Espresso Coffee - How to Make an Excellent Espresso at Home

Home Espresso Machine BEST SELLERS

Espresso is strongly brewed coffee made by forcing steam and hot water

through darkly roasted and finely ground coffee beans. The aroma of

espresso makes it especially hard for many coffee lovers to resist.

Coffee aficionados the world over know that a shot of excellent

espresso is crucial to making a good cup of coffee. There are a

variety of espresso machines in the market that can produce great

tasting espresso.

So how do you make a great cup of espresso? Here are the basic steps:

1. Remove coffee ground residue of the previous shot in the shot

holder before using the espresso machine to make a new cup of

espresso.

2. Have adequate ground coffee ready and place it in the grinder hopper.

3. Release seven grams of the ground coffee into the shot holder,

making sure that you get a full pull as you do so.

4. Using a hand tamper, even out the coffee grounds. Tamp only once

and do not twist the tamper as you tamp the coffee grounds. By doing

this, you are assured that the hot water and steam will evenly extract

the coffee. You can also correctly gauge the pressure if you use a

hand held tamper to pack down the coffee grounds as well as remove

excess coffee grounds from the shot holder.

5. Secure the shot holder in place and lock the espresso machine

handle so that water does not leak as it passes through the coffee

grounds at a high pressure.

6. Position a warmed up espresso cup under the the espresso machine’s

coffee holder spout. Start the espresso machine. Keep an eye on the

the color and consistency of the brew coming out of the spout. In 15

to 20 seconds, you should have about 1.5 ounces of freshly brewed

espresso in the cup.

Making a well-brewed cup of espresso does take time and practice. The

presence of a creamy honey-colored foam called crema that is about a

quarter of an inch thick sitting on the coffee’s surface is a sign

that you have successfully made an excellent cup of espresso. And if a

teaspoon of sugar can rest on the crema, you can probably consider

yourself an espresso guru!

The crema is the result of several important factors: the coffee

blend, fineness of the coffee ground, extraction time, water

temperature and amount of coffee used. You achieve a perfect cup of

espresso every time if you can consistently attain an optimum mix of

these factors.

* Most espresso aficionados will agree that the coffee blend should

include some Robusta beans.

* Several reasons could account for a dark color of crema: too much

coffee grounds may have been used; the coffee grounds were packed too

hard and too tightly in the shot holder, resulting to a longer

extraction time of the coffee; the coffee grounds used was too fine;

or too much water was used.

* There are several reasons, too, for less crema: the coffee used may

not have been enough; the time it took to extract the coffee may have

been too short since the coffee used was coarsely ground; there was

not enough water to pass through the coffee; the coffee grounds were

packed too lightly in the shot holder; or the water that passed

through the coffee was not hot enough.

* If the espresso machine, shot holder or cup is cold, it may affect

the amount of crema produced.

Espresso can be served as it comes out of the espresso machine or it

can be served in a variety of ways. In fact, many of the specialty

coffee drinks today has espresso as their base. Some of the specialty

coffee drinks that have a shot of espresso include macchiato (espresso

topped with foamed milk), espresso con panna (espresso topped with

whipped cream), cappuccino (espresso with milk and foam), café latte

(espresso with milk, but without the foam), mocha (espresso blended

with milk and chocolate syrup) and Americano (a “weakened” espresso

made by adding warm water).

Before you leave, take a look at the BEST SELLERS in Home Espresso machines

Source by Tom Jensen
Espresso Coffee - How to Make an Excellent Espresso at Home