Setting The Base For A Great Shot!

From the beans to the foundation of all specialty coffees, let’s start espress-ing our love for Espresso!

What do you first think of when you think of espresso?

Some of you might associate espressos with shots, bitterness, intensity or even a style of roasting, but that’s not exactly right.

The term ‘Espresso’ refers to an intense, concentrated, black coffee that is produced by running pressurised water of at least 9 bars through finely ground coffee. That’s over four-times as much pressure as what you would find in a car tire!

It is this intense pressure that gets you your espresso in a matter of seconds, especially when compared to other methods like a filter coffee.

Traditionally, an espresso would involve a 25 second brew and a resulting output of 30ml of liquid - but in many third wave coffee shops, this volume could vary.

Tried an espresso? You might remember a burst of bitterness and that is actually derived from being produced with darker roasted beans. A well-pulled espresso, however, can actually be described as sweet with a pleasantly acidic taste.

Visually, you might notice that an espresso is not all brown. A layer of gold on the surface of the espresso might catch your eye!

That layer is known as crema and it is the result of carbon dioxide being produced when water comes into contact with coffee. Coffee oils trap this gas to form the shiny layer. Contrary to popular belief, crema is not an indicator of the taste of espresso, but it can tell you the roast profile of the coffee.

Espresso too boring for you? Looking for little twist?

You can also try the Espresso Macchiato. Simply add a dollop of milk foam and have an added level of texture to your tiny shot of energy.

Why is it called a macchiato though?

We’ll get to that in the next post!