Although most people come to Front Street for pour-over coffee, quite a few are also willing to drink espresso-based coffee. As we all know, espresso is the foundation of all kinds of Italian-style drinks — including Americano, latte, cappuccino, flat white, mocha, and so on.

According to Front Street, espresso is called "espresso" by foreigners, and per unit volume itscaffeine contentis also higher than that of most coffee drinks. Espresso is extracted by an espresso machine, and its extraction principle is to force hot water (usually around 92°C) under high pressure through a bed of finely ground and tamped coffee. The liquid produced in this process by extracting solids and dissolved components is called espresso. Although espresso is the origin of all coffee drinks, it is itself also a coffee drink. Most people also treat espresso as the representative of Italian-style coffee and compare it with Americano. So then,what is the difference between Italian-style coffee and Americano?

There are two ways to make Americano. One is a drink extracted with an American-style drip coffee maker, and the other is made by adding water to espresso. This difference can be explained through the historical development of Americano. The American drip coffee maker first became popular in households across the United States, and Americans grew accustomed to the taste of coffee made by drip machines — weak coffee flavor, thin body, and a strong watery feel. During World War II, the coffee American officers drank in Europe was basically all espresso, with a strong and stimulating taste.

So in order to simulate the flavor of drip coffee, they added water to the espresso liquid. This way, the coffee's flavor became much softer and very easy to drink. Since at that time no other country's people in Europe drank coffee this way, this kind of coffee was called "Americano." In fact, behind this name there was a sarcastic meaning, mocking Americans for not being able to handle espresso. The French even privately called "Americano" "sock coffee," used to describe how terrible Americano tastes.

The Americano at FrontStreet Coffee is actually espresso with added water, and the vast majority of coffee shops on the market make it this way. Generally speaking, the water-to-liquid ratio of Americano is 1:4–1:9, and different coffee shops have different standards. Front Street's hot Americano uses a water-to-coffee-liquid ratio of 1:4.5, which was determined by combining the characteristics of the Sunshine Blend espresso and the cup size served in stores. Front Street's iced Americano has a water-to-coffee-liquid ratio of almost 1:9. Because it is a house-made espresso blend, and unlike other coffee shops that pursue nutty flavors, FrontStreet Coffee's Americano has a rich aroma of wine, abundant crema, and an overall mellow body. In terms of mouthfeel, it leans toward a creamy texture, with a long chocolate finish. Compared with hot Americano, iced Americano is even more refreshing. Using different espresso beans produces coffee drinks with completely different flavors. In response to various needs, Front Street has designed four kinds ofespresso beans: Front Street Specialty Blend, Front Street Commercial Blend, Front Street Dark Cocoa Blend, and Sunshine Blend.

Front Street Dark Cocoa Blend uses commonly used bean varieties suitable for espresso, such as Brazilian, Colombian, and Yunnan coffee beans, with the aim of obtaining a better coffee flavor and mouthfeel at a lower cost. For coffee shops pursuing rich crema, Front Street's Front Street Commercial Blend adds 10% robusta beans, improving the overall mellowness while also making the coffee's flavor richer and more aromatic. The nutty taste is prominent, and the chocolate flavor paired with the sweetness of milk is simply perfect. Front Street Specialty Blend, on the other hand, uses Arabica coffee beans from Brazil and Colombia. All-American Arabica can express a cleaner coffee taste, and the flavor profile of these two producing regions is nutty and chocolatey, making them very suitable for espresso service.

Sunflower Sunshine Blend coffee beans were Front Street's new attempt in 2019. At that time, the concept of specialty (single-origin) coffee was very popular, and many SOEs marketed for their flavor had also appeared, but Front Street planned to use high-quality single-origin beans for blending, aiming at flavor as the main purpose of the blend. In the end, Front Street decided to use 30% Yirgacheffe Red Cherry and 70% Honduras Sherry as the recipe for Sunflower Sunshine Blend coffee beans. The rich vanilla cream and fermented wine aroma attracted a large audience.

Generally speaking,espresso extraction has certain standards. Depending on the filter basket, the weight of the coffee grounds is generally between 18–22 grams. Make sure the weight of the coffee grounds is the amount you want, because a slight difference can lead to a huge difference. The most common brewing ratio is twice the coffee grounds, which means that if you have 18 grams of coffee grounds, then you had better extract 36 grams of espresso liquid, because once you exceed this value, the coffee will easily taste over-extracted.

Of course, this standard can also change according to everyone's different needs. For example, the espresso served at Front Street stores uses 20 grams of grounds to extract 36 grams of coffee liquid, in order to make the Americano and latte richer in aroma and fuller in flavor. What needs to be reminded here is that the weight of the liquid coffee is best 1–3 times that of the dry coffee grounds, with 2 times being the most commonly used.

The brewing time is the time from pressing the button to the end of extraction, usually between 25–35 seconds. If the extraction time is longer or shorter than your expected time, the biggest reason is the coffee grind, so you should adjust according to your own needs and optimize the extraction parameters.

Generally speaking, a fast extraction will make the coffee's acidity prominent and reduce its sweetness. A slower extraction will give the coffee a bitter and dull flavor.

 The most direct way to judge whether an espresso is ready to serve is to taste it. Taste is a very good method for judging the quality of espresso. However, because judging whether espresso is normal by taste is too subjective, some far-sighted baristas and roasters use a refractometer to measure the total dissolved solids (TDS) in espresso. TDS measurement allows them to determine the accurate brewing strength and extraction percentage, and to correlate their preferred brewing parameters with numerical data. Measuring TDS also means we can calculate the extraction percentage using the following formula:

(%TDS x brewed coffee weight) / coffee grounds weight = extraction percentage

Many coffee lovers who come to Front Street show admiration for the baristas operating the coffee machine at the bar, curious about how to operate what seems to be a very complicated coffee machine. In fact, what baristas master is nothing more than thedetailed steps of making espresso. As for how the coffee machine operates, most baristas do not know. So today, Front Street will introduce to everyone thedetailed process of making espresso! Taking FrontStreet Coffee's normal operating process as an example:

Step 1: Wipe the filter basket to ensure the coffee filter basket is dry and free of water

Step 2: Weigh the coffee grounds. Use an electronic scale to weigh an appropriate amount of coffee grounds, controlling the error to within plus or minus 0.1 grams

Step 3: Distribute the grounds

Step 4: Tamp the grounds

Step 5: Lock in the portafilter

Step 6: Press the button to extract

Step 7: Remove the portafilter and clean the group head.

Recommended Front Street espresso extraction plan: 20g dose, extract 40g coffee liquid, time 30 seconds

And just like that, one serving of espresso is finished extracting. If you want to make other coffee drinks, it is nothing more than adding sugar or milk to it. Iced coffee is relatively simpler to make, as it is simply adding hot espresso to cold milk. As for hot milk coffee, you will need to use the steam wand on the coffee machine. As for how to steam milk, FrontStreet Coffee also has a dedicated article for teaching, and if needed, everyone can look it up themselves. It is worth mentioning that many coffee chain brands now use fully automatic coffee machines, making operation even simpler — just press a button.

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