What are the standard espresso extraction parameters for blending coffee?

The common technical standard for espresso is roughly 7 grams of freshly ground coffee, water at about 92 degrees Celsius, around 9 bar of pressure for 20 to 30 seconds, yielding 20 to 30 milliliters with a layer of crema on top. Many specialty cafes now deviate from that baseline and set their own recipes.

This guide sets out the parameter logic behind extraction time and ratio, then covers four espresso blending coffee options: Black Cocoa Blend, Specialty Blend, Commercial Blend and Classic Blend, with recipes, flavors and suitable uses. One example output is 19 grams of coffee powder extracting 38 grams of liquid at a 1:2 ratio in 28 seconds. Buying notes cover the tasting window on espresso coffee beans.

Espresso is the foundation of café offerings and the subject many coffee enthusiasts study at home. How many grams of coffee, what water temperature, and how much pressure does a proper Espresso actually require? How should extraction time and ratio be controlled? This article draws on Front Street Coffee's hands-on experience to systematically lay out the technical standards and extraction parameter logic of espresso, and introduces in detail the recipes, flavors, and suitable scenarios of Front Street's four espresso blend coffee beans, covering Black Cocoa Blend, Specialty Blend, Commercial Blend, and Classic Blend. At the end, it also includes notes on purchasing coffee beans to help readers enjoy the best flavor within the tasting window.

What exactly does a double Espresso refer to? How many milliliters does a standard espresso in a café usually have? How is Espresso made? How should you drink it to experience its best state?

You may also want to know: Where can you buy authentic Italian-style blend coffee beans? Through what channels do cafés usually purchase the espresso blend beans they use daily? Are there any recommended retail or wholesale brands of espresso blend coffee beans?

Every day there is much that is unknown waiting for us to explore. Observant friends may notice that the lower right corner of Front Street Coffee's bean list features four espresso coffee beans. Do you remember which ones they are? Today Front Street Coffee will give a brief share around the above questions.

Let's start with a basic introduction to Espresso.

Front Street Coffee · Espresso preparation method International common technical standard: take about 7 grams of freshly ground coffee powder, use hot water at about 92 degrees Celsius, extract under about 9Bar pressure for 20 to 30 seconds, and obtain a cup of about 20 to 30 milliliters of coffee. The surface of this cup of coffee should be covered with a layer of crema.

With the evolution of the specialty coffee concept, new coffee theories are constantly being discovered; independent cafés are blooming everywhere, and each has its own different espresso extraction scheme.

As for Front Street Coffee's standard espresso output, one espresso is based on 2 shots (1 serving of espresso), using 19 grams of coffee powder, extracting 38 grams of espresso liquid at a ratio of 1:2, in 28 seconds.

However, data is only for reference. How many milliliters should one espresso extract to be considered qualified? Front Street Coffee believes the key is still to look at the ratio of coffee powder to liquid and the final coffee flavor presented.

Front Street Coffee's baristas often exchange insights on making coffee with everyone. There are many variables affecting the flavor of a cup of coffee—ratio, water temperature, grind size, extraction time, and so on are all among them. Below, Front Street Coffee breaks down these contents one by one.

How to understand espresso extraction parameters?

[Dose] The amount of coffee powder depends on the capacity of the filter basket.

It is not recommended to use a dose much smaller or much larger than the basket capacity;

The dose changes the density of the puck. Under the same tamping force, too little coffee powder will make the puck loose, the water flow rate will be too fast, causing underextraction; too much coffee powder will make the density too high, the flow rate will slow down, and the coffee liquid will be difficult to extract smoothly.

[ Ratio ] Refers to the ratio of coffee powder amount to coffee liquid amount. There are two factors affecting the ratio: dose and water amount.

It usually falls between 1:1.5 and 1:2.5, with 1:2 being the most common, for example 17 grams of coffee powder extracting 34 grams of coffee liquid. A ratio that is too low will make the coffee taste too strong and heavy, easily carrying the bitterness produced by overextraction; a ratio that is too high will make it seem bland and tasteless, accompanied by the sharp acidity brought by underextraction.

