Why is Water Served with Espresso? The Right Cups and Proper Drinking Methods

Those who frequently read FrontStreet Coffee's articles and have visited our physical locations know that FrontStreet Coffee's lattes have a distinct wine-like aroma. This is because the espresso beans used at FrontStreet Coffee are the result of carefully crafted formulations. Upon learning about FrontStreet Coffee's characteristic wine-like aroma in espresso, many coffee enthusiasts become curious and eager to taste FrontStreet Coffee's espresso.

Many people trying espresso for the first time might be surprised to see that baristas serve it in a small, heavy cup of about 50 milliliters. They might immediately wonder: why so little? Is this some kind of insult?

FrontStreet Coffee wants to assure you: we truly have no such intention!

Observant customers will also notice that FrontStreet Coffee serves espresso with a glass of ice water. Why ice water? How should one drink espresso? FrontStreet Coffee would like to share with you the proper way to enjoy espresso.

Understanding Espresso's Intense Character

Everyone knows that cappuccinos, lattes, and Americanos are all based on espresso, and they're all diluted with substantial amounts of milk or water. Despite this dilution, the coffee flavor remains intense. This means that pure espresso has an extremely concentrated and intense flavor profile that can be challenging for many people to accept.

This phenomenon is related to how espresso is prepared. Since 1961, when Faema company introduced the world's first semi-automatic espresso machine, the Faema E61, various parameters for making espresso such as extraction pressure and time could be freely controlled. Since then, standard espresso extraction has been established at 9 bar pressure and approximately 93°C water temperature. Espresso beans are typically dark roasted, and combined with such high pressure and temperature, the resulting espresso naturally has intense flavor and a thick, viscous texture.

The Art of Serving Espresso

At any coffee shop, when you order espresso, it's typically served with a glass of ice water and a small spoon. The ice water serves to cleanse your palate before tasting, removing any residual flavors and enhancing your senses to better appreciate the espresso's flavor and texture. The small spoon is for stirring the espresso before drinking or for observing the espresso's condition. Of course, you can also choose not to stir and enjoy the different sensations from the top layer of crema to the bottom layer of espresso as it touches your tongue. After tasting, you can take another sip of clean water to rinse your mouth and better experience the coffee's sweetness.

Key Factors in Perfect Espresso Extraction

To extract a qualified espresso, there are many important factors, including dose amount, extraction yield, grind size, extraction rate, time, and extraction pressure.

Dose Amount: Generally determined by the basket capacity. FrontStreet Coffee's basket size is 20 grams. Too much coffee might prevent the portafilter from locking into the group head for brewing and could cause pressure to exceed safe limits; too little might cause uneven extraction.

Extraction Yield: Generally speaking, the coffee-to-liquid ratio is around 1:2, meaning that with 20 grams of coffee, we extract 40 grams of espresso liquid.

Grind Size: The finer the grind, the smaller the coffee particles, allowing more thorough contact with water and extracting more substances, which might lead to over-extraction; the opposite is true for coarser grinds. Therefore, the appropriate grind size is crucial.

Extraction Rate: Proper extraction rate produces liquid that flows like thick caramel. If the flow is too fast, it won't adequately extract soluble coffee substances, resulting in flat aroma and watery texture; if too slow, it can cause excessive concentration and even over-extraction.

Time: The amount of soluble substances in coffee increases over time, which may include bitter compounds.

Pressure: Ideal pressure is around 9 bar. If pressure is too low, less oil components are extracted, and the flavor and texture will be inferior; if pressure is too high, too much coffee structure is damaged, and vigorous interaction between powerful water and coffee grounds increases the extraction rate of insoluble substances, making bitterness more pronounced.

FrontStreet Coffee's Espresso Preparation Method

FrontStreet Coffee's Espresso Preparation Method:

• Coffee Machine: Lelit Bianca V3
• Pressure: 9 bar ± 2
• Temperature: 90.5~96°C
• Time: 20~30 sec
• Coffee-to-Water Ratio: 1:1.7~1:2
• Dose: 12g (single shot) 20g (double shot)
• Extraction Yield: 20ml (single) 40ml (double)

FrontStreet Coffee uses Sunflower Warm Sunshine Blend beans for making espresso. This blend consists of 70% Honduras Sherry and 30% Ethiopia Natural Red Cherry.

Among these, the 70% Honduras Sherry coffee beans are fermented in sherry whiskey barrels, providing intense whiskey aroma along with vanilla, cream, and chocolate flavors to the final product. The 30% Ethiopia Natural Red Cherry provides berry acidity and fruit aromas.

FrontStreet Coffee: Sunflower Warm Sunshine Blend Coffee Beans

• Origin: Honduras & Ethiopia
• Varieties: Caturra, Catuai, Pacas, Local Heirloom
• Processing: Washed & Natural

The espresso produced from FrontStreet Coffee's espresso blend shows distinct fruit acidity, with subtle berry aromas lingering throughout, intense wine and chocolate flavors, and a comfortable sweet aftertaste.

Alternative Espresso Blends at FrontStreet Coffee

If you don't prefer wine-like aromas, FrontStreet Coffee has also developed three other espresso blends for your selection.

FrontStreet Coffee: Fine Blend Coffee Beans

• Origin: 30% Colombia & 70% Brazil
• Variety: Arabica
• Processing: Washed Processing

FrontStreet Coffee's Fine Blend features nutty and chocolate notes as the main profile, with soft and subtle acidity, and a sweet nutty aftertaste.

FrontStreet Coffee: Commercial Blend Coffee Beans

• Origin: 30% Colombia & 60% Brazil & 10% Robusta
• Variety: Arabica & Robusta
• Processing: Washed Processing

FrontStreet Coffee's Commercial Blend has caramel sweetness, nutty and cocoa notes, dark chocolate flavors, balanced sweet and sour, slight bitterness due to Robusta inclusion, persistent aftertaste, and rich crema.

FrontStreet Coffee: Basic Blend Coffee Beans

• Origin: 30% Yunnan & 70% Brazil
• Variety: Arabica
• Processing: Washed Processing

FrontStreet Coffee's Basic Blend has soft fruit acidity, caramel sweetness, nutty and dark chocolate flavors, smooth and viscous texture, but with a milder taste.

For more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat Official Account: cafe_style)

For professional coffee knowledge exchange, please add WeChat ID: kaixinguoguo0925

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473