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Espresso is the soul of Italian coffee, commonly called Italian espresso. As the name suggests, it comes from Italy and has a high concentration and strong taste. A good espresso is like a good base liquor, which can be mixed into any fancy coffee. For example, the most popular cappuccino and the most common latte are both made with espresso. However, in Italy, many people also drink espresso directly. Front Street Coffee will now explain the correct way to drink espresso.
Single espresso
Generally, a single espresso uses about 1 ounce (30ml) of coffee grounds. When ordering in a coffee shop, people do not say espresso but rather "shot." A "shot" is the unit of espresso, and one shot means one serving of espresso. If you think 30ml is too little, you can say double shot, which means double espresso, about 2 ounces.
Espresso is very rich. Front Street Coffee measured its concentration with a refractometer and found it to be about 9-11%, while the concentration of pour-over coffee is usually around 1.3%. Therefore, most people find espresso very bitter and wonder why anyone drinks it.
In Italy, many people choose to drink espresso mainly because it is a cheap way to get caffeine. But after it spread from Italy, espresso also began to emphasize flavor and mouthfeel. Many friends are curious about how much caffeine such a cup of espresso contains. Taking Front Street Coffee's regular preparation as an example, 20g of Front Street Classic Espresso Blend coffee grounds are used at a time to extract about 40g of coffee liquid, with caffeine at about 100mg.
What do you taste in espresso?
Espresso cannot be like pour-over coffee, where you can distinguish different flavors at different stages of high, medium, and low temperature. After all, a serving of espresso is only ten to twenty grams, and it is finished before it even cools down. Secondly, because espresso is extracted quickly under high temperature and 9 bars of pressure using very finely ground coffee, it has a strong taste and stimulates the taste buds. Therefore, people who drink espresso pay more attention to the aroma, mouthfeel, and finish of the cup.
Cleanliness and balance are crucial to a cup of coffee! Cleanliness means the coffee has no off-flavors, astringency, or other unpleasant tastes. Balance means that all the flavors of the coffee are coordinated and in harmony, giving a comfortable and pleasant feeling without anything jarring.
Where does the mouthfeel come from? The crema on top of the espresso. Espresso is extracted under high pressure. The carbon dioxide in the coffee grounds becomes supersaturated due to the pressure and, unable to escape, dissolves into the coffee liquid. After extraction is complete, when atmospheric pressure returns to normal, the carbon dioxide still in the coffee liquid meets the oils in the coffee on its way back into the air, and is thus wrapped by the oils as it flows into the cup, then gradually returns to the air.
What is the finish? After coffee reaches the mouth, it is catalyzed by saliva, releasing aromatic molecules hidden in the coffee oils. These enter the nasal cavity through the oral and nasopharyngeal passages, bringing an olfactory experience. Many people mistakenly think that coffee flavors are tasted by the taste buds, but in fact the taste buds can only distinguish sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and umami. The aroma perceived through smell combines with the taste perceived by the taste buds, allowing us to associate specific foods, flowers, and so on.
Espresso coffee bean recommendation
If you usually like coffee with floral and fruity flavors, Front Street Strawberry Candy espresso coffee beans are recommended. You can order directly from the Taobao or Tmall store. This is a blend based on two major origins: Front Street Costa Rica Tarrazu, known for its honey processing, and Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee, combined with Colombian coffee beans. The espresso made from this blend is not only not harsh, but under the extraction of the coffee machine it has good crema and a creamy texture, while also offering a sweet and sour taste like strawberry gummy candy.
For those who like mellow 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 allows everyone to easily extract rich and creamy crema. It is suitable for making both Americano diluted with water and latte with milk. It can be purchased from the Front Street Taobao store or the Front Street Tmall flagship store.
How to drink espresso?
As Front Street Coffee just mentioned, although espresso tastes strong, it does not hinder the overall cleanliness, balance, aroma, and finish of the coffee. So how can you better appreciate these charming aspects of espresso?
1. Before tasting espresso, first cleanse your mouth with water/ice water to remove any lingering tastes in your mouth.
2. Normally, espresso is served with a spoon. Because the concentration of espresso varies as it drips into the cup, creating a state where the bottom is thick and the surface is thin, it needs to be stirred evenly to better taste the espresso. Of course, you can also not stir it to experience different mouthfeels and layers.
3. Then drink the espresso in three to four sips. Rub your tongue against the roof of your mouth to feel the texture of the espresso, use the sides of your tongue to sense its acidity, and combine various sensory taste perceptions to evaluate the overall state of the espresso.
4. After swallowing the coffee, close your mouth and exhale to feel the aroma and finish of the espresso. Finally, take a sip of water to feel the coffee's sweet aftertaste on the taste buds.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
