three levels: light, medium and deep, and the length of roasting time varies according to the type of coffee required. Lightly roasted beans are light in color and sour, medium roasted beans are medium sour and bitter, and deep roasted beans are strong in color and bitter in taste. The lighter the roast, the stronger the sourness of the coffee beans, the deeper the roast, the less sourness, and the more bitter. Professional baking is generally divided into eight stages: Light Roast, Cinnamon Roast, Medium Roast, High Roast, Cicty Roast, Full-City Roast, French Roast, and Italian Roast. Among them, ultra-deep baking, also known as "Italian baking," is mainly popular in Latin countries and is considered the best for Espresso. Very dark roasted coffee beans are black in color, and the oil has penetrated to the surface, so they have a bitter taste of carbon ash, and the alcohol content is obviously reduced.

For some strict roasting techniques, the roast coffee used for Espresso also needs to be fresh, so it is required to use coffee that has been roasted for four days. But I'm afraid this rule only applies to those who bake on their own small machines. Big coffee plants have patented technologies to ensure that roasted coffee beans are kept airtight. One of the most famous is Illy's patented inert gas preservation method, which works by evacuating the air from the container and filling it with pressurized inert gas. Observed under the electron microscope, it can be confirmed that coffee cell tissue originally scattered coffee oil, after pressurization, these oils will be concentrated around the cell wall, some of the cells rich in aroma, highly volatile chemicals wrapped up, thus isolated from air contact, to avoid oxidation. This technique is believed to preserve the flavor and freshness of roasted coffee beans for up to three years