How to extract a qualified espresso

How to extract a cup of good espresso coffee

Espresso: about 30 ml of coffee essence, a good cup of Espresso is complex, rich and sweet, it is the best start to our day.

Espresso isn't just a drink, it's a favorite of most coffee lovers, just like lattes, cappuccinos, Americanos, frappes, cottados, macchiatos…(it's also the base from which they're made).

In other words, learning how to make a good Espresso is probably the most important thing you can do to become a barista.

Remember: to extract a good Espresso requires professionalism, attention to detail and consistency at all times. Now, let's get started.

Basic parameters of Espresso

As with any coffee, you need to know the amount of ground coffee (and the fineness of the ground coffee), the amount of water, the extraction time, and the final amount of coffee extracted. These factors are all relevant to coffee making, but for Espresso, you can ignore the water factor for now.

Let's break it down:

·The extraction time is 25 seconds. Try to stick to that unless you plan on doing something different.

·The amount of ground coffee will depend on the size of your powder bowl (single and double heads), and each extract of Espresso requires 8-10 grams of ground coffee.

·A serving of Espresso is usually 25-35 ml, which can be easily adjusted by other parameters.

Then remember: these parameters are a flexible guideline for you, not a fixed rule that you must follow. Different coffee beans need to be treated differently, some require a longer extraction time, while others are the opposite. The roasting and grinding degree of the coffee beans also affect each parameter.

You can use these rules as a reference when learning how to extract Espresso, and if you want to make greater progress, don't be afraid to try. Remember: it's the final taste that counts, and you won't know what you're getting until you drink it. These parameters will help you extract a good cup of Espresso, but they are not the criteria for customer ratings.

Now that we have Espresso's parameters, let's get started.

1, the cup.

Before using coffee cup remember warm cup, use hot water rinse, hot coffee cup can better maintain the flavor of coffee.

2. Extraction handle & powder bowl

Next, check that your extraction handle is clean and dry, and remember that residual coffee grounds can affect the flavor of Espresso. Wet powder bowls will also affect the extraction of Espresso, which will make the coffee powder moist.

3. Coffee bean grinding degree and powder amount

Put the ground coffee powder into the powder bowl, pay attention to the control of grinding degree and powder amount, and ensure that it does not cause insufficient extraction or excessive extraction (insufficient extraction will cause sour taste, excessive extraction will increase bitter taste). If you have a bean grinder that is calibrated accurately, it is easy to control. If not, use an electronic scale.

4, cloth powder

Tap the rim of the powder bowl to evenly distribute the coffee powder, if you have a powder distribution tool available. This step is very important, it will ensure that there is no excessive gap between the coffee powder, the gap is too large due to the channel effect of water, extraction water will be more towards the gap, rather than evenly through the coffee powder, which will cause some coffee powder will be over-extracted.

5. Powder pressing

The goal of this step is also to eliminate gaps between coffee powders and ensure that coffee powder is evenly distributed.

Press the coffee powder with a powder hammer, making sure your arm is pressing vertically and evenly along the coffee powder. The usual saying is that it takes 30 pounds of pressure, and you don't have to comply with that. Vertical force ensures a smooth surface of the coffee powder, which avoids inconsistent extraction.

6, correction powder cake

Use a powder hammer to correct the surface of the coffee powder. Place the powder hammer on the coffee powder and rotate it. This will eliminate the small ridges on the coffee powder surface and ensure that the coffee powder surface is flat and smooth.

7. Clean powder bowl

Imagine ordering a cappuccino and drinking coffee grounds in it. To avoid this, make sure to clean the coffee powder around the bowl and around the edges.

8. Clean the brewing head

Before installing the handle, you should clean the brewing head of the coffee maker, which will remove coffee grounds from it. Don't ignore this step, if residual coffee grounds enter, the final taste will be inconsistent.

9. Extract Espresso

Finally, load the painstakingly prepared handle into the coffee maker and press the extract button to begin extracting your Espresso. Make sure you extract it immediately after installation. If you wait 2 minutes to answer the phone and come back, you'll have done everything for nothing.

10 and coffee.

Whether the coffee machine automatically sets the extraction time or you manually press the stop button after 25 seconds, you can remove the coffee cup from the coffee machine tray once the extraction is complete. A cup of Espresso is finished and you can serve it directly to the guest, or whip it up to start making lattes or cappuccinos.

11. Throw away the powder cake

Remove the handle from the coffee maker and pour the extracted coffee grounds into a special box. Remember never to skip this step. After all, it's hard to let coffee grounds stew in a coffee machine.

12. Cleaning

Rinse your handles for the next Espresso.

13. Clean the brewing head

Turn on the drain button and clean the brew head with a small brush. You need to thoroughly remove the coffee grounds left on it, otherwise it will ruin your next cup.

14. Replace the handle

Reattach the handle to the coffee maker. This will keep the handle clean and warm, and will not cause you to search for the handle while making your next Espresso.

That's the 14 steps to making a cup of Espresso. It's just a basic reference step, but you'd better never ignore it.

Some of these steps may change over time, with increased work experience, and with the advent of new tools. That's the way it is in this business, there's always something new to learn.