Making a Great Espresso

Lately there seems to be a coffee craze, and why not? A good coffee is delicious, gives you an energy jolt, and is the ideal complement to good company. Espresso is among the trendier preparation methods, which is also one of the most elaborate of the common methods; also you can use espresso as a base for other types of coffee beverages. In order to successfully prepare an espresso, you need to select the coffee blend of your choice; usually a bold, dark roast is preferred for this purpose.

Ideally, you should grind your coffee beans (preferably using a burr grinder) right before preparing your espresso because this will give you better aroma. If possible, use an espresso machine that drives the hot water by pump, instead of steam, since the steam will burn the oils in the coffee, altering its flavor. Place the correct amount of coffee into the filter basket and make sure you compress the coffee in the basket using the appropriate tool for this purpose. Some machines tolerate a higher compression than others.

This will cause the water to slowly pass through the coffee and assimilate the entire flavor from the coffee grinds. Turn the on the machine and let the water boiler heat up. In order to obtain a perfect seal, make sure the lip of the filter basket is clean and free of coffee grinds before inserting the basket holder in the machine.

The water reservoir should hold fresh water before brewing a good espresso. Start extracting the coffee; a stream of golden almost milky coffee should run from the basket to the cup(s). Depending on the characteristic of each individual machine, the brewing times vary, but usually rage from 20 to 25 seconds. If done correctly, there should be a golden crema on the coffee. Now this should be ready to enjoy, or if preferred, could be the base for preparing lattes, cappuccinos, mocaccinos, or simply to be poured over ice cream. Enjoy!