What is an Espresso and How to Make it

What is an espresso? 

When selecting their preferred coffee, customers frequently gravitate towards espresso or espresso-based drinks such as cappuccinos, lattes, americanos, or macchiatos. Originating in Italy, espresso gained popularity for its rich taste and high caffeine content, providing a productive energy boost to start the day.

The secret behind the intense, smooth, and sweet taste of an espresso shot lies in its simple preparation: finely ground coffee combined with water. The balanced acidity and rounded body of the drink contribute to its popularity among customers. The way it is made holds the key to its favourability.

The term 'espresso' is derived from the Italian word for 'fast.' This name aptly reflects the drink's preparation method, which differs from traditional approaches where water filters through coffee under gravity's influence. Instead, espresso is made by rapidly adding water under high pressure in a short amount of time. The origins of espresso can be traced back to 1905 when the skilled craftsmen of La Pavoni introduced the first espresso boiler machine to the Italian market. Nowadays commercial coffee machines use at least 9 bars of pressure to make a high-quality espresso drink. 

Types of Espresso Beverage: Caffeine in an Espresso

With just two ingredients - finely ground coffee and water - you can create three different types of espresso, all determined by the coffee-water ratio and brewing time. In contrast to regular coffee, which typically takes a couple of minutes to brew, various types of espresso can be prepared much faster, ranging from 15 seconds to 1 minute.

1. Ristretto is the quickest espresso to make, and it's highly concentrated with the extracted beverage matching the amount of ground coffee used. This results in a thick beverage with a strong flavour and intense body, but with lower caffeine levels. For those who find this concentration of coffee flavours too much, exploring other espresso types is recommended.

2. Normale espresso is the type that most customers are accustomed to. It involves a larger amount of water, creating a balanced and less intense flavor with a 1:2 ratio (1 part coffee: 2 parts water). As caffeine needs to be diluted in water to reach the cup, a normale espresso will have more caffeine than ristretto due to the larger liquid volume.

3. Lungo stands for ‘long’. This type of espresso requires more water and goes up to a 1:3 coffee-to-water ratio. In a Lungo, the flavour and body intensity lowers, making the drink smoother. The increased volume of the drink also leads to higher caffeine levels.

Coffee Grind for Espresso

The ideal grind for espresso is fine rather than medium or coarse. This is because the water needs to pass through a portafilter under high pressure. If the grind is too large, the water will not have enough time to soak and extract all the coffee flavours properly. On the other hand, an extra-fine grind can lead to over-extraction, resulting in a bitter espresso or potential issues for the equipment in pushing the water through. Striking the right balance with a fine grind ensures a delicious and well-rounded espresso shot.

A good rule of thumb is to aim for an espresso grind that resembles the size and consistency of table salt, which is approximately 1/32 of an inch.

Mastering the art of coffee grinding can be challenging, which is why many automatic espresso machines come with built-in coffee grinding functionality. This convenient feature allows users to simply fill the machine with whole beans, eliminating the need for separate grinding steps.

Choosing the right grind is crucial for the brewing process and ultimately impacts the quality of the final drink. To learn more about how grinding size influences the process of coffee extraction check our List of essential elements for Coffee Brewing. 

Best Espresso Coffee Beans 

In addition to selecting your preferred flavour profile of the espresso beans, considering their freshness is equally as important. Beans that have just come out of the roaster have not yet undergone the degassing process and may not be the optimal choice for brewing espresso. Different types of brewing methods are best for beans of different freshness. However, the general concept is to use fresh espresso beans rather than stale ones. For espresso, the optimal timing would be around 1-2 weeks since roasting. This timeframe allows for one of espresso's key characteristics - its crema - to be achieved.

Crema formation in espresso relies on multiple factors, including the type of machine used, the bean variety and roast, and the degassing process. When using beans that haven't undergone sufficient degassing, the high levels of CO2 trapped inside the espresso beans can escape during brewing, impacting the crema quality.

When microbubbles appear in the portafilter as the coffee blooms with hot water, the extraction process becomes uneven, leading to uncontrolled turbulence. This inconsistency can result in varying flavours from cup to cup, making it challenging to achieve a uniform espresso quality.

Therefore, opting for beans that were roasted 1-2 weeks ago will yield a creamy-looking top layer to your drink, preventing your espresso from tasting like a regular strong dark coffee. Stale beans, on the other hand, are less likely to produce the desired crema when brewed.

How to make an espresso?

The steps and peculiarities of making espresso using a commercial coffee machine are as follows:

1. Switch the machine on
2. Check the pressure
   • The boiler pressure should be maintained between 1.0 and 1.2 bars to ensure proper water temperature and steam levels for machine operation.
   • When starting the pump, ensure the extraction pressure at the group head is at least 9 bars to extract the coffee properly.
3. Adjust key extraction parameters, such as brewing time and grind level:
   • Based on the taste of the espresso shot as it comes out, consider adjusting, like fine-tuning the grind size or adjusting the brewing time, to achieve the desired flavour profile.

Dialing in an espresso machine can be a time-consuming process that requires practice. When making parameter changes, it's essential to adjust one element at a time to observe the specific impact each adjustment has on the final drink.

Crafting exceptional espresso with the NESCAFE Premium Bean-to-Cup Commercial Machine has never been easier. Simply fill it with freshly roasted beans of the right freshness and select the espresso option to initiate the process. Our Premium espresso machine employs cutting-edge technology to handle the grinding and brewing, ensuring the delivery of an outstanding drink with every cup.

If you're facing challenges finding the right equipment and instructions for using it, We Proudly Serve Starbucks® offers Commercial coffee served solutions to provide your customers with their favourite handcrafted beverages. You will get support from dedicated trainers to train your barista team to serve the perfect drink in conditions tailored to your business needs.