Compared to other coffee brewing methods, espresso machines are more demanding about coffee beans. To allow the coffee to release quickly, we need to grind the beans very fine, while using high temperature and high pressure extraction conditions, making the coffee taste extremely rich—and one misstep can make the espresso incredibly unpleasant. If you want to improve your success rate with espresso, it's recommended to choose medium to dark roast beans. If you don't want to taste too much bitterness, medium roast coffee beans are recommended. Below, Front Street has listed several espresso coffees suitable for beginners:

1. "Front Street Premium Blend Coffee Beans" 75 yuan/454g: Colombian washed coffee beans + Brazilian semi-washed coffee beans, with nutty, dark chocolate, and caramel flavor notes.

2. "Front Street Classic Blend Coffee Beans" 58 yuan/227g; Brazilian semi-washed coffee beans + Indonesian Mandheling coffee beans + Vietnamese coffee beans, with rich crema and a full-bodied mouthfeel;

3. "Front Street Strawberry Candy Espresso" 85 yuan/227g; Costa Rican coffee beans + Panamanian coffee beans + Ethiopian coffee beans, with aromas of rose, strawberry candy, and glucose, a prominent fruity sweet-tartness, and a pleasant taste.

4. "Front Street Florals SOE Coffee Beans" 65 yuan/227g

S.O.E refers to espresso made using coffee beans from a Single Origin, which is somewhat different from the espresso concept we often encounter in the past. Front StreetFloralsSOEis an espresso made using the Ethiopian Sidamo Florals coffee beans. To adapt to the coffee machine, Front Street uses a medium roast to highlight the bean's floral and fruity notes while keeping the espresso balanced in taste.When the barista adds drinking water in proportion, it becomes an SOE Florals Americano, which tastes sweet-tart and refreshing. If you want to make an SOE Florals Latte, add a certain amount of fresh milk to the Florals espresso for an aromatic, sweet taste with a long finish.

5. "Front Street Queen's Farm Coffee Beans" 85 yuan/227g

Brazilian coffee is characterized by low acidity, rich oils, full body, suitability for medium roasting, and use as a component in espresso blends. Front Street Brazil Queen's Farm coffee beans are produced in Brazil, from the high-altitude Mogiana region, and are a rare local Yellow Bourbon coffee variety. Generally speaking, ripe coffee cherries are red; Yellow Bourbon is a Bourbon variant discovered and cultivated in Brazil, and due to the influence of a recessive gene, its fruit turns yellow. Yellow Bourbon coffee beans are naturally sweet and clean; using the natural process makes its acidity slightly lower, with good balance and tropical fruit aromas. Front Street uses a medium-dark roast to highlight its creamy, nutty, and chocolate aromas.

Generally speaking,espresso extraction has certain standards. Depending on the portafilter basket, the weight of ground coffee is generally between 18-22 grams. Make sure the weight of the ground coffee is the amount you want, because a tiny difference makes a huge difference. The most common brewing ratio is twice the coffee grounds, which means if you have 18 grams of ground coffee, you'd best 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 Americanos and Lattes more fragrant and rich, with a fuller flavor. Here it should be noted that the weight of the liquid coffee is best 1-3 times the dry coffee grounds, with 2 times being commonly used.

The brewing time is from pressing the button to the end of extraction, and the time used is 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 adjust according to your own needs and optimize the extraction parameters.

Generally speaking, fast extraction makes the coffee's acidity prominent and reduces sweetness. Slower extraction gives the coffee a bitter, dull flavor.

The most direct way to judge whether an espresso is ready to serve is to taste it. Taste is a great way to judge the quality of espresso. However, because judging espresso by taste is too subjective, some forward-thinking baristas and roasters use a refractometer to measure the total dissolved solids (TDS) in espresso. TDS measurement allows them to determine the exact 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 like a very complicated coffee machine. In fact, what baristas master is simply thedetailed steps of espresso making. As for how the coffee machine operates, most baristas don't know. So today, Front Street will introduce to everyone thedetailed production process of espresso! Taking the normal operating process of Front Street Coffee as an example:

Step 1: Wipe the portafilter basket to ensure the coffee basket is dry with no water

Step 2: Weigh the coffee grounds, use an electronic scale to weigh the appropriate amount of coffee grounds, keeping the error 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, clean the group head.

Front Street espresso extraction recipe recommendation: 20g dose, extract 40g of coffee liquid, time 30 seconds

And just like that, an espresso is extracted.

If you want to make other coffee drinks, it's simply a matter of adding water, sugar, or milk. If you like Americano, Front Street will prepare a 200ml coffee cup, pour in 160ml of warm hot water, and finally pour in the espresso—a hot Americano is ready.

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