Espresso Gourmet Coffee Online

Espresso is an approach to extracting flavor from gourmet coffee beans. The basic principles are to extract only the best part, using water which is not quite boiling and under a lot of pressure. The "best part" and "not quite boiling" bits are critical to making good gourmet coffee by any means, while "a lot of pressure" is a neat trick to manage at the same time.

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A Guide To Making Espresso

Always use good quality roasted gourmet coffee beans that are as fresh as possible, and a good burr grinder (rather than a blade grinder) that has a good range of adjustments.

Fill the larger (double shot) filter basket without tapping the handle or pressing the ground coffee down. Level off the loose ground coffee by sliding a straight finger (or something similar such as a knife blade) back and forth across the top edge of the filter basket filling any gaps in the ground coffee and brushing off any excess (this should give you approximately 14 to 17 grams of ground coffee in the filter basket).

Next you need to "tamp" the coffee, ideally using a good solid hand-held tamper. The first press with the tamper should be very light and will leave some ground coffee up the inside walls of the filter basket. Firmly tap the side of the filter basket with the back of the tamper to topple this wall of ground coffee into the filter basket and to knock any remaining loose coffee off the top edges of the filter handle. Brush off any excess ground coffee that is not inside the filter basket with your finger. Then firmly tamp the ground coffee down into the filter basket (experts recommend 30lbs of force) making sure to keep the bottom of the tamper horizontal, twisting the tamper as you release the pressure so as to "polish" the surface of the tamped coffee. Finally fit the filter handle onto the group head and you are ready to draw your espresso shot.

You should measure the amount of coffee that is extracted by placing a shot glass with a line at 1 fluid ounce under one of the spouts (as you are using a double filter basket you can place an ordinary espresso cup under the other spout). You then need to time from the moment you operate the switch/lever for drawing your espresso until the moment the top of the crema reaches the 1 fluid ounce line on the shot glass. This should take 20 to 25 seconds. If the espresso comes out too fast (takes less than 20 seconds) you should adjust your grinder to make the ground coffee finer, and if it comes out too slowly (more than 25 seconds) you should adjust your grinder to make the ground coffee more coarse. Keep repeating this process until you obtain 1 fluid ounce in 20 to 25 seconds and then you will have calibrated your grinder and will be getting the best espresso you can from your machine. If you have a group head pressure gauge on the machine you should now find it shows close to 9 bar while you draw your espresso.

The procedure is identical if you are using the single filter basket except you will only be using around 7 to 8 grams of ground coffee.

You should repeat this calibration process regularly as it is affected by the type of coffee beans and their freshness and, to a lesser degree, the ambient temperature and humidity.

COFFEE STORAGE

Coffee should be stored in glass airtight containers in a cool, dark place, and protected from sharp swings in humidity and temperature. The fridge and freezer are out! Freezing gives one the satisfaction of having done something decisive, at the coffee's expense. Would you freeze wine? For coffee, the temperature swings attract condensation, and destroy the delicate balance of the oils. The beans suck in food smells like they were first cousins to baking soda, and end up tasting like old ice. In and out of the freezer enough times, and you might as well be drinking dandelion coffee.

I recommend buying half a dozen 8 ounce Ball wide mouthed jelly jars (with mason bands and gasket lids), filling them at the time of purchase. (The truly obsessed might consider the 4 ounce jars.) A pound of beans will fill most or all of them, epending on the roast. Seal tightly, and label/date the lids using peel-off labels (two cut up address labels will do the dozen; label then cut). Don't overfill, and keep the gaskets clean, or you won't get a good seal. Store them in a cool, dark place, and open one at a time as needed. This system minimizes the total exposure to oxygen and humidity.

I ran an experiment, with three blends each spending the month in jelly jars in a cupboard, the fridge, and the freezer. I let each jar return to room temperature before comparing. They were all lousy substitutes for fresh beans, but the colder storage methods actually held up better. It seems that a single visit protected by a good seal escapes most of the dire consequences of fridge storage, and that the one-time damage of freezing is compensated for by the slowing down of time. But why keep coffee this long? Room temperature storage wins hands down for the first week or two.

Bear in mind that coffee beans release CO2, mostly in the first day or two after roasting. If your beans are too freshly roasted, you might think about holding off on "canning" them. In fact, I've never blown up a jar, although sometimes they ping and let out an aromatic whoosh on opening. I don't worry about this.

