Espresso is the core of the Italian coffee system and the base for many drinks such as lattes and cappuccinos. Starting from the origin and definition of espresso, this article systematically explains its flavor characteristics and three-layer structure (crema, body, heart), and provides the extraction parameter ranges under SCA standards along with the actual serving plan of Front Street Coffee stores. It also introduces the flavor performance of Front Street's "Sunflower Warm Sun Espresso Beans" and classic espresso blend beans, as well as the correct steps for tasting espresso and the recommended ratios for lattes and Americanos, helping coffee lovers fully understand and make a delicious cup of espresso.

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The word Espresso comes from Italian, and its etymology is related to Express in Italian, carrying the meaning of "pressed out, squeezed out." Its principle is to use the steam pressure generated by the boiler of an espresso machine to force hot water through a finely ground and manually tamped coffee puck, thereby obtaining a highly concentrated coffee liquid.

This method allows the coffee crema to remain for a longer time, with a rich and full flavor and a balance between acidity and bitterness, so it is often praised as a work of art in coffee. At the same time, espresso is also the common foundation of many coffee drinks. Lattes, cappuccinos, macchiatos, mochas, and others are all made with it as the base.

The flavor and taste characteristics of espresso

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) believes that to judge whether a cup of espresso tastes good, you can start with the appearance and color of the golden crema on the surface. High-quality coffee crema should have a mirror-like oily sheen (some also call it tiger stripes, but if the dose is too small and causes over-extraction, white spots will appear), with a thickness of about 3mm. In terms of taste, it usually presents as intense, mellow, smooth, and silky, without a gritty texture, with a satisfying sweet aftertaste in the finish, and obvious sweetness can be felt in both the throat and on the tongue.

The amount of a single espresso is usually not much, generally between 25~35ml, and it can be finished in two or three sips. In Italy's industrial era, pressurized coffee machines and the birth of espresso were originally meant to pursue efficiency—workers could quickly get a cup of coffee, quickly drink it, and then continue working.

This habit continues to this day. Italians often walk into a coffee shop before work in the morning, order an espresso, and drink it standing up in one go, without even needing to sit down. Of course, this is the local drinking habit in Italy. In daily life, when we taste espresso, we can slowly appreciate its charm (though it is still recommended to finish it within two or three sips, because after sitting for a long time, both the mouthfeel and flavor will decline).

Espresso is divided into three parts

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Crema is one of the most iconic components of espresso. The golden to reddish-brown foam layer on the surface of espresso is crema, mainly composed of oils and carbon dioxide extracted from the coffee grounds. When hot water contacts the ground coffee under high pressure in the coffee machine, the hot water emulsifies the soluble oils in the coffee, which are then supersaturated with carbon dioxide, producing a large number of tiny bubbles and forming a layer of foam.

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Body has the richest and most delicious flavors and aromas in espresso, allowing people to taste the soft part of the coffee. The softness of a cup of espresso is the sum of the tactile characteristics we perceive, such as roundness, smoothness, viscosity, and fluidity.

Heart is located beneath the body of the espresso and is almost black in color. The heart of espresso is bitterness, which balances the sweetness and aroma brought by the two layers above.

Driven by specialty coffee culture, the quality of coffee beans used to make espresso has improved noticeably today. Many specialty coffee beans place higher demands on the flavor performance of espresso, so we do not need to face it with the preconception that "espresso must be very bitter."

As long as the barista can understand coffee beans from a professional perspective, choose freshly roasted beans, and adjust and calibrate the espresso extraction parameters every day, espresso can also present different flavors and mouthfeels across the front, middle, and back sections.

For example, the espresso served daily at Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) uses a house blend called "Sunflower Warm Sun Espresso Beans," which is sold both online and in physical stores. This bean consists of Ethiopian natural Red Cherry coffee beans (30%) and Honduran Sherry Barrel coffee beans (70%). After extraction, it has rich wine aroma, vanilla cream, the sweet-tartness of berries, and roasted nut flavors.

For those who prefer mellow and aromatic coffee, Front Street Classic Espresso Blend is recommended. This is a recipe combining three origins: Brazil, Indonesia, and Vietnam. It uses a deep roast, which maximizes the mellow aroma of the coffee and also makes it easy to extract rich and dense coffee crema. Whether making an Americano diluted with water or a latte paired with milk, it is very suitable.

How do you drink espresso?

Before tasting, take a sip of ice water to clean the mouth and slightly contract the muscles of the tongue. After the barista serves the espresso, you can stir the coffee with a spoon to make it more uniform overall. Then taste it in three sips: the first sip to feel the flavors, the second sip to experience its richness, and the third sip to feel the coffee's sweetness and lingering finish.

When tasting the espresso extracted from "Sunflower Warm Sun Espresso Beans," the first sip reveals berry-like sweet-tartness and fermented wine aroma, the second sip reveals vanilla cream-like aroma and a smooth mouthfeel, and the third sip reveals caramel-like sweet aftertaste and a hazelnut-like finish.

How is espresso extracted?

According to the Specialty Coffee Association SCA standards, a single espresso uses 7-9 grams of coffee grounds, a double espresso uses 14-18 grams of coffee grounds, and 25-35g of coffee liquid is extracted within 20-30 seconds, with an extraction pressure of 9-10bar and a water temperature controlled at 90-96℃.

However, different coffee machines, grinders, and coffee beans with different roast levels or from different origins will all produce somewhat different tastes, so parameters need to be fine-tuned to correct the mouthfeel of espresso. Generally speaking, adjust the water-to-coffee ratio first, then adjust the grind size, so each coffee shop will make upward or downward adjustments according to the coffee beans and equipment used.

When serving at Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) stores, making a single espresso (1shot) uses 10-11g of coffee grounds to extract 20-25g of coffee liquid, with an extraction time of about 22 seconds; making a double espresso uses 19-20g of coffee grounds to make 35-40g of coffee liquid, with an extraction time of about 29 seconds.

Because espresso has a strong and stimulating taste, we generally recommend adding milk to make a latte, or adding drinking water to turn it into the familiar Americano. If it is a latte, Front Street recommends using a 1:6 ratio, that is, 40g of coffee liquid added to 240g of fresh milk to make a hot latte; for an Americano, use a 1:4 ratio, pouring 40g of coffee liquid into 160g of warm hot water.

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.