In order to understand espresso machines, it is important to first understand what they are expected to do. Espresso is a seemingly simple beverage - just strong coffee, right? Well, sort of but not exactly... To brew a quality espresso, an espresso machine must be capable of performing to some stringent specifications. Additionally, many users also want to make specialty coffee beverages at home such as lattes, cappuccinos and mochas. These are all espresso based beverages and in order to craft them properly you need not only the ability to brew a quality espresso, but your machine must also steam and froth milk. While some believe the quality of espresso is not as critical in milk based beverages such as cappuccinos and lattes since the milk and sometimes flavorings can mask the flavor of the coffee, remember, the coffee needs to stand up to the milk and a quality brew is still important. Regardless of the beverage you plan on preparing, the machine must still be capable of meeting the parameters below. So let's start with a better understanding of espresso and then follow up with recipes for favorites like cappuccinos, lattes, mochas and more.

Espresso: Espresso is a coffee beverage brewed through a very specific process. The term has been used in many ways, often adding to the confusion. Although many coffee roasters offer an espresso blend or an espresso roast, espresso is neither a blend nor a roast. Just about any coffee bean can be used to brew espresso and those beans can be roasted to just about any roast level. The misconception comes from coffee roasters who work long and hard to blend their favorite beans for use in an espresso machine and aptly name the blend “espresso blend coffee”. We are very proud of our own espresso blends. However, there is no one bean that is an espresso bean and no one combination of beans that is universally considered an espresso blend. As a matter of fact, if you talk to a dozen coffee roasters and asked them what coffee beans are in their espresso blend, they probably wouldn’t tell you – but if they did, you would probably get a dozen different answers. Another common misconception is that espresso is a level of roast. Again, this comes from roasters who roast to the level they prefer for espresso and call it an espresso roast. While some roast levels work better than others, a preferred roast can vary greatly from roaster to roaster and from region to region. It is not always the darkest roast and is usually not the lightest roast offered by a coffee roaster. It would be easy to give you a typical range of roasts if roast levels were defined uniformly across the industry, but the reality is that one roaster’s Vienna roast may be another roaster’s Italian roast. So we will just leave it as not too light and not too dark, and you can choose whatever roast you prefer. (Tip: Coffee beans roasted too light can result in a sour taste and beans roasted too dark can result in a bitter or burnt taste. With very dark roasts, you start losing the distinct flavors of the coffee bean varietal(s) used in the blend. In other words, you taste the “burnt” and not the “bean”. Some suggest that roasting very dark is a way of masking the quality of the bean and lesser quality beans may be used. Extreme roast levels can also result in reduced crema, that foamy layer on the top of a properly extracted espresso that holds much of the flavor.) Finally, you may be interested in knowing that the correct term is not expresso, although the term expresso is commonly used and has almost become a recognized slang version of the correct term. Perhaps this is because the term expresso strongly hints at the process of making this magic brew: and quick process of preparing coffee expressly for an individual.  

Okay, so now we know what an espresso is not and we know that it is brewed using a very specific process. Of course you are anxious to know what that process is. While definitions of the brewing process can vary from barista to barista, generally agreed upon parameters were reached by a collection of industry experts. These conditions are widely found in coffee literature, teachings of the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) and agreed upon by many baristas around the world. You may see slight variations to these recommended parameters and the ideal parameters may vary slightly from machine to machine since machine designs also vary.

Without further ado, espresso is:

• a 1 to1.25 ounce coffee beverage  
• prepared using 7 to 9 grams of ground coffee  
• brewed with clean water at a temperature between 192 and 198 deg F (88-92 deg C)  
• brewed with water forced through the grinds at approximately 9-10 atmospheres of pressure (approximately 9 bars of pressure)  
• brewed with a coffee grind and tamp such that the brewing flow time is approximately 20-25 seconds

The flow of espresso during the brewing process should be similar to the flow of warm honey and the brewed espresso should have a thick golden crema (foam like layer) on top. It is best to brew into a pre-heated cup that will also be the cup used for serving to minimize loss of heat and crema When transferring espresso from one container to another, much of the crema will cling to the sides of the original container and be left behind. Finally, the espresso should be served immediately after it is made. It is important to note that for a double espresso, only two parameters above change. Double the amount of ground coffee and double the amount of water. Do not  double the time for brewing. Since a double shot is made with a larger filter, the water has a larger area to pass through so theoretically the time should remain the same.

As you can see, there are many conditions required to brew an espresso according to this definition, and as you can guess, the materials and equipment must be up to the task. Your coffee and water must be of sufficient quality. The grinder must be capable of producing an even and fine grind. The espresso machine must be capable of the proper pressure, temperature and flow rate. Maybe most importantly, the barista must be able master the art of the process, especially the art of the tamp. Tamping is the packing of ground coffee into the filter using a flat or slightly curved circular pressing device with a handle, aptly called a tamper. The fine grind coupled with the proper tamping or packing of the coffee is what provides resistance to the water pump. Without this resistance, you will not build up the ideal pressure needed for proper extraction, no matter how powerful the pump on your espresso maker. Some machines do offer pressure enhancing mechanisms to ease the requirement of achieving the perfect grind and tamp. More detail on this later. Now, "expresso" on over to the recipes for popular specialty coffee beverages (Cappuccino, Latte, Mocha etc. …)