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Everyone loves a shot of espresso and maybe you as well, but the sad reality is that most of these avid coffee drinkers don’t know what an espresso actually is!
And why is it sad? Because you are only appreciating the outcomes and not the process it took to create that delicious hot cup of beverage.
Anyway, it is even tough to define what an espresso actually is! It is not a bean, nor a predefined recipe. Let us take a look into what an espresso is.
What is an Espresso and a Double Espresso?
Looking at the history, the biggest impact espresso ever had was because of Starbucks. Ever since then and being inherited by a lot of hipper cafés, espresso is widely drunk in the most parts of the world nowadays.
As we said earlier, it is not a bean, nor a recipe. However, the process of making this drink is widely termed as espresso.
The Process of Making an Espresso
Espresso is made using two core ingredients, which are none other than, coffee and water. It is an extraction process of brewing an intense tasting, thick coffee.
The brewing process starts with a fine grind of freshly roasted coffee beans. The finer the grind, stronger the coffee. Puzzled? Let me explain why.
If you go with a rough, coarse grind of coffee, the water will not get much dissolved with the coffee during the extraction process, creating a low concentrated coffee, which is not how an Espresso should taste. Therefore get the finest grind possible.
Once you have got the grind size right, next comes the extraction process where the water will get extracted along with the coffee. Here, the most important thing to look after is brew ratio.
Brew ratio, in simple words, is the amount of coffee compared to the amount of coffee getting poured. There is be variations in each individual’s choice regarding the taste they like. Most people will go for the 1:2 ratio where the former stands for coffee. However, some people prefer 1:1 for more intense and some prefer 1:3 for a bit less concentrated coffee.
Well, that’s pretty much it about the Espresso making process. There can be other minor factors like brew temperature and the roast type, which can be adjusted accordingly.
What is a Double Espresso?
As it is widely known, an espresso shot is a 30 ml extraction of coffee. Therefore, as you can guess, a double espresso is a 60 ml cup of espresso, also known as Doppio.
To make a Doppio, a double coffee filter is used in the portafilter, which makes a double standard 60 ml cup of joe.
A double espresso should take about 20 to 30 seconds to get extracted and should have a light caramel color. Also, it must be thick and elastic enough. Well, that is all about a double espresso. Pretty simple, right!?
Some Fun Facts about Espresso!
- In Italy, the Government manages Espresso, as they consider it an essential part of their lives!
- It takes 50 coffee beans to make you that single shot of espresso.
- Often misunderstood, Espresso is not a bean or type of roast, it is a drink.
- Espresso can be made using any type of coffee bean with any roast profile.
- Espresso serves as a base for many espresso-based drinks, devoured all over the world!
The EndNote
So now you know how your favorite coffee drink is prepared. If you like this article, do check out some of our other work as well.
And if you need to know anything further about espresso, comment below!
We’ll do our best to let you know everything.
Cheers!
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