Espresso Coffee Bean Extraction _ How to Brew Espresso Coffee Beans _ Optimal Grind Settings for Espresso Coffee Beans

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The Essence of Espresso Extraction

The core of Italian coffee lies in the extraction of Espresso. The extraction process may seem simple, taking only about 30 seconds, but without careful attention, even slight deviations can make it difficult to extract a qualified Espresso.

The essence of ESP (Espresso) extraction lies in: time, coffee-to-water ratio, water quality, grind size, temperature, and pressure. If any of these factors deviates slightly, the taste of ESP can vary dramatically—it can be the difference between heaven and hell.

Key Extraction Factors

Extraction Time

Extraction time follows the guideline that 1oz (approximately 30ml) should be extracted within 25±3 seconds. The extraction flow should begin with small amounts, appearing drop by drop, gradually forming a continuous stream with rich crema.

Coffee-to-Water Ratio

The coffee-to-water ratio refers to how many grams of water are paired with 1g of coffee grounds. For Italian single-shot handles, the coffee weight ranges from 8g to 10g, while for double-shot handles, it ranges from 16g to 20g. It's worth noting that the amount of coffee in the portafilter correlates with the flow rate of the espresso. The more coffee used, the slower the extraction flow will be.

Water Quality

Water quality directly affects the lifespan of the coffee machine. The ideal water quality has a TDS value below 50ppm, and water quality also directly impacts the taste of coffee. Water with higher TDS values generally results in lower ESP extraction rates, while water with very low TDS values typically leads to higher ESP extraction rates. The optimal ideal TDS value is around 50ppm.

Grind Size

Different brewing devices require different coffee grind sizes. For ESP extraction in Italian coffee, a professional Italian coffee grinder should be selected. Compared to other brewing methods, Italian coffee requires finer coffee grounds.

The finer the coffee grounds, the higher the extraction rate, the relatively longer the extraction time, and the slower the extraction flow.

The coarser the coffee grounds, the lower the extraction rate, the relatively shorter the extraction time, and the faster the extraction flow.

Water Temperature

To conduct tests and obtain actual real data, we performed Italian coffee extraction tests at 92°C, 94°C, 96°C, and 98°C respectively, with results as follows.

Looking at the extraction water temperature, although the water temperature only changed by 6 degrees from 92°C to 98°C and the extraction rate change was not significant, the taste varied considerably.

ESP with the lowest water temperature had a thin mouthfeel, lowest sweetness, lightest bitterness, but strongest acidity.

ESP with the highest water temperature had a rich mouthfeel, higher sweetness, strongest bitterness, moderate acidity, and a slightly rough texture.

ESP with moderate water temperature had a balanced mouthfeel, higher sweetness, lighter bitterness, balanced acidity, and moderate texture.

Extraction Pressure

Extraction pressure and extraction rate form a proportional relationship. The greater the extraction pressure, the relatively higher the extraction rate; the smaller the extraction pressure, the correspondingly lower the extraction rate. Of course, this also forms a proportional relationship with the coffee weight in the portafilter and the grind size.

With fixed coffee weight, finer grind, greater extraction pressure, and higher extraction rate.

With fixed coffee weight, coarser grind, smaller extraction pressure, and lower extraction rate.

Many factors influence a good cup of ESP, not just controlling it within a reasonable extraction range. There's also a more critical factor: fine-tuning after extraction. Even if all extraction data is excellent, the taste may not be optimal, requiring the final step of taste adjustment!

Italian Coffee Bean Brand Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee, a coffee roasting brand located at Dongshankou, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou, offers freshly roasted Italian coffee beans with full guarantees in both brand and quality. More importantly, they offer extremely high cost-performance. Taking their commercial-grade recommended product—commercial blended coffee beans—as an example, one 454-gram (one-pound) package costs only about 60 yuan. Calculating based on 10g of coffee per single shot of espresso, one package can make 45 cups of coffee, with each cup costing less than 1.5 yuan. Even when using double shots (20g of coffee per serving), the cost of one double espresso doesn't exceed 3 yuan. Compared to certain well-known brands that sell packages for hundreds of yuan, this is truly a conscientious recommendation.

FrontStreet Coffee: A roastery in Guangzhou with a small shop but diverse bean varieties, where you can find both famous and lesser-known beans, while also providing online store 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