Making A Perfect Espresso Coffee

You know… making delicious espresso drinks will be an important building block to your business success… and while accomplishing this goal isn’t rocket science, there’s some definite do’s and don’ts you need to understand. So let’s explore what it takes to make perfect espresso beverages.

First take the portafilter out of the espresso machine with your right hand by rotating the handle from the six o’clock position to the eight o’clock position, then transfer the portafilter to your left hand for the remainder of the process. Next turn on your espresso grinder and grind enough coffee to fill your portafilter.

Depending upon the speed of your grinder, this will take about five to ten seconds. Now insert your portafilter under the doser into the portafilter rest. Begin dosing coffee into your portafilter by pulling the doser lever all the way forward, and then letting it return all the way until you hear a click. Keep repeating this process until coffee is heaping over the top edges of your portafilter basket. Now move the portafilter up to the edge of the doser, and with one sweep of the side of your finger or hand, brush the excess coffee back into the dosing chamber. Upon completion, the portafilter basket should be full and the coffee should be level with the edges. Next place your portafilter on the packing mat on your countertop. Pick up your hand tamper and hold it in the same way you would hold a flashlight. This will keep your hand and arm aligned in a straight line.

Now place the tamper into the portafilter. To maintain proper wrist arm alignment, your elbow will need to rotate up so that your forearm will be perpendicular to the countertop.

Gently push down on the tamper and make sure it’s level with the portafilter. Then push down as hard as you comfortably can while twisting the tamper in one direction for a couple revolutions. This twisting motion will push the coffee out to the edges of the portafilter basket which will help ensure an even extraction during brewing. Your finished tamp should result in a firmly compacted smooth surface with no cracks or craters. This is referred to as a smooth polished finish, and will be necessary for an even espresso extraction.

Before inserting the portafilter back into the machine, brush any coffee grounds that might be on the rim of the filter basket with one swipe of the palm of your hand. Insert the portafilter back into the machine by lifting it up into the group head with the handle at the eight o’clock position, and then twist the handle to the six o’clock position.

Make sure your portafilter has been inserted firmly. Now activate the machine to begin your espresso extraction. If you’re pulling your first shots of the day, you won’t know if the consistency of your ground coffee is correct until you can observe this extraction. The espresso should look syrupy as it pours from your portafilter spouts… it should be a deep rust colour, and the streams of espresso should never get much larger in diameter than a strand of cooked spaghetti. The resulting shot should be topped with one quarter to one half inch of a deep rust coloured micro-foam which is called crema.

Espresso Coffee Machines

Typically the goal is to produce a one ounce shot within twenty five to twenty eight seconds from when you start your extraction. You’ll need to do some taste tests to determine what the optimal extraction time for your espresso blend might be… or talk to your roaster… they probably have an optimal extraction time in mind that will accentuate the characteristics of their coffee.

Now if the consistency of your ground coffee is too fine, then your espresso streams may only be as big as threads, or may never convert into streams from drips. If this is the case you’ll need to adjust your grind coarser to speed up the extraction rate. If the coffee is ground too coarse, then the brewing water will pass through the coffee quickly.

The streams of espresso pouring from the portafilter may be as big in diameter as drinking straws, fill up your frothy, and be light in colour. The resulting shot will be topped with a thin fleeting layer of blonde or white crema, or merely a halo of crema, and it will be watery and taste extremely sour. If your extractions are too fast, you’ll need to adjust the consistency of your grind finer. You may need to pull several shots, adjusting the grind every time to achieve the perfect rate. Every time you adjust the grind consistency some coffee ground at the previous setting will still be left in your grinder between the grinding blades… called the burrs… and the doser. To get rid of this coffee, simply turn on the grinder for three or four seconds, and then dispose of all the coffee in the doser.

Now when you grind, dose, stamp, and extract, you will see a true reflection of the change resulting from your adjustment. You may need to make micro-adjustments to your grind consistency throughout the day, because the brittleness of your coffee beans will change as they absorb moisture from the air or release moisture. Adjusting the grind to produce the proper particle size will be essential to maintain the proper rate of extraction.

The amount of crema you produce… the thickness of the layer… is an indicator of the quality of your shot. When you are done with an extraction, remove the spent grounds from your portafilter by striking it on the padded bar of your espresso knock box. Be sure to remove any remaining grounds or residues by rinsing the portafilter, as there will be no positive flavour characteristics remaining in this used coffee, and it will only detract from your next shot. Be sure to return the portafilter to its group head have after rinsing, so it will be heated for your next shots.

An automatic espresso machine will have multiple buttons to choose from for different extractions. Because you should use a shot of espresso for every six ounces a cup volume, I use the buttons as follows… for a twelve ounce drink… a double short shot, or two ounces… for a sixteen ounce drink… a double long shot, or two and a half ounces… and for a twenty ounce drink… three short shots, or three ounces. This will increase the amount of espresso being used proportionate to the increase in cup size. Now that you understand how to pull perfect shots of espresso, let’s move on to steaming in frothing milk.