[Time] Refers to the entire extraction duration from pressing the extraction button to the end. Factors affecting extraction time include two: grind size and ratio.

The ratio is easy to understand: the higher the ratio, the more water needs to participate in extraction, and the time naturally lengthens; grind size determines the coarseness of the coffee powder, and coarseness directly affects the compactness of the puck. The finer the coffee powder, the denser the puck after tamping, the harder it is for water to penetrate, the longer the time is stretched, and it is easy to cause overextraction. [Flow Rate] Refers to the speed at which the coffee liquid flows out. The final direction of all extraction parameters is actually the result of flow rate.

Our espresso needs to drip its first drop of coffee liquid at the 5th to 6th second after pressing the extraction button. Extraction should be uniform, for example, at 30 seconds just obtaining 34 grams of coffee liquid. The speed of the flow rate directly reflects whether the grind size and ratio match.

[Pressure] On average about 9Bar, determined by the performance of the espresso machine. Insufficient pressure leads to low extraction efficiency, while excessive pressure easily causes overextraction.

[Water Temperature] Generally controlled between 90 and 94 degrees Celsius. Too high a water temperature easily causes overextraction, and the coffee tastes bitter; too low a water temperature easily causes underextraction, and the coffee tastes sharply acidic.

Detailed introduction to Front Street espresso blend coffee beans (including specific recipes)

The espresso blend coffee beans used in cafés are usually made by blending coffee beans from multiple different origins. So what is the purpose of making an espresso blend? Several espresso coffee beans currently sold by Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) are all blend types, namely the espresso moka pot coffee bean recommended by many baristas—Front Street Black Cocoa Blend, Specialty Blend, Commercial Blend, and Warm Sun Blend coffee beans.

[The espresso moka pot coffee bean recommended by many Front Street baristas—Front Street Black Cocoa Blend coffee bean]

Flavor: cream, nuts, chocolate Recipe: Brazilian coffee beans + Yunnan coffee beans

Front Street Black Cocoa basic coffee bean focuses on ultra-high cost performance. Front Street selects well-balanced Brazilian coffee beans, then adds Yunnan coffee beans, whose flavor and mouthfeel are weaker than Brazilian beans, for blending, presenting a taste closest to the general public. Whether it is a beginner just getting into coffee or a veteran enthusiast who has been drinking coffee for many years, they can easily accept this espresso coffee bean.

This blend uses medium-dark roasting. When made into espresso, the mouthfeel has slight acidity and light sweetness, with a nutty aftertaste, overall mild and not too stimulating. The crema is medium and can satisfy the daily needs of most stores for making latte coffee.

As mentioned above, Front Street's Specialty espresso coffee bean is a very stable and high-quality espresso blend bean, suitable for independent cafés as daily store output. Front Street Black Cocoa basic blend espresso coffee bean is Front Street's second high-cost-performance choice.

Café store operations cannot do without cost. Keeping stable coffee output while minimizing costs as much as possible is what every operator hopes for. This basic bean from Front Street Coffee is a coffee bean with very high cost performance, made by blending Brazilian coffee beans and Yunnan coffee beans. Coffee beans from both Yunnan and Brazil lean toward nutty notes. Brazilian beans give this basic espresso bean a more solid mouthfeel and rich crema.

[Front Street Specialty Blend Espresso Coffee Bean]

Flavor: aromatic, nuts, strong sweetness when paired with milk Recipe: Brazilian coffee beans + Colombian coffee beans

For guests who do not like flavors that are too extreme, do not love single-origin coffee, but pursue coffee quality, this Specialty espresso coffee bean will be the first choice. This blend uses medium-dark roasting, with well-balanced Brazilian coffee beans as the main body, paired with Colombian coffee beans that have soft fruit acidity and nutty aftertaste, for a classic flavor.

