Latte: A latte is made by combining espresso with steamed milk and a small amount of foam.Many of your favorite drinks are made with espresso. This produces the most consistent and flavorful espresso.Drinks You Can Make With Espresso Teerapong mahawan/Įspresso drinks are made by combining a shot of espresso with milk, syrup, foam, or other ingredients for flavor. The steam is then forced through the coffee grounds by hand or machine pumping. The water is kept at slightly below boiling temperature (approximately 192☏), with a buildup of steam pressure measured in atmospheres. Pump units are the types of machines used in espresso bars, and are the best investment for the true espresso addict. These units produce an acceptable cup of espresso and are best for those folks who want espresso on an occasional to semi-regular basis. The countertop pressure machines are fairly lightweight and have a steam wand for frothing milk. There is no crema, and the resulting product can sometimes have an almost burnt flavor. The higher temperature of the steam-driven, boiling-hot water that is forced through the grounds is the culprit. Widely used in Europe, they are considered inferior by many espresso connoisseurs today, because they produce a pretty bitter espresso. The stovetop boilers, called Moka pots are fairly inexpensive, small, two part espresso pots. The steam models are the stovetop boilers and many countertop pressure units. There are two ways to make espresso, steam and pump. Photo Courtesy Sweet Maria's Coffee Roastery Whether hand-crank or electric, a burr grinder slices the beans into controlled, sized pieces, optimizing the flavor extraction. It is generally agreed that blade grinders (the kind that, as a button is depressed, a blade rotates) produce a very poor quality grind, because they chop and pulverize the beans, rather than grind them. This provides the proper resistance to the water being forced through it. Almost powder-like, yet slightly gritty, like the consistency of superfine sugar. To ensure maximum flavor and aroma, beans should be ground as close to brewing as possible.Įspresso grind is much finer than regular brew coffee. Once ground, the oils in the coffee beans are exposed to air, beginning to oxidize and lose flavor almost immediately.

shot of dark coffee concentrate possessing a strong, slightly bitter-sweet flavor and an almost syrupy consistency. One espresso requires 7 to 9 grams (about ½ tablespoon) of ground coffee beans per 2 ounces (4 tablespoons) of water. Note that the consistency is almost like powdered sugar. The beans are ground very finely - much finer than for drip coffee makers. It's actually the past participle of the word esprimere, which means, 'to express' or 'to press out.' So caffè espresso literally means 'pressed-out coffee.' Espresso is generally attributed to originating in Italy around the 1900s, when Luigi Bezzera filed a patent for a machine that forced boiling water and steam through coffee grind into a cup.Ĭoffee beans (left) and ground coffee(right). Although many people believe the word espresso is an adaptation or translation of Italian for 'express'(as in 'fast') because espresso is made and served immediately, that's not the case. Pronounced ess-press-o, not eX-press-o, espresso is an Italian word, shortened from caffè espresso. The word can also refer to the product resulting from this process - as in 'I'll have a cup of espresso, please.' Espresso does not refer to a particular type of bean, but rather a process of extracting the flavor from ground coffee beans by a combination of not-quite-boiling-hot water and pressure. Since the end of the tube is under water, the pressure forces the hot water up through the tube.

When the water is heated over a fire, pressure builds inside the vessel, and the only way for it to escape is up the tube, through the coffee and out of the tube in the top.

Whats espresso