Espresso Grind Size, Extraction Time, Brew Ratio, Flavor, and Brewing Methods - Italian Blend Coffee Bean Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee has noticed that many coffee beginners or baristas believe that the key technique in espresso making is foam creation and latte art, but FrontStreet Coffee believes that the most important aspect of espresso is the extraction itself. If the espresso doesn't taste good, no matter how smooth and dense the foam is, or how beautiful the latte art is, this milk coffee won't taste good either. FrontStreet Coffee has created many blends of espresso beans with excellent flavors to meet the needs of various coffee shops, including FrontStreet Coffee's Premium Blend, FrontStreet Coffee's Commercial Blend, FrontStreet Coffee's Basic Blend, and more. FrontStreet Coffee currently uses FrontStreet Coffee's Sunflower Warm Sunshine Espresso Blend in their stores, which has a rich whiskey aroma and nutty aftertaste.

Why Use Espresso Blends for Espresso Extraction?

Coffee beans are agricultural products that vary due to weather, soil, and other factors. Even beans from the same location will have different flavors in each batch. Blending uses the principle of complementing strengths and weaknesses to ensure that each batch of coffee beans exhibits consistent flavor profiles. This is also why FrontStreet Coffee chooses blended coffee beans over single-origin beans for espresso extraction.

FrontStreet Coffee's Espresso Blending Technique

When making espresso, FrontStreet Coffee uses FrontStreet Coffee's Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Natural Red Cherry and FrontStreet Coffee's Honduras Sherry coffee beans in a 3:7 ratio to create FrontStreet Coffee's Sunflower Warm Sunshine Espresso Blend. After high-pressure extraction, this blend produces a rich wine aroma, gentle fruit acidity, and nutty cocoa-like aftertaste. When heated milk activates its lactose and mixes with the espresso, the lactose and berry-like acidity create a milkshake-like sweetness that doesn't overpower the wine aroma, making people addicted after just one sip~

Why Adjust Espresso Parameters Daily?

FrontStreet Coffee uses a Lelit espresso machine with the following extraction parameters:

• Pressure: 9bar
• Temperature: 94°C
• Time: 30 sec
• Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:1.7~1:2
• Dose: 20g (double shot espresso)
• Extraction yield: 40ml (double shot)

Why Doesn't FrontStreet Coffee Provide Exact Extraction Parameters?

Coffee beans continue to release carbon dioxide every day after roasting, changing their flavor profile and affecting extraction stability. Everyone uses different espresso machines, and coffee beans are in different states, so naturally, the parameters won't be the same. Therefore, the parameters provided by FrontStreet Coffee are only reference values. You ultimately need to determine suitable parameters through tasting and adjustment.

How Does FrontStreet Coffee Extract Espresso?

First, remove the portafilter and knock out the coffee grounds. (Two things to note: First, always keep the portafilter locked into the group head to maintain temperature. Don't place it on the cup warmer or elsewhere, as a cold portafilter during brewing will lower the brew water temperature and cause off-flavors. Second, don't knock out the coffee grounds inside before brewing the next cup, as the copper group head at high temperatures can produce odors, and coffee grounds help absorb these odors.)

Lock the portafilter onto the group head and press the brew button to flush the portafilter and group head. Continuously shake the portafilter during this process to thoroughly rinse any coffee residue stuck to the group head. (Note: If you don't flush the group head before adding fresh coffee, the residue stuck to it will be extracted again, making the coffee bitter and astringent. Additionally, this serves as a pre-flush to prevent the brew water temperature from being too high, which would cause over-extraction.)

Next, use a dry cloth to completely wipe the filter basket inside the portafilter dry. (The filter must be absolutely dry. If there's water in the filter, the coffee grounds will get wet and the extraction process will begin before brewing, causing over-extraction. It will also cause the coffee grounds to clump, leading to uneven tamping. Also, wipe the portafilter spouts dry to prevent any coffee powder stuck there from falling into the cup.)

Then you can grind coffee beans and dose the grounds. (Note: Don't leave coffee in the doser. Grind fresh for each brew, as coffee grounds completely oxidize after a few minutes of air exposure, making the brewed coffee undrinkable. Some coffee shops habitually keep their dosers full, which is incorrect. The correct method is to quickly pull the doser lever while grinding, turn off the grinder when the portafilter is nearly full, and continue pulling the doser lever until all coffee grounds in the doser fall into the portafilter.)

After receiving enough coffee grounds, use a distribution tool to evenly distribute the coffee grounds in the basket. If the coffee grounds fall unevenly into the basket, subsequent tamping will cause parts of the puck to be denser while others are looser. Since water flow is inert, it will choose easier paths through the looser areas, extracting more from those parts while the denser areas are under-extracted, leading to uneven extraction and channeling.

Next comes tamping! After distributing the grounds, there may still be uneven gaps between coffee particles. Additionally, loose powder layers are easily dispersed by 9-bar hot water during extraction, causing channeling. Tamping the coffee layer makes the coffee grounds more compact, minimizing gaps between coffee particles and reducing the likelihood of channeling.

Lock the portafilter onto the group head. (Note: Press the brew button immediately after locking, then get your coffee cup. Also, the entire dosing and tamping process should be quick, as coffee grounds left too long in the hot portafilter will get scorched, making the coffee bitter.)

At this point, the coffee should flow out like a paste, not spray out. If the flow is too fast, it's likely due to grinding too coarse or tamping too lightly. It shouldn't drip out drop by drop either, as that would indicate grinding too fine or tamping too hard. Additionally, for the same person making espresso with the same grind size and extraction yield, the extraction time difference shouldn't exceed 1 second. Otherwise, it indicates inconsistent tamping pressure or uneven tamping, and the coffee flavor difference will be very noticeable. More practice is needed.)

Evaluating the Extraction

After extraction is complete, remove the portafilter. The surface of the coffee puck should be flat without any depressions, otherwise it indicates incorrect tamping and more practice is needed.

When the extracted espresso is mixed with water to make black coffee (Americano), if it enters the mouth without off-flavors or astringency, feels full-bodied rather than watery, and the bitterness disappears quickly after tasting, it means the espresso extraction meets basic requirements. Additionally, making 5-10 consecutive cups (with the same portafilter) should show no significant differences in extraction time or coffee flavor. Only then can the technique be considered basically stable.

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