Key Considerations in Espresso Making Process? How to Make Delicious SOE Espresso?

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Introduction

Making espresso is the most fundamental skill for every barista. While the operation may seem easy, it drives many novice baristas crazy. Beyond extraction time, pressure, water temperature, grind size, and coffee-to-water ratio, small operational details also affect the performance of espresso. FrontStreet Coffee would like to share some small details that baristas need to pay attention to when extracting espresso.

Amount of Beans in the Hopper

When the bean hopper is full, coffee beans are under pressure during grinding, resulting in finer ground coffee. Conversely, if there are too few beans in the hopper, the coffee beans have enough space to move around and "bounce" during grinding, resulting in coarser or unevenly ground coffee. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee suggests keeping the espresso bean hopper at about 2/3 full, with a minimum of no less than 1/3.

Residue in the Grinder

Whether it's the spout or the powder chamber, if too much time has passed since the last grind, the flavor of the coffee grounds in the exit channel/powder chamber will have greatly diminished. When fresh grounds mix with old grounds for extraction, the coffee will have uneven flavor, and in severe cases, may develop bitter tastes.

Therefore, if the grinder hasn't been used for more than 15 minutes, you need to use tools to clear the coffee grounds from the channel, or start the grinder and let the subsequent coffee grounds push out the previous grounds, then discard them and重新 grind and collect fresh grounds.

Temperature of the Portafilter Basket

A hot portafilter basket will accelerate the evaporation of the coffee grounds' aroma, so when the portafilter is in "rest" mode, it doesn't need to be locked onto the group head - it can be left at room temperature.

Dryness of the Portafilter Basket

If you use a portafilter basket with water residue to collect coffee grounds, it will moisten a small portion of the grounds. These moistened coffee grounds will cause uneven extraction. Therefore, you need to wipe the portafilter basket and its surroundings dry when collecting grounds.

Dryness of the Tamper

Using a tamper with water residue will stick to and remove a small portion of the coffee grounds, causing the surface of the puck to be uneven, resulting in uneven extraction.

Distribution and Tamping

Distribution is meant to break up coffee grounds that have clumped due to static electricity generated during grinding, and to evenly distribute the coffee grounds in the portafilter basket. FrontStreet Coffee recommends using a distribution tool for this step.

When tamping, you need to place the tamper handle in the palm of your hand, keep your wrist straight, maintain the tamper level, and then press down gently. After tamping, we can observe whether the puck is uneven on both sides. If the puck is uneven, it's recommended to break up the puck and redistribute before tamping again. If you try to fix the puck by applying pressure a second time, it can easily cause the puck to layer.

Don't Tap the Portafilter After Tamping

Some baristas see loose grounds on the surface of the puck after tamping and want to distribute them evenly by tapping the portafilter... No, no! (Don't do it!)

Tapping the portafilter will cause cracks between the puck and the portafilter basket, creating channeling effects that lead to uneven extraction. If there are loose grounds, we can flip the portafilter upside down and the loose grounds will fall off.

Keep the Group Head Clean

Run water through the group head both after and before each extraction. Running water after extraction is to wash away any remaining coffee grounds on the group head. Running water before extraction is to release any water stored in the group head that doesn't match the boiler temperature, while also providing another cleaning effect for the group head.

Extract Immediately After Locking the Portafilter

After locking the portafilter onto the group head, press the brew button immediately. The longer the time between locking the portafilter and pressing the brew button, the more the surface of the puck will be "scorched" by the high temperature of the group head. This will cause the extracted espresso to have a burnt, bitter taste.

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Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473