ESPRESSO

If you've discovered your love for espresso and are looking for a detailed guide rather than quick tips, you've come to the right place! Let's say from the beginning that making a good espresso requires patience and practice. It's not just about the techniques and equipment, but also the reasons behind them. If you master these reasons and take your steps in order, everything will become clear. Espresso making is a meticulous and complex task, in fact it is as much an art as it is a science. The moment you catch the right balance; You will feel the harmony between fluidity, sweetness and depth. In this guide, we will discuss each stage separately. By following the 3 steps below, it is possible to capture different tastes with different coffees, depending on the profile you want. Are you ready to create wonders at home and fascinate your friends?

Step One: DOSING AND GRINDING

After grinding the coffee, you should compress the coffee in the basket with a tamper. Make sure the basket is not damp beforehand. While doing this, you should apply a balanced pressure of approximately 15 kg, neither too light nor too excessive. You should make sure that the coffee bed is flat after the compression process. Our starting point is coffee dosage. The metal basket in which the coffee will be brewed may vary from machine to machine. In our recipe, we use a 20 gram 58 mm basket. Therefore, we should determine the optimum amount of coffee that the chamber will receive and never change it. The grinding fineness should be in the range of powder and sea sand. You can think of this delicacy as 1.5-2 on a scale of 1 to 10.

Step Two: BREWING

Generally home type machines start heating the water as soon as the button is pressed. This negatively affects the brewing. For this reason, before brewing, drain some hot water through the group head. Since 1:2 coffee to water ratio is ideal, draw approximately 2 times the amount of espresso as the coffee dosage. You can also try 4 grams below and 4 grams above. You can taste these three brews, determine the grammage of the coffee you like, and move on to the third and final step.

20 grams / 36 gr / 28 sec: dense, sour
20 grams / 40 grams / 30 sec: balanced
20 grams / 44 gr / 32 sec: watery, bland
We fix 20 gr / 40 gr and move on to the third and last step.



Step Three: FINE TUNINGS

If the end result is beautiful but requires a final tweak, you can do so by changing the grinding setting. If you grind it finer, the time will be longer and the taste will be more bitter. If you grind coarser, the water will flow faster and go towards the sour taste. Consume with pleasure!

20 gr / 40 gr / 28 sec: sour, intense
20 gr / 40 gr / 30 sec: balanced
20 gr / 40 gr / 32 sec: bitter

TIPS AND TRICKS

It is very important to keep the equipment clean. After each brewing, be sure to clean it with hot water and rinse it with a clean cloth. You don't want bad flavors from the previous brew to mix with your coffee.

Do not forget to clean the group head with hot water before installing the porta filter into the machine. Coffee residues from the previous brew negatively affect the taste of the coffee.

You can keep the water temperature between 94°C and 96°C. If you want a hotter coffee, you can keep hot water in the cup to warm it up.

You can use a precision scale for a more consistent and confident brew.

After using the milk heating rods in coffee with milk, be sure to wipe them with a wet cloth. Because milk that is not wiped off is not only unhygienic but can also cause permanent damage to the stick.

Ground your coffee fresh before each brewing. Pre-ground coffee will become stale, causing loss of aroma and taste.

Be sure to use clean drinking water. Its hardness and mineral level will highlight the taste and aroma appropriate to the coffee.