Beginner's Guide to Espresso

Espresso should be fun! Don’t be too intimidated by all the lingo.

These are my espresso cliff notes, things I keep referring back to when I get confused about some aspect of espresso.

NOTE: This is not about how to make espresso - just getting a feel for the lingo and culture, hopefully increasing your enjoyment of the drink and specialty shops that serve it.

What is Espresso?

https://home.lamarzoccousa.com/the-beginners-guide-to-espresso-drinks-2/

Espresso is a coffee brewing method. It’s a way of making coffee where a small amount of near boiling water is forced through finely ground coffee, under pressure.

The space above the flat espresso puck fills with water and the espresso machine applies 9 bars of pressure to force water through the coffee.

The (General) Recipe: To pull a double shot, grind 18 grams of finely ground coffee in your portafilter. Aim for about 28-36 grams of espresso in about 25-30 seconds.

Processes

Perfectdailygrind article

Washed coffees focus solely on the bean. They let you taste you what’s on the inside, not the outside.

Washed coffees depend almost 100% on the bean having absorbed enough natural sugars and nutrients during its growing cycle. This means the varietal, soil, weather, ripeness, fermentation, washing, and drying are key.

This means that the washed process highlights the true character of a single origin bean like no other process. It’s why so many specialty coffees are washed.

The natural process, also known as the dry process, is a back-to-basics approach that stems from Ethiopia. The fruit remains on the bean, and dries undisturbed. … This inconsistency is often the result of unripe fruit drying and turning brown alongside ripe fruits. However, there are many who believe this process actually has the potential to create the most flavourful coffees.

When done right, honey processed coffee can literally taste like someone has put honey and brown sugar in your cup of coffee – although the name actually comes from how sticky the beans get during processing. The honey process is strongly associated with Costa Rica and, in recent years, subcategories have developed: yellow, red, golden, black, and white honey.

Coffee Affection article

Honey processing leaves a sticky inner coating called mucilage on the coffee bean. This “honey” ferments, giving the bean a sweet, fruity flavor.

Varietals

Within each species of coffe bean (Arabica, Robusta, Liberica, and Excelsa), there are many, many varieties.

Species: Arabica

Home Coffee Expert article

Arabica coffee is the most popular coffee bean in the world, accounting for around 64% of global coffee production.

As the Arabica coffee plant originated in the highland areas of Ethiopia it requires high altitudes and is quite sensitive to high temperatures. It can also only be grown in what is known as the “Coffee Belt” – the equatorial regions between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.

High-quality Arabica coffee beans should be sweet with chocolate, caramel, fruit, nut, and floral notes.

The varieties of arabica can be listed under four main groups, or collections of varieties:

Ethiopian landrace
- associated with incredibly high-quality beans and low yields.
- huge number of “heirloom” varieties grown in Ethiopia
Bourbon and Typica group
- huge amount of Arabica coffee grown today descended from a small number taken from Yemen in the late 17th century. The path taken determines their designation as either Bourbon or Typica.
Introgressed
F1 hybrid
- Hybrids are created when two genetically different “parent” plants are bred to create a new cultivar. The “F1” refers to the fact these are the first generation offspring.
- broken down into two categories: Introgressed and Not Introgressed. Introgressed F1 Hybrids have characteristics from two distinct species like Robusta and Arabica. Wheras Not Introgressed F1 Hybrids are made by crossing only varieties of Arabica coffee beans.

References

Written on Jun 13th, 2023