How to Make Espresso? Italian Espresso Coffee-to-Water Ratio Grind Size and Taste Differences

Every day before opening, FrontStreet Coffee first adjusts the extraction parameters for espresso before attending to other tasks. This is because all other Italian-style coffee beverages served at FrontStreet Coffee require espresso as their base, making a well-extracted espresso incredibly important.

Espresso is crafted using fully automatic or semi-automatic espresso machines, where hot water passes through finely ground coffee beans under immense pressure at high temperatures, rapidly extracting a liquid rich with crema, intense aroma, and full-bodied texture.

Perfecting Home Espresso Extraction

After experiencing aromatic Italian-style coffee at our café, some friends hope to replicate this quality at home and ask FrontStreet Coffee how to adjust espresso parameters and ratios. Setting up the proper extraction parameters aims to enhance our coffee's flavor. While home equipment may not match commercial machine performance, finding the right coffee-to-liquid ratio, extraction time, and grind size can yield delicious espresso.

Before discussing extraction, FrontStreet Coffee recommends selecting freshly roasted, medium-roasted blend coffee beans with rich aromatics. We know coffee flavors stem from factors like origin, variety, processing method, and roast level. Roasters understand each coffee bean's unique characteristics, blending beans from two or more regions and applying appropriate roast levels to create more stable espresso flavors with balanced profiles and higher extraction tolerance.

The Importance of Crema and Bean Freshness

Every time FrontStreet Coffee serves an espresso, you can observe the dense crema layer floating on top, which we call crema, emitting intense wine-like aromas—a hallmark of freshly roasted coffee beans. When ground coffee undergoes high-pressure extraction, carbon dioxide from the grounds becomes trapped by coffee oils, forming these fine bubbles. Blended coffee beans typically require 4-10 days of degassing after roasting before entering their optimal flavor window. Darker roasts usually need 10 days for degassing. FrontStreet Coffee ships beans roasted within 5 days, so upon receiving them, they may still be in their degassing phase. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee recommends letting them rest for a few days before extraction.

Understanding Extraction Parameters

A delicious coffee extraction occurs when an appropriate amount of soluble aromatic compounds is extracted into the coffee liquid. The Golden Cup Standard suggests that coffee extraction rates between 18-22% yield the most flavorful results. Therefore, we need to control the coffee-to-liquid ratio, time, and grind size to adjust the amount of extracted substances.

The extraction ratio refers to the proportion of coffee grounds to liquid weight. There's no completely fixed parameter for extraction ratios—it needs adjustment based on different situations. Espresso extraction ratios typically range from 1:1.5 to 1:2.5, with FrontStreet Coffee using a 1:2 ratio. Our café's espresso machine comes with 20-gram double portafilters, using 20 grams of coffee grounds to extract 40 grams of liquid, with fine-tuning adjustments based on daily extraction conditions.

Increasing or decreasing the coffee dose changes the puck's density, affecting espresso flow rate. More coffee creates a denser puck, slowing flow rate, requiring longer extraction time for the same liquid amount, resulting in more concentrated coffee with higher extraction rates. Normally, minor adjustments should be made based on flow rate and flavor profile.

Time and Grind Size Optimization

During extraction, with other parameters remaining constant, shorter extraction times dissolve fewer coffee compounds, while longer times extract more. When fixing the coffee-to-liquid ratio at 1:2, controlling extraction time between 25-30 seconds by adjusting grind size and dose is the fastest way to dial in espresso.

Since espresso extraction amplifies coffee flavors, grind size requirements are extremely strict, with adjustments being very precise. It's difficult to judge grind fineness visually—typically, it manifests in espresso flow rate and flavor. If the grind is too coarse, coffee particles are larger, the puck is more porous, water passes through more quickly, leading to under-extraction with weak, sour flavors. If the grind is too fine, coffee tends to over-extract, producing bitter, harsh flavors with sharp mouthfeel.

FrontStreet Coffee's Signature Blend

Friends who have visited FrontStreet Coffee for espresso know that we consistently use our house-roasted "Frontsteet Sunflower Warm Sunshine Blend," composed of 30% Frontsteet Yirgacheffe Natural Red Cherry and 70% Frontsteet Honduras Sherry blend.

FrontStreet Coffee uses 20 grams of coffee grounds, following a 1:2 ratio to extract 40 grams of liquid at 9 bar pressure, with extraction time controlled at 30 seconds.

This espresso offers rich whiskey-like aromas with berry-like acidity. As the temperature slightly decreases, vanilla and cream flavors emerge, followed by dark chocolate aftertaste. The overall experience is well-balanced with intense, smooth mouthfeel.

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account: cafe_style).

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee's private WeChat account (FrontStreet Coffee), WeChat ID: qjcoffeex

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473