6 Steps To Great Espresso
A few committed expresso fans will normally relish the coffee of a professionally trained barista countless times a week. It’s probable that the expresso machine used to make the coffee is a top of the range commercial machine. Added to that, the barista will no doubt have spent some time training and learning the craft.
So when the dedicated coffee drinker returns home and tries to make their own cup of espresso, the results are not surprisingly to a degree underwhelming.
Nevertheless, a cool cup of expresso made at home can be a reality if you have respectable equipment and are inclined to make a little bit of effort.
Here are 6 top tips for getting it right.
1) Ensure good storage of your coffee beans. Ideally, the perfect environs will be dark, dry and around 37 degrees celcius, about room temperature. A china jar is a better container than a plastic or metal one. For optimum coffee flavor resist the temptation to store coffee in the fridge or freezer.
2) Don’t try to make your coffee last too long. A week to ten days is the optimum time frame for storage. Consequently, when you go shopping for coffee go for smaller packages. 10 days or more in storage will leave your coffee less flavorsome.
3) Invest in a decent home espresso machine. These days, the market is full of decent espresso makers. From thousand dollar models like the Saeco 21103 Royal Professional espresso machine to less expensive ones like the Briel ES35AFB prospective home espresso enthusiasts have a hot array of machines to make the best possible espresso extraction.
If in doubt, try reading some espresso machine reviews or get some advice from a quality sales assistant.
4) Understand the limitations of your machine. In reality, most home machines will not have sufficent water pressure to extract expresso properly. 120 pounds per square inch is the ideal level. Make sure you read the owners manual to find out the pressure. A singe water heater is commonplace in most home machines. This means that the hot water is mixed with the steam resulting in a bitter espresso.
5) Coffee beans need thorough grinding. Make sure you get a twin-bladed coffee grinder. A single blade machine will work ok but won’t be nearly as satisfactory. Additionaly make sure the blades are always sharp.
6) Use expresso extraction methods suitable for the household, not for a commercial-grade expresso device. A coarser coffee grind is more suited to the home machine. Also, it’s better not to pack the coffee in as tightly as a master barista would. Your home machine will probably provide less pressured steam in less time than a commercial machine. Take this into account when steaming.
professional espresso extraction is ideally something to leave to the experts. It’s a much better experience to enjoy an expresso from a commercial-grade machine, made by a trained barists. However, if you’re willing to make a little effort, and invest in a decent machine, a good home espresso is well within your reach.