Front Street believes that when everyonehas been exposed to espresso for a period of time,you will definitely be familiar with the "1:2" brew ratio, because it is often hailed as the "golden ratio" for espresso, and it is the most commonly used ratio when extracting espresso.The brew ratio refers to the ratio between the amount of coffee grounds used and the amount of coffee liquid obtained. For example, a 1:2 brew ratio means that for every 1 gram of coffee grounds used, 2 milliliters of coffee liquid need to be extracted. For instance, if we use 18g of grounds, then to extract coffee liquid at a 1:2 brew ratio, we would need to extract 36ml of coffee liquid.Since many bloggers often call this ratio the "golden ratio" for espresso when sharing it(we can understand it as meaning "good"), many people are curious: why must espresso be extracted at 1:2? Would ratios like 1:4, 1:5, or 1:6 not work?Must espresso use 18g of grounds to extract 36ml of coffee liquid?Of! Course! Not! No matter which ratio is used, or whether 18g of grounds is used to extract 50, 60, 70ml of coffee liquid or even more, it is all possible! It is not that espresso made at 1:2 is necessarily the best-tasting. As long as the parameters are appropriate, no matter which ratio is used or how much liquid weight is extracted, you can get a delicious cup of espresso.However, the reason the 1:2 ratio is hailed by everyone as the "golden ratio" is not without cause, because this ratio can extract espresso that better meets our needs. You can recall: what does the size of the brew ratio determine?That's right! It is the concentration of the coffee. Front Street often shares that the concentration of coffee is mainly affected by the amount of water. When other parameters remain unchanged, the more water you use when extracting coffee, the more coffee liquid you get, but the lower the concentration, and vice versa.Below are two cups of coffee extracted by Front Street using the same amount of grounds. The coffee beans used are Front Street's specialty blend from Front Street's espresso bean list, and the extraction time is 30 seconds for both. The difference between them lies in the ratio used. One cup uses a 1:2 ratio, meaning 18g of grounds extracts 36ml of coffee liquid; the other cup uses a 1:4 ratio, meaning 18g of grounds extracts 72ml of coffee liquid.Measured with a refractometer, we can find that their concentrations are 10.83% and 5.36% respectively, about a twofold difference. Their flavor expressions are both fragrant nuts and chocolate. The only difference is that one has a higher concentration, so it tastes richer and more concentrated, while the other, because of its lower concentration, has more distinct layers and higher flavor recognizability. Each has its own characteristics, so to speak.Why is 1:2hailed as the golden ratio?It's simple, because the coffee extracted with it will have a sufficiently high concentration.In daily life, not many people drink espresso directly. The vast majority prefer to use espresso as a base for making other fancy coffees. For example, adding milk to make a latte or cappuccino, or pouring espresso over milk to make a Dirty, and so on.And the need of most fancy coffees for espresso is to have a certain concentration, especially the categories with milk added. Only when the concentration of the espresso is high enough will the lattes, cappuccinos, flat whites, and other coffees we make have a sufficiently high body. But if the concentration of the espresso is too low, the resulting coffee will have a rather obvious "watery" feel. Although the taste may be acceptable, the mouthfeel will not be as outstanding.(Americano, however, works with any ratio)So "1:2" has become the most commonly used brew ratio when everyone extracts espresso. The coffee extracted at this ratio not only has a complete flavor expression, but also has a sufficiently high concentration, so that even with a large amount of milk added, it can still perform excellently.But everyone needs to know that in actual extraction, we do not need to fix the ratio at 1:2,and ranges around 1:2 are all acceptable, such as 1:1.5 or 1:2.5; there is no problem with any of them.The 1:2 ratio is merely an indicator. What it tells us is that within this range, it is possible to extract an espresso with a sufficiently high concentration that can be used to make delicious fancy coffee. The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
