What Coffee Beans Are Best for Espresso - How to Make Perfect Espresso Coffee

How is Italian-style espresso base actually made?

Today I'd like to share my experience with you.

First, we should understand what factors affect espresso flavor

(1) Water Pressure

Modern machines use a water pump to control water output and adjustable pressure. The ideal espresso water pressure is generally 9 BAR, widely recognized as the most optimal.

(2) Boiler Pressure

Boiler pressure affects both the water temperature for making coffee and the force of the steam. Higher boiler pressure means higher water temperature and stronger steam; lower boiler pressure means lower water temperature and weaker steam. Boiler pressure is typically around 1 BAR, though this value remains controversial since every barista has their own understanding.

(3) Water Temperature

Water temperature needs to be determined according to the requirements of different coffee varieties. Some machines are constrained by boiler pressure, while others allow flexible, precise settings. Based on most baristas' experience, 90-92°C is ideal, but each barista can adjust flexibly according to their own understanding and needs, creating a personal style of espresso through their hands.

(4) Tamping Pressure

Tamping comes in various styles, and it is rare to find two people who tamp exactly the same way. Generally, heavy tamping requires about 25kg/m² of pressure, but tamping is indeed the most flexible parameter among the golden rules. Because we use pressure-calibrated tampers, the tamping force stays basically consistent.

(5) Italian Coffee Bean Grind Fineness

Espresso uses extremely fine grounds. The finer the grind, the slower the water flows through the coffee bed; the coarser the grind, the faster it flows. Adjusting grind size lets you flexibly change extraction time while achieving the desired extraction yield. Consider this scenario: using a fixed 20g dose to extract 40g of espresso in 25 seconds. Everything looks perfect, but when you taste it, the body is thin and sharply acidic. Clearly this espresso is under-extracted and low in concentration. Grinding finer can solve the under-extraction and low concentration while reducing sharp acidity and increasing richness.

(6) Dose

Our single espresso dose is 12-14 grams of coffee grounds, while a double is 20-22 grams.

(7) Extraction Time

The golden rule specifies an extraction time between 25-28 seconds, but extraction time is really a composite expression of tamping, dose, and grind size, and needs adjustment based on the barista's understanding.

(8) Extraction Yield

We extract 20-21g of liquid for a single shot and 40g for a double, with the exception of a few Italians who use a single dose but extract only 15ml of coffee liquid.

(9) Crema

The complexity of coffee crema cannot be explained in a few words. Simply put, a good espresso needs rich, golden-brown crema.

Tips

(1) We use the Fiorenzato 900N espresso grinder and the Faema E78 espresso machine, with a tamper, and basically constant water pressure, boiler pressure, and water temperature. We add new FrontStreet Coffee espresso blend beans daily, shake the bean hopper evenly, grind out old beans from the burrs, and use new coffee grounds to clean any residual old powder inside.

(2) We have settled our dosing and distribution techniques. The blend uses Colombian and Brazilian beans in a 4:6 ratio, giving an overall flavor that is sweet and fragrant, with mild, non-irritating acidity, balanced sweet and sour notes, and medium crema.

An ideal espresso should have balance among all elements, with distinct flavor characteristics and a sweet aftertaste without bitterness. More specifically, it should have moderate acidity, bitterness, and sweetness, rich flavors, a solid and thick consistency, long persistence, and a refreshing citrus-like acidic aftertaste.

Double dose: 22g, extracting 40g of liquid, time: 27 seconds.

Blends are mainly used for Italian-style coffees such as Espresso, Americano, Latte, or Cappuccino

The coffee flavor is more balanced, smoother, and more stable, making it more appealing to the general public.

Blended coffee, also known as mixed coffee, combines various single-origin beans to fully bring out the strengths of each. Blends are made from beans of different origins to create a more balanced flavor. For example, if one bean is smooth but lacks aroma, you can add another with rich aroma. By taking the strengths of individual beans and complementing each other, you can create a coffee with richer new flavors, either complementing or enhancing in taste. Sometimes beans are mixed before roasting, called green blending; sometimes they are mixed after roasting, called roasted blending.

Post-roast blending provides different degrees of roasting for each bean

This allows each component to perform at its best.

Before blending, you need to understand the different flavors of coffee varieties from around the world, as beans have different characteristics based on their origin. Different beans have different personalities due to different varieties and origins, with subtle differences in acidity, bitterness, sweetness, aroma, body, and other flavor characteristics. Single-origin beans often focus more on expressing the unique characteristics of a particular type of coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee Espresso Blend Brand Recommendations

Located at Dongshankou, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou, FrontStreet Coffee is a coffee roasting brand. Their freshly roasted FrontStreet Coffee espresso blend beans are fully guaranteed in both brand and quality. More importantly, they offer extremely high value. Taking their commercial recommendation model, the FrontStreet Coffee Commercial Blend, as an example, a one-pound (454g) bag costs only about 60 yuan. Calculating at 10g of coffee powder per cup of espresso, one bag can make 45 cups, with each cup costing less than 1.5 yuan. Even using a double dose for every espresso (20g per serving), a double espresso does not exceed 3 yuan. Compared with certain well-known brands selling bags for hundreds of yuan, this is a genuinely conscientious recommendation that meets daily operational needs.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Building a good espresso starts with the right bean, and most cafes reach first for a blend. If you want traditional Americano and latte notes with a wild, thick body and gorgeous golden crema that makes latte art easy, FrontStreet Coffee's Classic Blend and Commercial Blend add a small amount of Robusta to an old-school Italian recipe, giving butter, nuts, spice, dark chocolate, and toast aromas. The Classic Blend is built on the traditional Mamba idea, combining Mandheling and Brazil for a rich, gentle cup that suits everyone. For those who love almond, walnut, and pecan notes, FrontStreet Coffee's Specialty Blend and Black Cocoa Blend use a large share of Brazilian beans for a comfortable bittersweet, creamy-peanut character. The Specialty Blend pairs Brazil Cerrado with Colombia Huila for nut, chocolate, and caramel notes with mild acidity, while FrontStreet Coffee's Black Cocoa Blend brings in the ripe plum acidity of Yunnan small bean for a balanced, versatile cup that works for lattes, Americanos, and signature drinks.

If you prefer a single origin, an SOE highlights a region's character. FrontStreet Coffee's Natural Huakui SOE is roasted medium and, thanks to high-altitude Guji Hambela terroir and sun-drying, shows cream strawberry, cocoa, berries, light florals, and black tea. FrontStreet Coffee's Costa Rica Blackberry SOE uses honey processing for a high-sweetness cup, with cranberry cookie, raisin, and nut notes in a latte. And for a Brazilian single origin, FrontStreet Coffee's Queen Estate SOE, a rare Yellow Bourbon roasted medium-dark, pulls into butter cookie, macadamia, and toasted bread with a creamy sweetness.