STORAGE ATMOSPHERE
It would be interesting to experiment with atmosphere replacement. The cutting edge in the wine community is Argon gas, an inert, invisible gas heavier than air, used by some wine buffs such as the Wine Club (San Francisco) to top off part-bottles for storage between tastings. You could probably talk such a place into filling an empty bottle for you. You might want to create some mood fog, by throwing dry ice into a nearby container of water, to see what you're doing while you learn how to pour into your storage containers.
Following up on this, I spoke with Ken at the Wine Club retail shop at 953 Harrison St, San Francisco. He had a home Argon tank system put together for under $100 ($18 refills but a tank hold a lot) by Jim at their Argon supplier, Altair Gases and Equipment Inc., San Ramon, CA 94583. The customers in the vicinity all weighed in with opinions that Argon gas was readily available throughout the country. Ken got this system for wine, but as long as it's around the house, he also uses it to store freshly roasted nuts. It turns out that these units release a reliable volume of Argon gas per minute, so one can just blindly use a timer to displace known volumes of air. He made the astute observation that one should first fill the storage containers with Argon gas, and then drop in the coffee beans. (Think of which order would create fewer air pockets if you were instead filling with water.) I would top off afterwards, too, for good measure.

A Short Guide To Frothing Milk

The first question is always whether to froth the milk first and then make the espresso, or to make the espresso first and then froth the milk. It is, of course, your choice but there are a few factors that may affect your decision.

If you do not have an expensive espresso machine that has a heat exchanger (or dual boilers) then frothing the milk first will affect the temperature of the water, boiler, and group head and your espresso shot will be affected, so in this case we would recommend drawing your espresso shot first. If you are lucky enough to have an expensive espresso machine with a heat exchanger (or dual boilers) then you can froth the milk without detriment to the temperature stability of the water for the espresso. The frothed milk will last long enough for you to draw your espresso shot (particularly if you "work" the frothed milk (see below) and the crema on your espresso will be at its best.

You will need a jug in which to froth the milk. This should ideally be stainless steel and you will probably need one that has a capacity of about 0.6 liters. You may also want to use a milk frothing thermometer to help you obtain the right temperature.

The milk you use can make a big difference. You need to use full cream or semi-skimmed milk, avoid skimmed milk. The brand, batch and time of year can also make a difference! If you are having trouble frothing milk it is always worth trying milk from different supermarkets.

Fill the jug about one third full with COLD milk (the jug should be cold or at room temperature as well). If necessary, prepare your espresso machine for producing steam. Run some steam for a few seconds into an empty cup or something similar (you may be able to direct the steam wand into the drip tray of the machine) just to empty any condensed water from the steam wand.

Position the tip of the steam wand in the milk, near the bottom (this prevents the milk from spattering at the start), and open the tap for the steam. Immediately move the tip of the steam wand to the surface of the milk because it needs to suck in a little air to produce the froth. This is the tricky bit. If you bring it too close to the surface you will start to get large bubbles and there is a risk of spattering milk everywhere - conversely if it is not close enough to the surface you will not draw in any air and you will not get any froth! Just a few millimeters can make all the difference. If you can create a whirlpool motion in the milk so much the better as this will mix the bubbles throughout the milk and result in an even texture throughout.

As the froth starts to build the level of the milk will rise (this stage is called "stretching" the milk). You must lower the jug as the milk level rises to keep the tip near the surface and continue drawing in some air. Keep going until you have introduced the amount of froth you want into the milk, the volume of milk will probably be about double the original volume, or until the point where the bottom of the jug starts to get too hot to hold. Then move the tip of the steam wand very slowly and smoothly down into the milk towards the bottom of the jug. This will distribute the froth through the milk lower down and heats the milk to the final temperature you want to reach.

Once you reach this point you should turn off the steam tap and remove the steam wand from the milk. Release a small amount of steam into an empty cup or something similar for a few seconds to empty any milk from the steam wand and wipe it clean with a damp cloth (terry toweling or microfibre cloths are ideal). If you are not using a machine with a heat exchanger or dual boilers don't forget to switch off the steam switch on the machine and refill the boiler.

The resulting frothed milk should be at about 70 to 72 degrees Centigrade (158 to 162 degrees Fahrenheit). If you are using a thermometer you will need to finish the frothing process at a slightly lower temperature because the thermometer takes a moment to "catch up" with the actual temperature of the milk. Specialized milk frothing thermometers have a colored band from about 60 to 70 degrees Centigrade (140 to 160 degrees Fahrenheit) so that you finish frothing when the needle enters the colored band and by the time the thermometer has caught up it should be at the correct temperature at top end of the colored band.

If you have some large bubbles on the surface of the milk you can bang the jug down onto the working surface. This will break the larger bubbles which are weaker than the smaller ones. You can then "work" the milk to achieve an even consistency throughout by slopping it from side to side (trying to keep it in the jug!) and gently swirling it. Finally pour the required amount of frothed milk onto your espresso.

Once you have mastered frothing milk you can start practicing "latte art" - making intricate patterns with the crema and frothed milk (and sometimes chocolate) on the surface of your drink!

Findyourcoffee.com your Gourmet Coffee Marketplace

Introduction to Espresso Gourmet Coffee

A Guide To Making Espresso

COFFEE STORAGE

A Short Guide To Frothing Milk