How to make the perfect espresso

adrian522

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/may/09/how-to-make-the-perfect-espresso

I don't know where to start with this one, think I'll put it up on twitter and see what the reaction is.

He recommends "filter coffee, with "plungers, pour overs, siphons, Aeropress etc" using water two minutes off the boil, and 60g a litre for all filter coffees."

2 minutes? surely the water would be pretty cold at that point.

donnacha

2 minutes off boil is fairly close TBH once you've left the water in the kettle and not already transferred to the Buono (I find the temperature drops a bit quicker in Buono - mind you this could be to my countertop being granite).

I was pleasantly surprised by the article - pity some of the writers for the Irish papers weren't willing to go to this level of research before they print their biased reviews - I recall one last yr talking about an Irish barista champion for one of the chains over here who wasn't actually the Irish barista champion but rather the winnder of the coffee chains own competition.

adrian522

Water temp will be about 70C after 2 mns of sitting in the kettle I think,

Also don't know what is meant by a 30ml double espresso, that's a single as far as I'm concerned. Using 18g of coffee for that doesn't sound right to me either. Would you server 15ml as a single?

Bigcheeze

adrian522 wrote: »

Water temp will be about 70C after 2 mns of sitting in the kettle I think,

It'll depend on the type of kettle and amount of water but a full kettle would typically take about 30 mins to drop from 100 to 70.

adrian522

Well I had the thermometer out this morning and was down around 85-90 after 30 seconds. 2 mins is much too long in my opinion. Add another 1.5 mins and you will be well below the optimum range.

Regular Latte

adrian522 wrote: »

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/may/09/how-to-make-the-perfect-espresso

I liked the comments in the article from all the experts.:D My favourite: 'What ever happened to Mellow Birds?'


I was in 3fe a couple of weeks ago and chatted to one of the lads about how they use the aeropress. (It seems like they don't use the inverted method so much - neither do I). Anyway, the sage advice I was given was, if it works for you and tastes good -go with it.

That doesn't mean I can't do better, but I'm not worrying too much about perfected technique when I get results I enjoy.

vibe666

Bigcheeze wrote: »

It'll depend on the type of kettle and amount of water but a full kettle would typically take about 30 mins to drop from 100 to 70.

anyone who's made up baby bottles will find that familiar sounding, as they tell you to boil a kettle full of water and leave it 30 minutes for it to drop to 70 degrees before adding it to your baby formula so it's hot enough to kill any potential bacteria, but not hot enough to destroy all the nutrients in the formula.

i guess it depends on how much water you use and what sort of kettle you have.

i imagine a steel kettle would probably lose more heat than a plastic kettle in the same amount of time, but the only way to be sure is to test it yourself.

donnacha

Yep, I think the kettle temp really depends on the kettle - sounds like yours loses heat pretty rapidly. I boil up around 1.5 litres in the morning for a 750ml brew, and end up using around 500ml for the chemex presoak/heat and getting my flask up to the right temp. I'm not too fussy about the ideal temp but I know that 2mins after boil gets me in the early 90's range

adrian522 wrote: »

Also don't know what is meant by a 30ml double espresso, that's a single as far as I'm concerned. Using 18g of coffee for that doesn't sound right to me either. Would you server 15ml as a single?

check this out http://marco.ie/uberproject/?p=602
i've been trying to weigh my espresso shots and aiming for just under 1.5 times - though weighing a shot on a silvia is harder than you think as the vibrations tend to move the weigh scales and cup mid extraction - hence you have another thing to watch!

adrian522

Yeah I always weigh my shots, have a scales that slide under the espresso cup as it is extracted.
Another variable to consider is the grounds that are still in the grinder after grinding.

If you weigh out 18g of beans then grind, then weigh the grounds you'll probably find 17.7g or so.

All of which only leads to madness in the end.

zagmund

Madness isn't far off.

Me, I just make my coffee. Never thought to weigh it, although I suppose I could. Does it taste better ?

z

Gran Hermano

zagmund wrote: »

Madness isn't far off.

Me, I just make my coffee. Never thought to weigh it, although I suppose I could. Does it taste better ?

z

If you have the correct coffee to water ratio it'll help ensure you're not over or under extracting. I think it's worth it. I don't use the scales every time. I know roughly what a certain amount of seconds on the vario grinder equates to in weight so I have a ballpark grammes per sec for espresso. I will use the scales and weigh if I'm using drip or pour over.

vibe666

I feel like a Neanderthal standing in front of the Avengers.

I am not worthy.

digitaldolf

I use an Aeropress with freshly ground coffee and I have a Moca pot as well. Both make a mean cup of espresso-like coffee. Great stuff altogether.

Duckjob

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