Introduction to Espresso Extraction Mistakes and Standard Espresso Extraction Demonstration

When making espresso, it's easy to overlook seemingly unimportant details that can gradually affect the taste of your coffee. Today, FrontStreet Coffee will discuss those frequently forgotten details—see how many you're guilty of.

Forgetting to Flush Water Before Attaching the Portafilter

If there's a long interval between this espresso extraction and the previous one, the shower screen on the brew head will become very hot. If you don't flush some water first to lower the temperature, attaching the portafilter might burn the surface of the coffee puck. This can result in espresso with a burnt, bitter taste.

Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee recommends developing the habit of flushing some water before attaching the portafilter.

Forgetting to Knock Out the Puck After Extraction

This is another easily overlooked detail. Many friends, after completing extraction and getting their espresso, move on to making lattes, americanos, or other drinks, then completely forget that there's still an extracted coffee puck in the portafilter.

In a sealed, high-temperature environment, the puck will be dried out and stick to the filter basket and shower screen. In severe cases, it might even develop a burnt smell. After several minutes, the puck becomes much harder to knock out, and there's a high probability that small particles will clog the holes at the bottom of the filter basket, making them extremely difficult to clean. If you don't knock out the puck promptly for extended periods, your filter basket will quickly become unusable—completely not worth the trade-off.

Forgetting to Clean the Shower Screen

After extracting coffee, some coffee residue will stick to the shower screen. If not cleaned, it will be dried by the high temperature of the brew head, making cleaning more difficult later. Moreover, not cleaning these coffee residues will affect the flavor of the next espresso.

Therefore, you need to develop the habit of flushing water to rinse the shower screen immediately after completing extraction while removing the portafilter.

Leaving the Portafilter Attached to the Brew Head for Extended Periods

When not extracting, leaving the portafilter attached to the brew head for long periods will accelerate the aging of the gasket due to the confined, high-temperature environment. At the same time, the hot brew handle will cause the coffee aroma to dissipate quickly. Another point relates to the second issue—if the portafilter is always attached to the brew head, it's difficult to determine whether the coffee puck has been knocked out. If you normally keep the brew head empty, you'll reduce the frequency of forgetting to knock out the puck.

Some friends might think that keeping the portafilter attached is for heat preservation. Without preheating the portafilter, the temperature during espresso extraction would be too low, affecting the coffee's flavor. However, we can turn on the brew head first while preparing for extraction and flush hot water to preheat the portafilter—this also conveniently accomplishes the detail of "flushing water before attaching the portafilter."

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473