About Espresso
Espresso isn’t just for espresso drinkers. Espresso is the 25ml of delicious-nous that sits at the heart all coffees made with Italian coffee machines including lattés, cappuccinos, flat whites and long blacks. This is why knowing how to make great espresso is important for all coffee lovers.
Have no fear. With a little knowledge you will be able to get a great espresso every time. I have refined my Espresso Workflow over many years and have brought everything back to basics. It may look tricky but have no fear as it really is surprisingly simple.
Espresso Rule of Thirds
To make great espresso with an Italian coffee machine you really need to understand coffee extraction. My “Rule of Thirds” technique will help you with that and that’s why it’s the first thing that I show everyone when they visit my Melbourne coffee machine showroom. If you can’t visit me that’s not a problem as you can try it yourself.
Here is the process. Follow my Espresso Workflow and begin an extraction with 18g of coffee in a double basket. I always recommend using a double basket with 18g of coffee. Keep the stream running and take away 3 consecutive parts of approx 25ml each.
Taste each part.
Part 1 is thick and intense
Part 2 is light, sweet and fruity
Part 3 is thin and bitter
My “Rule of Thirds” technique is a great way to show the difference between a ristretto and an espresso, and it will also show you why it is so important to stop your extraction before you get to the thin, bitter ending. Here is a summary:
Part 1 is a ristretto (25ml)
If you mix Parts 1 & 2 you get an espresso (50ml)
Never extract Part 3 - the thin, bitter, watery ending
Although you can continue to extract by volume, you will find that as you get more experienced you are able to extract by colour. Extracting by colour involves stopping the extraction as the stream changes from thick and dark to thin and watery. This transition is known as blonding. With a little experience you will be able to extract by colour to get the results that you want in your cup.
When you start out with home espresso I recommend that you dose 18g of coffee into a double basket, and aim to extract 50ml of liquid in 30s.
Although every coffee bean and every extraction is different, this is a great guide, and a rule of thumb. This handy 18 | 50 | 30 rule is printed on my Espresso Workflow Wallchart.
It's Easy to Become a Home Barista
The simplicity of the home barista experience surprises many. I know that keeping things simple is important. That’s why I developed an easy-to-follow Espresso Workflow
By following my workflow you will get consistently great espresso. The key to consistency is to make grind particle size the only variable in the process by bringing consistency to dose weight, dose distribution, dose compression and other potential sources of variability. When the grind particle size is the only variable in the process your grinder setting collar becomes the “steering wheel” of the process as you can "drive" your coffee machine by turning this collar.
My workflow is easy to follow online but it’s always great if you can visit me at my Melbourne coffee machine showroom for Free Training to learn about home espresso, one-on-one. I have trained many hundreds of new home baristas and it really makes me happy to think of all of the people who are now enjoying great coffee day in, day out.