This blend bean is also the blend bean we use in our own store. We have been using it from about half a year after opening until now. When discussing this blend bean, we wanted to use American beans as the main body to enhance the blend bean's nutty and sweet mouthfeel, and minimize the appearance of overly bitter flavors.

[First choice for planning to open a store—Front Street Commercial Blend Espresso Coffee Bean]

Flavor: aromatic, nuts, strong sweetness when paired with milk Recipe: Brazilian coffee beans + Colombian coffee beans + Robusta

This blend tastes rich in crema and mouthfeel, as well as caramel sweetness, and also carries flavors of nuts, cocoa-like notes, and dark chocolate. Sweetness and acidity are balanced, with a slight hint of sweet bitterness, and a lasting finish. Adding a small amount of Robusta coffee beans increases the richness of the crema, and because the amount used is small, it will not change the flavor too much.

The reason Front Street named this blend bean "Commercial Blend Coffee Bean" is that it performs very well whether making Americano or milk coffee, and combined with its price advantage, it is very suitable for commercial cafés. The espresso has very rich crema, a smooth and slightly bitter taste, and a very mellow texture.

[First choice for beginners learning latte art—Front Street Classic Blend Espresso Coffee Bean]

Flavor: dark chocolate, butter, roasted nuts, caramel Recipe: Brazil + Indonesian Mandheling + Vietnamese Robusta

Friends who want to learn latte art at home can buy Front Street Classic Blend. This is a medium-dark roast espresso recipe composed of three origins. Its design inspiration comes from the "Mamba" popular in ancient times, namely Mandheling and Brazil. In order to add aroma and crema, Front Street Classic Blend also adds a small amount of Robusta, thereby increasing flavor intensity, so that beginners can easily make espresso with golden crema at home.

Front Street Classic Blend was only added to Front Street Coffee's bean list after many adjustments, and has become a staple espresso coffee bean for many home users and offices. Front Street baristas believe that among these three blend coffee beans, Specialty Blend is the choice for pursuing stability, the espresso moka pot coffee bean recommended by many baristas—Front Street Black Cocoa Blend is the choice for high cost performance, and Warm Sun Blend is the choice for flavor. The three have different goals, so the guests they suit are naturally different.

Front Street Coffee adjusts parameters every day according to the condition of the beans, for example using 20 grams of coffee powder to extract 40 grams of coffee liquid, with extraction time controlled between 26 and 28 seconds. The espresso made with these parameters will have medium acidity, medium bitterness, and medium body. The most important thing is abundant crema, balanced, with flavors of obvious butter, roasted nuts, and toast aroma. Made into Americano, it is clear cream and chocolate; made into latte, it has flavors such as butter cookies and cocoa.

Front Street Coffee—a few notes to remind everyone when buying coffee beans in daily life Roast (production) date: When buying coffee beans, pay attention to checking the roast date. Front Street's coffee beans generally have the roast date printed on the back of the packaging bag.

Drink within the tasting window: The tasting window of freshly roasted coffee beans is within 30 days after the resting period (4-7 days). After that, the flavor will be lost over time, and in the end only a woody taste remains. The flavor substances lost first are mainly volatile compounds such as floral and fruity aromas, while water-soluble compounds such as sugars, nuts, and chocolate are relatively less likely to volatilize.

So we generally remind customers buying beans that the best tasting window for coffee is within the 4th to 30th day after the roast date. However, even after the tasting window has passed, it does not mean this coffee cannot be drunk; it will just be slightly inferior in flavor expression.

It should be emphasized here that there is a difference between the tasting window and the shelf life. The shelf life of general roasted coffee beans is maintained between 6 months and 12 months. Therefore, when buying roasted coffee beans, it is not that the fresher the better. At the same time, remember not to store them too long before remembering to drink them. When buying coffee beans, pay attention to the roast date to ensure you can finish drinking them within a fixed period of time and avoid waste.

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