Who Should Drink Espresso? Proper Extraction Methods and Important Considerations for Italian Coffee

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As some high-performance coffee machines become more compact and their home-use positioning becomes more apparent, many friends have also entered the world of espresso coffee. FrontStreet Coffee would like to share some common problems that can arise when making espresso coffee at home.

1. Buying Pre-ground Coffee

Some friends think that when making espresso, the machine is the most important factor - a good machine will produce good coffee. In reality, even with a good machine, making excellent coffee without quality coffee beans is quite challenging.

Let's not discuss the differences between coffee beans for now, but rather address a phenomenon: some friends, after buying a coffee machine, don't plan to purchase a grinder and instead directly buy pre-ground espresso coffee. This might be to save costs or because they believe coffee shop grinders are better and more professional.

However, if you want to enjoy flavorful espresso, FrontStreet Coffee still recommends equipping yourself with an espresso grinder and purchasing freshly roasted whole beans. There are three reasons for this: First, the flavor of ground coffee dissipates very quickly, especially when ground as finely as espresso requires, causing flavor to evaporate even faster. Espresso packages typically range from 1 pound to 1 kilogram, making it difficult to finish the coffee before its flavor diminishes. This often leads to waste.

Second, crema is an indicator of espresso quality. While a good machine with stable 9-bar pressure will produce good crema, the crema primarily comes from carbon dioxide and oils in the coffee beans. Once ground into coffee powder, it actually accelerates the loss of carbon dioxide, so the crema naturally won't be as rich.

Third, espresso is very sensitive to grind size. Even in coffee shops, the grind size needs to be adjusted every morning to meet production standards. Pre-ground coffee not only may not be suitable for your machine, but even if it is, the parameters will basically change daily, making it extremely inconsistent.

Some friends also ask, "I have a grinder that I usually use for pour-over coffee beans - can I use it for espresso?" According to FrontStreet Coffee's understanding, most grinders struggle to perfectly accommodate both grind sizes. Espresso burrs and pour-over burrs are different.

Take the EK43s at FrontStreet Coffee's store as an example - even when adjusted to the finest setting, the ground coffee is still coarser than what an espresso grinder produces. So, since you've already bought the coffee machine, you might as well invest in an espresso grinder.

2. Repeatedly Tamping the Coffee Puck

Everyone who makes espresso knows that the coffee puck should be tamped level. Because of this, some friends pursue extreme perfection by repeatedly tamping back and forth - "seeing that the left side is a bit high, they press down on the left side, then the right side lifts up, so they press down on the right side." The result is that while the surface appears level, the density inside the puck becomes inconsistent, making it prone to "channeling" during extraction. In reality, you don't need to be overly perfectionistic about the levelness of the coffee puck. As long as it's not obviously uneven, it won't have a significant impact on coffee extraction. When tamping, try to do it in one go. If you can't get it level in one press, it indicates that your posture or force application is incorrect - practice the technique again.

Some friends, after tamping, might feel there's too little coffee and add more to the portafilter before tamping again. This can also easily lead to "channeling." The correct approach is, if you find the amount is insufficient, first break up the tamped puck back to a fluffy state, then add the appropriate amount of coffee before tamping again.

3. Delaying Extraction After Locking the Portafilter

Some friends, after tamping, find that the portafilter has nowhere to be placed and lock it onto the group head early. They then prepare cups, electronic scales, and set everything up before starting the extraction. Coffee extracted this way often develops a burnt, bitter taste.

Because the group head temperature is very high, once the portafilter is locked on, if water doesn't flow for extraction, the coffee puck will be baked by the high temperature, making it easy to extract burnt, bitter flavors. The best practice is to start the extraction immediately after locking the portafilter tightly.

Important Notice :

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