 |
The Art of Espresso Good espresso is difficult to get in America for a number of reasons. First of all, very few of the people who make espresso in restaurants or cafés ever drink it. Espresso is sublime when brewed properly and awful when not. There is no way you can make good espresso if you don't taste it. It’s like a chef never tasting his food; how does he know if it’s any good?
Espresso is a fairly new method of coffee brewing (a little over a hundred years old) and was the result of the desire to make a good cup of coffee quickly. Brewed coffee doesn’t last long before it begins to taste old; it's very perishable. That is why there was interest in making very flavorful coffee one cup at a time and being able to serve coffee to many customers without taking too long.
Espresso Dosing
With espresso, the coffee is ground very finely and dosed 7 grams per 1.5 fl.oz. of water. A double shot is almost always brewed rather then a single shot and is 14grams of coffee and 3 fl.oz of water.The water is heated to about 192° F and forced through the grounds under pressure. The result is a small demitasse of coffee with intense flavor in about 20-25 seconds.
The Importance of Extraction Time
I love espresso, but it must be properly made to taste good. I'll never forget my first taste of espresso. It was in a Wisconsin restaurant. Being somewhat adventurous, I wanted to try it. It was horrible. I thought, "Who would ever want to drink this stuff?" It was bitter and foul tasting, and it was years before I tried it again.
I finally tasted espresso as it was meant to be brewed, and it was a revelation: rich, full-bodied, wonderfully flavorful and even a bit sweet. The difference? The care with which it was brewed. The same beans can taste awful if the shot is brewed too long, overextracting the coffee and bringing all of the bitterness out. If the shot time is too short, the espresso is thin and less flavorful. The beauty of espresso is that it quickly extracts all the flavor oils out of the coffee leaving behind the less water soluble bitter tastes. That's why a shot time that is too long produces a bitter brew.
How Much Water
The amount of water is important too. As a rule, it's better to use too little water than too much. My favorite form of espresso is the ristretto shot, which uses 3/4 oz of water per shot. It's very concentrated but what great flavor. Again, with the proper roast of coffee and high quality bean blend and properly brewed, it's not bitter, it's wonderful. Once you've tasted a properly made ristretto, you'll probably think regular espresso is too weak. |
|
