Friends often report to Front Street that they bought a new coffee machine but don’t know how to make a standard cup of espresso. I don’t know exactly how much powder should be used, how much liquid should be extracted, or how long it should take.
And even if you follow the popular extraction formula such as "use 18g of powder to extract 36ml of coffee liquid", the final coffee will be under-extracted because the extraction time is too short, and it will taste extremely sour. Then ask Front Street whether you should adjust the water temperature, pressure, water volume, or grind it in this situation.This is a problem that many friends will encounter when they first get started. It is because there are many relevant tutorials on the market and the knowledge they learn is too broad, which makes them not know how to make adjustments. So today Front Street will share how we can make a relatively standard cup of espresso.The adjustment of espresso is actually very simple. We can adjust it around three parameters: powder volume, ratio, and time/grinding. For other things like water temperature, pressure, and powder bowl, Front Street does not recommend that beginners adjust them. The first is that it is troublesome to adjust, and the second is that it is not necessary, just keep them at the factory settings. When you become familiar with the extraction logic of espresso in the future, it is not too late to learn about these.(It will even get started faster)Among these three parameters, the amount and ratio of powder will hardly change much. What we mainly adjust is the grinding. Because the extraction of espresso requires a certain amount of head space between the powder and the brewing head, the powder bowl will have a recommended powder volume range, and we can use the powder amount according to that recommendation. Then there are also similarities in the powder-to-liquid ratio.If you are drinking it concentrated or mixed with water to make American style or long black, it doesn't matter what the ratio of powder to liquid is. But if you want to use this concentrate to make milk coffee such as latte, Australian white, cappuccino, etc., then Front Street will recommend that you not make too many adjustments to the liquid volume, and try to control it at around 1:2. Why? Because this will affect the strength of the espresso.Whether in"Why 1:2 is the golden powder-liquid ratio for espresso"In this article, it is still"What is the difference between original extract, essence and full extract"As mentioned in this article, the ratio of powder to liquid determines the concentration of coffee. As long as the extraction rate remains unchanged, the greater the ratio, the higher the concentration of coffee, and vice versa.When we use espresso as the base to make various fancy coffees, it is best for the espresso to have a higher concentration. Because if the concentration is too low, the coffee produced will have a heavier watery feel and taste watery, weak, and bland because the concentration is not high enough, which dilutes the overall taste.That 1:2 is a powder-to-liquid ratio that allows espresso to have a higher concentration. Many Italian coffees are made with this ratio of espresso as the base. So if you need to use espresso to make milk coffee, the best powder-liquid ratio used during extraction is about 1:2.(Not fixed, can be adjusted slightly)After the ratio and powder amount are fixed, the only thing we can adjust is the grinding degree. The grinding degree affects the particle size of the coffee powder, and the particle size of the coffee powder determines the resistance of the powder cake, which in turn affects the extraction time.In other words, we can adjust the grinding speed according to time. If the extraction time is faster than expected, then we need to adjust the grinding to be finer. If it is slower than expected, then we need to adjust the grinding to be coarser. Then the question comes again, how many seconds is this time?Front Street Association recommends controlling it within 30 seconds, that is, within the range of 26 seconds to 34 seconds. This time period combined with a powder-to-liquid ratio of 1:2 can allow coffee to obtain a relatively suitable extraction rate. Improper extraction situations such as over-extraction and under-extraction are not prone to occur. Finally, we can fine-tune it according to the taste of the coffee.Take Front Street as an example. The recommended amount of powder in the powder bowl used by Front Street is 20g. Then the amount of powder we use is 20g. Then according to the powder-liquid ratio of 1:2, the liquid output is 40ml and the time is set at 30 seconds.If we extract 40ml of coffee liquid in only 10 seconds, then at this time, we need to adjust the grinding degree of the coffee powder. Each adjustment of Front Street's grinder will affect the extraction time by 3 to 5 seconds. Because there is a difference of 15 seconds from the set time, Front Street needs to grind in a finer direction.(In the direction of smaller numbers)Adjust 4~6 grids.After the grinding is adjusted, we re-grind the powder for extraction. If the time falls within the set range, it is naturally the best. And if not, then we can also try the taste to see if the taste performs well. If the performance is good, then we can accept such parameters. We don’t have to be too step-by-step and require that the parameters must fall within the set range.And if the time falls within the set range, but the taste performance is not very pleasing, then we can judge whether it is over-extraction or under-extraction based on the taste of the coffee, and then make subtle adjustments in the amount of powder and liquid.For example, if the coffee is bitter, it may be over-extraction. Then we can reduce the amount of liquid to lower the extraction rate, and then see if the extracted coffee still has the taste of over-extraction. If the coffee is under-extracted, then we can increase the extraction rate of the coffee by slightly increasing the powder volume or liquid weight.So, the above is an introductory tutorial for novices to make espresso. It is very simple~ If you still don’t understand, please leave a comment in the comment area or backstage, and let’s discuss the solution together~
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
