Beginner's Guide to Espresso Coffee: Essential Knowledge and Standard Extraction Tutorial

With the growing demand for coffee among the general public, more and more coffee enthusiasts are purchasing related coffee equipment. In the third wave of specialty coffee, online sales of pour-over coffee equipment continue to rise, and it's becoming increasingly common for coffee enthusiasts to keep an espresso machine at home. However, FrontStreet Coffee has noticed that while many people have purchased espresso machines, many friends have only a partial understanding of how to use espresso machines to extract coffee, how much coffee grounds to use during extraction, or what the extraction time should be. In this article, FrontStreet Coffee will discuss the relevant knowledge about using espresso machines to extract espresso.

What Coffee Beans Should Be Used for Espresso?

Espresso extracted from Italian coffee machines typically has a layer of crema on the surface, and crema is also a very important factor in making a cup of espresso. Carbon dioxide is the primary source of crema in espresso (with smaller amounts coming from emulsified oils in the coffee), and FrontStreet Coffee suggests using coffee beans roasted within days or weeks, not beans that have been sitting for months!!

The longer coffee beans are stored, they gradually lose the carbon dioxide produced during the roasting process; when you grind the beans, the cell walls that store carbon dioxide and other volatile compounds are broken down and released. Therefore, to achieve the best results, it's best to grind and tamp immediately, because carbon dioxide and coffee aroma will dissipate over time, and oxidation will begin quickly! Only fresh, freshly ground, and freshly tamped coffee can achieve the best flavor and crema.

Generally, beans used for espresso are espresso blend beans. Each type of bean has its own advantages and disadvantages. If one type of bean doesn't produce enough crema when extracted through an espresso machine, you can add coffee beans rich in crema to complement it. If the espresso extracted from one type of bean is too acidic, too bitter, or too sweet, you can find a complementary type to blend with it to achieve the desired coffee flavor, wouldn't that be perfect?

Currently, FrontStreet Coffee uses its own house-roasted coffee beans for its blend. This FrontStreet Coffee espresso blend has a comforting aroma like warm sunshine and a flavor profile that is eye-catching. Primarily using FrontStreet Coffee's Honduras Sherry coffee beans with rich fermented wine aroma, complemented by the acidic FrontStreet Coffee Yirgacheffe Red Cherry coffee beans, it creates a rich and aromatic comprehensive coffee. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee named this espresso bean "FrontStreet Coffee Sunflower Warm Sun Blend Espresso Bean."

What Kind of Coffee Grinder Should Be Used for Espresso?

For making standard espresso, FrontStreet Coffee recommends using burr grinders; burr grinders produce more uniform particle sizes than blade grinders and allow you to control the particle size through settings. Therefore, whether you use a manual or electric grinder, please make sure to choose a burr grinder! Burr grinders also have different burr designs, such as conical burrs, flat burrs, or ghost tooth burrs, and within each major category, each manufacturer's detailed burr design varies!

Not all burr grinders are suitable for grinding espresso powder. For example, many grinders using conical or flat burrs may be designed for other coffee types that use coarser grounds, such as pour-over, siphon, French press, or moka pot, while ghost tooth burr grinders are mainly designed for pour-over and siphon. Espresso uses finer grounds because the increased surface area of the coffee grounds allows for a higher extraction yield (the percentage of all soluble solid substances in the coffee grounds weight that ultimately dissolve into the coffee liquid), but these grinders may not be able to grind coffee grounds to the fineness required for standard espresso! Therefore, when choosing a conical or flat burr grinder, please make sure to confirm that it is suitable for espresso use (also known as an "espresso grinder")!

How Should You Adjust the Coarseness of Coffee Grounds for Espresso Extraction?

If everyone doesn't know how to determine the coarseness of coffee beans, you can refer to FrontStreet Coffee's standards. FrontStreet Coffee's grind size standard sieve pass rate:

Cold drip > Pour-over, Siphon 80% > Moka pot, American drip 75-80% > Cupping 70-75% > French press 65-70%.

Standard espresso making requires pressure during brewing. If using semi-automatic or fully automatic machines, the machine itself will control the pressure. For general semi-automatic machines, you need to dial in to a fineness where approximately 16-18 grams of coffee can produce about 32-36 grams of espresso in about 20-30 seconds. For lever machines where you control the pressure yourself, you should adjust the coffee grind fineness to create 6-9 BAR resistance during brewing and complete the brewing within 20-30 seconds. When you change coffee beans, you may also need to readjust the coarseness to achieve ideal pressure and time.

How to Distribute and Tamp Coffee Grounds?

