Espresso
Nine bar of water through finely ground coffee in under thirty seconds. Everything else on this site with espresso in the name starts here.
At a glance
- Dose : yield
- 1:2
- Active time
- 2 min
- Total time
- 3 min
- Makes
- 1 double
- Serve
- Immediately
- Kit
- Espresso machine
Ingredients
Note: An espresso is two ingredients and three numbers: dose, yield and time. Change one and the other two move with it.
Method
-
Warm the cup
Fill the demitasse with hot water while you prepare the shot, then tip it out.
Thirty-six grams of liquid poured into a cold ceramic cup loses several degrees instantly, and espresso is small enough that this is audible in the taste.
-
Dose, distribute, tamp
Eighteen grams into the basket, broken up with a needle tool, tamped flat.
The full method, including how to dial the grind in, is on the espresso machine page.
-
Pull to 36 g
Lock in, start immediately, stop the pump when the scale reads 36 g. Twenty-five to thirty seconds including pre-infusion.
The stream should start dark and glossy and lighten towards the end.
25 to 30 seconds -
Drink it inside two minutes
Stir it first. Espresso separates as it stands, with the heavier, more soluble material settling, and the first sip of an unstirred shot is not representative of the rest.
Then drink it. The crema collapses within a few minutes and the aromatics go with it.
Why this works
Espresso is not a type of bean or a roast level. It is a brewing method defined by pressure, and that is the whole distinction. Nine bar of water forced through a compacted bed of very fine coffee in under thirty seconds dissolves roughly eight to twelve percent of the dry weight into about twice its volume of liquid, which is somewhere between four and six times as concentrated as filter coffee.
That pressure also does something no other method does: it emulsifies the coffee's oils into the water and drives carbon dioxide into solution. When the shot hits atmospheric pressure in the cup, that gas comes out as a dense foam of tiny bubbles wrapped in oil and dissolved solids. That is crema, and it is why espresso has a texture rather than just a flavour.
Crema is a sign of freshness and nothing else. Coffee loses carbon dioxide steadily from the day it is roasted, so a two-week-old bean gives thick crema and a four-month-old bean gives almost none. A thick head of crema does not mean the shot tastes good, and robusta produces a great deal of it regardless of quality, which is why cheap supermarket blends often look better in the cup than they taste.
The 1:2 ratio is a modern convention rather than an Italian one. Traditional Italian espresso runs shorter and darker, around 7 g to 25 g in a single basket. The 18-to-36 double became standard because it suits the lighter roasts specialty coffee moved towards, which need a longer extraction to taste sweet rather than sour.
Variations
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Questions
Is espresso stronger than filter coffee?
Per millilitre, substantially. Espresso runs around 8 to 12 percent dissolved solids against about 1.4 percent for filter. Per serving, less clear cut: a double espresso holds roughly 120 mg of caffeine and a large mug of filter coffee often holds more, because there is so much more of it.
What is crema made of?
Carbon dioxide coming out of solution as the shot leaves nine bar of pressure, stabilised by emulsified coffee oils and dissolved solids. It is a freshness indicator, not a quality one. Stale coffee gives thin crema; robusta gives thick crema whether or not it tastes good.
Why does my espresso taste sour?
Under-extraction, nearly always. The grind is too coarse, the shot is too short, or the coffee is too fresh, under about five days off roast. Grind finer or pull a longer yield.
Should I add sugar?
Entirely your call, and in much of Italy it is standard. A well-pulled shot of good coffee should be sweet enough without it. If every shot needs sugar to be drinkable, that is usually a dialling-in problem rather than a preference.