Espresso and soup? A strange but helpful analogy You might be wondering what soup and hot coffee have in common besides being a hot liquid. That is about it, but the analogy here should help clarify what an espresso bean is. Most people have fond memories or an active passion for coffee and soup. But for coffee and soup, there needs to be clarity about how to get to the end product, granted more so for espresso. Espresso is like bouillon. It’s small and concentrated and usually diluted to make the end product. Drip coffee is like a finished stock. It can have minor additives, or it is great on its own. So what precisely makes a bean so qualified to be honored as an espresso bean? Well, for the most part, it is the roast level. For espresso, you want to be at a medium to dark roast. Lighter roasts do not do well in espresso shots because of the coffee’s short extraction time and acidity. Darker to medium roasts are better at getting fuller flavors out at the short extraction time. The typical flavor notes of espresso of chocolate and other darker fruiter flavors play along much better with flavored syrups than, say, the brightness and acidity of light roast. Much like there are many kinds of stock and bouillon which all serve a different purpose, so there are with coffee. So why, then, the moniker of espresso coffee? Well, there are two options, one, the manufacturer has already pre-grounded the coffee to be made in an espresso machine. The second is that this is the recommended use of the coffee. Much like the recommended recipes on the side of the stock box, you buy it is the same idea here. In fact, it might be interesting if…

Finding the Perfect Espresso Machine In today’s world, looking at espresso machines is like car shopping in two substantial ways, price, and mode. Much like car shopping, many people try to convince you that their rig is the best. There are three styles of traditional espresso machines, automatic and manual machines. While the mocha pot is not considered a conventional espresso maker, it is often considered a good option to dip into the espresso world. A Mocha pot could be equivalent to an old Honda car, it may not be luxurious, but it delivers a solid, consistent product and is reasonably inexpensive. And most people who use and work with them know how the machine works and how to tweak it to maximize performance. Now for those who have yet to learn how this works. A mocha pot is a turbocharged percolator. If that still means nothing to you. There are three main parts the water pot, the basket, and I will call that top part the holding chamber. You put it on the stove, and the pressure from the hot water passes through the basket into the holding chamber. Another option that is an inexpensive espresso machine is the AeroPress. AeroPress is not super expensive and still turns out to be a great product, but it requires a good bit of work and a special filter. There are videos all over showing how it works. The most considerable force you exert to get the espresso. But it is small, so if counter space is precious or you want to take it around, it is a great option. If your budget is a bit larger, consider the next segment. This would be mid-tier, somewhere between 100-800 dollars. It would be like a cheaper new car or a nicer used car.…

Poured, not dripped, please – All about pour-over coffee Pour-over coffee is a favored way among enthusiasts to brew coffee. Some pros are that it gives a clean cup of coffee and makes the finished product simple yet elegant. Some may consider cons are the amount of attention that needs to be paid to the brewing method. From wetting the filter with 150-degree water to coffee ratios, usually 16:1 or less commonly 15:1, the ground size and water temp at extraction. My parameters are as much as possible coarse ground, water temp 200-degree water, and about 4-5 tablespoons of coffee to a kettle of water which is .8 liters. The filter I used was a Melita # 4 paper filter. The coffees I used were the Lavazza Classico roast, Gevalia single origin Guatemala coarse, and Eight o clock original roast whole bean. Before diving headfirst into the coffee and taste, let’s do some fast time travel. It is the early 1900s in Europe, and the on-vogue brewing style was immersion brewing. And with that comes some silt and sludge from the coffee in your cup. The other option is a straightforward espresso machine. However, Mrs. Melita Bentz was not pleased with the current status quo, so she took a pot, poked some holes in it, placed some paper at the bottom for a filter, and brewed coffee with it. Being pleased with the end product, she refined the mechanism some more, and in 1908 she was granted a patient, for now, famous #4 filter. Funny enough, Mrs. Bentz was a German housewife. Who started a company out of her house and grew it substantially and forever changed coffee. Mind you. It would be appropriate to mention that she is still a wife and a mother while starting a company. Sadly…