When loading coffee grounds into the portafilter basket, you should use good distribution methods to eliminate clumps and air pockets in the basket, avoiding channeling during brewing. For example, using the WDT (Weiss Distribution Technique) or lightly tapping the portafilter on a soft pad; before tamping, you should also first level the coffee grounds in the basket, then perform the tamping action. This can avoid uneven extraction of the entire puck in the basket, because if the coffee grounds are not level, tamping will cause different densities of coffee grounds on both sides, leading to unbalanced extraction of the entire puck! Also, tamping doesn't necessarily require a lot of force. The purpose of tamping is to level the coffee bed and use that pressure to remove additional air pockets that haven't been removed yet.

The Coffee Grounds to Water Ratio for Espresso

The espresso grounds-to-water ratio, which is the ratio of coffee grounds amount to output coffee amount, is most commonly used by FrontStreet Coffee as 20 grams of coffee grounds to produce 40 grams of espresso, with a grounds-to-water ratio of approximately 1:2. FrontStreet Coffee sometimes adjusts this according to the situation; espresso grounds-to-water ratios can vary greatly depending on personal preferences and regional characteristics, from 1:1 to 1:4. Italians also give different names to these different concentrations of espresso, such as Ristretto espresso, Normale espresso, and Lungo espresso.

Of course, during espresso extraction, the higher the grounds-to-water ratio, the more coffee is injected into the cup. Although the extraction rate will increase, the coffee will become weaker. Generally, the most common espresso grounds-to-water ratio is about 1:2 to 1:3. Different concentrations of espresso will have different changes and flavors when adding water, milk, milk foam, or cocoa. Currently, FrontStreet Coffee uses a latte coffee ratio of 1:6.5, meaning 40g of espresso mixed with 260g of steamed milk.

FrontStreet Coffee believes that to make a standard espresso coffee, in addition to the coffee grounds themselves, grind size control, distribution, tamping techniques, and grounds-to-water ratio mentioned above, you also need to pay attention to factors such as pressure, temperature, and time control during brewing. Making espresso generally uses 6-9 BAR pressure. Of course, pressure is not the only factor affecting extraction rate. Higher pressure doesn't necessarily mean better-tasting espresso!

Espresso Extraction Temperature Control

Making espresso relies on water temperature, pressure, and time to dissolve soluble solids from the coffee grounds, but if the water temperature is too high or the time is too long, it will cause over-extraction and make the coffee bitter! If the water temperature is too low or the time is too short, it may cause under-extraction, making the coffee weak and acidic! Generally, we use water temperatures of about 91-96 degrees Celsius to extract espresso, but darker roasted coffee beans should use lower temperatures because dark roast coffee beans already tend to taste bitter. Light roast coffee beans should use higher temperatures because light roast coffee beans naturally tend to taste acidic.

Additionally, all espresso machines, whether fully automatic, semi-automatic, or manual, need to be preheated to reach working temperature. Water temperature greatly affects espresso taste. FrontStreet Coffee suggests that when making espresso, you should experiment and adjust your brewing water temperature and preheating time/method to achieve your personal ideal taste.

Once everyone understands the above parameters for espresso extraction, you can start doing it yourself! If you find that the coffee puck is wet or mud-like after brewing, don't worry. As long as the extraction is uniform, this condition won't affect your espresso quality. Next, FrontStreet Coffee will share with everyone about FrontStreet Coffee's method and related parameters for making latte coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee's Ratios and Methods for Making Latte Coffee

FrontStreet Coffee's espresso extraction method is 20g of coffee grounds to extract 40g of espresso liquid in 27 seconds, serving as the base for latte coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee uses the Fiema E98 espresso machine with the following extraction parameters:

Pressure: 9 bar
Temperature: 90.5~96 degrees Celsius
Time: 20~30 seconds
Grounds-to-water ratio: 1:1.7~1:2
Dose: 12g (single shot espresso) 20g (double shot espresso)
Extraction amount: 20ml (single) 40ml (double)

After extracting the espresso, it's time for the milk frothing steps! FrontStreet Coffee will introduce a simple milk frothing method: pour half a cup of milk into the steel pitcher, let the steam wand be perpendicular to the milk in the center or at the edge of the steel pitcher, then let the steam tip just touch the surface of the milk, then open the steam to 1/2 power, don't move the steel pitcher, slowly close it when the milk reaches 50 degrees, close it completely at 60 degrees, and the final temperature will reach 66 degrees. This way, you can create a good milk foam.

Then everyone can proceed to combine the espresso and milk foam. Those who can do latte art can create their favorite patterns. If you can't, it's okay - having or not having latte art won't affect the taste of a latte.

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee on private WeChat, WeChat ID: kaixinguoguo0925

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473