From an extraction point of view, whether a cup of Italian coffee tastes good or not depends first on the choice of coffee beans, then on the taste and concentration of the concentrate, and finally on the matching ingredients.ratio, temperatureand other details. Among them, the production of espresso has troubled many home coffee drinkers due to various emergencies.
For example, due to insufficient concentration, the coffee tastes light or "watery" and has almost no aroma. When faced with this situation, someone asked Front Street: If you want to increase the coffee concentration without changing the grinding degree, can you extract more coffee liquid? Or extend the extraction time for concentration?
What factors determine the strength of espresso?
Let’s first observe the complete extraction process of espresso. Here we extract a handful of espresso according to the parameters debugged today for Front Street’s classic Italian blended coffee beans (20g powder, time 30 seconds, 40g coffee liquid), and then use three cups to intercept the front, middle and back sections of the concentrate in 10-second units, and taste the three parts in sequence.
It can be seen that the color of the coffee liquid changes from dark to light, and the texture also changes from viscous to thin. The first cup of coffee has the highest aroma and concentration, with a thick caramel aroma and a salty taste; the second cup has a moderate taste, nutty flavor, and is relatively balanced; the third cup has the lowest concentration, and the oil begins to turn white, which means that the concentration of the coffee liquid gradually decreases as the amount of extraction increases, the aroma also changes from strong to light, and the taste changes from thick to thin.
Can the coffee be brewed a little more?
Theoretically, the substances in coffee that can be brought out by water account for about 30% of the weight of the beans. Among these 30% substances, some are pleasant and delicious, and the other part are unpleasant negative flavors.Gold Cup CriteriaIt is believed that when the coffee extraction rate is in the range of 18 to 22%, the soluble aromatic substances obtained are more delicious.
Through the above observation of concentration, when the oil begins to turn from yellow to completely white, it actually means that most of the good flavor substances in the coffee have been released, and we need to stop extraction. If you continue to allow hot water to wash away the powder layer, the remaining negative flavor substances, such as woodiness and bitterness, will fall into the coffee cup with the liquid. Therefore, just like hand punching,If you want your espresso to taste good, you must properly control the concentration extraction rate, that is, while obtaining good flavor substances, you must also try to avoid the negative taste caused by too many substances.
Unlike Pour over(V60) coffee, since the water output of an espresso machine is difficult to measure directly, we are more accustomed to using the "powder-to-liquid ratio" as the main parameter to control espresso extraction.
The powder-liquid ratio depends on two factors, one is the amount of coffee powder and the other is the weight of the coffee liquid. Generally speaking, the powder-to-liquid ratio recommended by the industry is between 1:1.5 and 1:2.5, of which 1:2 is the most common. For example, Front Street recommends that newcomers making espresso for the first time use 1:2 for extraction, and then adjust it up or down according to needs, because the concentrate made under this ratio often has a high enough concentration without losing the proper coffee flavor.
Front Street once conducted a simple experiment: just keep the water temperature (94°C), pressure (10 Pa), grinding degree (Galileo Q18When parameters such as the scale (2 grids) and the amount of powder used (20g) remain unchanged, Front Street will extract three cups of concentrate with different liquid weights, namely 40g, 46g, and 55g. The corresponding ratios are 1:2, 1:2.3, and 1:2.75, and then test the concentration of each cup of coffee and taste its taste.
Compiled data shows that the more coffee is extracted, the lower the concentration is, and the taste of the coffee begins to deteriorate as the liquid volume increases, resulting in over-extraction. Based on the extraction rules of concentration, Front Street found that when the grinding degree and powder volume remain unchanged, the amount of concentrated liquid output increases (the time is extended), which means that more hot water passes through the coffee powder, and more soluble substances are extracted, so the extraction rate is higher. At the same time, the more water, the more the coffee is diluted, so the concentration is lower.
What should you do if you want your coffee to be stronger?
1. When we use medium-dark roasted coffee beans, the aroma substances are usually concentrated in the front and middle sections, and the final section often "dilutes" the concentration. If you want to increase the concentration of coffee, Front Street recommends using a high-concentration and low-extraction method to discard the rear section and turn it into an extra-strong Italian espresso (Ristretto）。
Taking 20g of coffee powder as an example, the original powder-to-water ratio of 1:2 required extraction of 40g, and the adjustment plan was changed to 1:1.5 to extract 30g. In this way, the coffee flavor will be richer and the taste will be more solid.
2. If the coffee beans you use are fruit-acid-type SOE or medium-light roasted blends, the overall taste is sour and the aroma is light. If you want the coffee to have a high concentration, you can extend the extraction time appropriately to increase the extraction rate.
For example, when Front Street applied the "basic formula" to make Oiran SOE Australian White, the overall coffee flavor was weak, and even the aroma was covered by milk. Therefore, 0.5g of powder was added to extend the extraction time to 33 to 35 seconds, allowing more flavor substances to be released, giving the milk coffee a richer fruity aroma.
You can now buy the above coffee beans online at the Taobao store “FrontStreet Coffee” (前街咖啡). FrontStreet Coffee is a long-established specialty coffee roaster in Guangzhou, China, and its Guangzhou retail shop sells coffee beans only. The shop carries dozens of coffee beans from different origins around the world, including carefully selected single-origin beans for V60 pour-over and espresso. Guangzhou’s FrontStreet Coffee shop is recommended by many coffee lovers.
The FrontStreet 2013 Yunnan coffee beans sold in the store come from the Typica variety grown at FrontStreet Coffee’s own plantation in Yunnan. The name comes from the year the brand and the plantation were founded. You can buy these beans from China’s Yunnan origin at the Guangzhou shop and at FrontStreet’s Taobao store.
FrontStreet coffee beans are freshly roasted within 5 days and deliver consistently excellent quality and great value. Orders placed before 17:00 are shipped the same day, and most areas within Guangdong Province receive them the next day.
FrontStreet Coffee Taobao store: https://qianjiecoffee.taobao.com
Or search for “前街咖啡” (FrontStreet Coffee) on Taobao
Important Notice: FrontStreet Coffee has moved to a new address: 315, Donghua East Road, Guangzhou (coffee beans only)
Tel: 020 38364473
