By FrankNo matter how much talent you have for brewing a cup of coffee, an espresso still always seems to taste better at the café or restaurant than at home from your own coffee machine. Why is that? And what can you do about it to make the perfect cup of espresso without having to dig very deep to buy a professional machine. Here I have five tips that can help you brew the perfect espresso.
Preparing for espresso
You can’t make espresso without the right coffee maker. Not everyone has an espresso machine at home. If so, we definitely recommend you look on the internet and invest in one. This black drink created under pressure (presso) is considered the basis for many other coffee drinks such as cappuccino and americano.
Only buy coffee in beans
I have stopped buying ground coffee packs for a long time. This is because it has been proven that if you grind coffee beans, the aromas, moisture and flavour of the coffee drops by about 60 per cent within 5 to 10 minutes. So the best espresso is made with freshly ground coffee beans. So for this you will need to buy a coffee grinder or bean grinder if you don’t already have one. Coffee beans should not be left lying around too long, because they can become stale and that is not good.
Always check the roast date
The roast date should always be right. That means that for the best cup of espresso, you should use beans that are ground and used for your espresso exactly three weeks after roasting. If you use the beans too soon, they may still contain some gases and substances that are not very tasty. If you wait too long, the beans may become stale and, as I said, this too is not tasty.
Give your beans a good grind
I think this is one of the most important aspects of brewing the perfect espresso. The grind has to be just right. If the coffee grind is slightly too coarse, then the water pressed through the filter under pressure does not have enough time to absorb the properties (flavour and aroma) of the coffee. If it is ground too finely, the water absorbs too much flavour and aroma and the cup becomes very bitter. Finding this golden mean may well take about ten cups of practice.
Press the coffee grounds well
Once you have ground the coffee beans, scoop the filter three-quarters full with these freshly ground coffee beans and press it with a tamper. If you don’t have a tamper, really invest in this. It’s best to put quite a bit of pressure on the coffee so that it sits tightly in the filter. Coffee grounds should not fall out of the filter if you hold it upside down.
Keep the right espresso time
An espresso should be made in a time span of exactly 24 to 30 seconds. It should not be longer as this will burn the coffee and make it very bitter. It should not be shorter either, because then you will have a very dirty and syrupy coffee that becomes very watery. Again, it may take some time before you actually master it. That’s not a bad thing.
This is how to make the perfect espresso
You probably know the characteristics of a good espresso – there should be a beautiful cream on the black substance. Also, black coffee should leave a good flavour, not too sour and not too bitter. As I mentioned, it can take quite a while to fully master everything, but once you succeed, you won’t unlearn.