How to Drink Starbucks Espresso: The Difference Between Italian Espresso and Starbucks Espresso

The Three Great Espresso Systems: Understanding Global Espresso Traditions

When it comes to the fundamental classification of espresso preparation methods, the controversy is quite significant. But what exactly are these differences, and how do they vary from one another? As early as 2011, documentation existed tracing these variations (original source: http://www.roasterontheroof.com/2011/12/06/coffee_translations/).

Even at that time, discussions were already taking place about different preparation methods, each classified as the Seattle Espresso System (SES), Italian Espresso System (IES), and Nordic-style espresso system. Additionally, there's TES, which I personally call the "Taiwanese Espresso System (TES)." I must admit my limited knowledge prevents me from fully understanding how the Nordic espresso system operates, but I do have some understanding of the practical differences between SES, IES, and what I'm tentatively calling TES.

These differences in national cultures and drinking preferences have already been thoroughly explained by master coffee experts, so I won't elaborate further on those aspects.

The Core Difference: Coffee Bean Roasting

The primary reason and greatest difference that divides espresso into these three systems—SES, IES, and TES—lies in the different roasting methods of "coffee beans." Many people might say, "Ah, but Italian roasting factories just use hot air roasters, so what's the difference? The aroma isn't even that good."

Actually... it's not that simple...

Today's Italian roasting companies, after importing green beans from various countries, employ advanced computer technology instruments for measurement, screening, and classification, even applying special treatments before and after roasting. The goal is to ensure that each batch of roasted coffee beans can consistently produce nearly identical flavor profiles. If you're a regular user of Italian coffee beans, you've probably noticed that the flavors are almost always consistent, with a particular emphasis on presenting beautiful aftertastes.

Unfortunately... these roasting processes and techniques are rarely shared externally... This is precisely why the SES coffee system emerged. How did this happen?! When Italian espresso machines were first invented and created delicious espresso, many Westerners wanted to learn how to roast such delicious coffee and bring it back to their hometowns or immigrate to America to sell it. Later, due to historical immigration changes, Westerners at that time could only roast less-than-optimal coffee beans, even producing dark, oily roasted beans, never quite managing to replicate the coffee roasted by Italians. After considerable time, American coffee roasting techniques, through the research and experience of many renowned roasters, created a unique espresso coffee roasting style specific to Seattle, USA. The most famous example is the American roaster "Alfred Peet," said to be the source of Starbucks coffee flavor. It was from this moment that American coffee began to undergo tremendous changes. Everyone, wanting to replicate Peet's coffee flavor, used every conceivable method to extract espresso, all aiming to make espresso taste better and create richer, thicker, more aromatic espresso + moderate milk combinations. This gave rise to numerous different coffee preparation methods that began to develop and gradually mature in Seattle, USA. (For more detailed stories, you can refer to various coffee books. Here, I'm only briefly annotating some self-organized information, hoping to help everyone better understand the differences between these coffee systems.)

So now you can somewhat understand... why do these two major categories of coffee flavors have such fundamental differences?!

The Evolution of Italian Espresso Culture

Next, let's return to IES. A hundred years ago, when Italians were making coffee, the coffee machine designs weren't very good (compared to today's standards), and they often produced what could only be called "shit!!" The extraction speed wasn't fast, the coffee was often very bitter and burnt, and the extraction techniques weren't very sophisticated. Later, thanks to the evolution of coffee machines and the advancement of roasting companies' techniques, Italian coffee beans and coffee machines gradually built a beautiful bridge, making coffee preparation faster and more delicious, able to meet the demands of a huge coffee-consuming population, which led to the emergence of the word "espresso." So it's understandable... the baristas of that time probably didn't have much energy or time to study coffee extraction techniques. Instead, they used the simplest, fastest methods to make coffee. Knowledge and techniques of coffee bean extraction didn't advance significantly. Instead, they focused on selecting roasting companies' coffee beans that suited their own flavor preferences, which forced Italian roasting companies to develop coffee bean flavors suitable for Italians' quick coffee preparation methods to maintain good profits.

And so it was... the world saw the emergence of two major schools of coffee preparation with different approaches. American roasting techniques moved toward creating rich, thick espresso and lattes as the primary flavor direction, while Italian roasting techniques progressed toward flavor preferences suited to local Italian drinking culture—drinking espresso straight (locally just called "coffee"). So... different drinking habits naturally led to significant differences in coffee preparation. In today's coffee era, both have reached the point of perfection.

FrontStreet Coffee: A roasting shop in Guangzhou with a small storefront but diverse bean varieties, where you can find both famous and lesser-known beans, while also providing online shop services. https://shop104210103.taobao.com

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473