how to make an espresso well you bought
your nice fancy expensive machine and
you've got a hopper full of lovely fresh
coffee beans but unfortunately about 90%
of coffees sold in the UK oh poor
standard look at all those beans they
come thousands of miles but
unfortunately when you went cafes and
restaurants hit the espresso button they
started to get something which doesn't
live up to expectation so here we go
we've got some espressos which share
probably like 90 percent of coffees that
come out of an espresso machine in this
country is either old coffee or more
likely the grinder setup wrong this is a
really common problem waters just
rushing through the coffee it's not
picking up any of the oils at all and as
a consequence you're going to get a
really thin tasting coffee the crema
that you can see there is light there's
no depth to it and all this really is
down to two points either the coffee is
old which is quite common or the grinder
setup wrongly and that's really really
common of that probably more common than
you think
there's only a few places in the country
that actually do good espressos and why
is it so important well it's because the
espressos go into nearly every single
drink you make from your espresso
machine you won't sell that many
espressos on their own but if you get
this bit right get the shot of coffee
coming out correctly to start with then
all your lattes and cappuccinos and
Americanos will taste good as well so
what can we do to rectify this problem
well first of all you've got to start
off with good coffee don't attempt to
use a hundred percent Arabica coffee for
an espresso machines to start with it's
difficult coffee to use and you tend to
end up with a result like this even if
you've got everything else right here
we've adjusted the grinder slightly so
we're slowing the coffee down the
coarseness of the coffee is being reduce
it much finer and the water struggling
to get through it a little bit more in
this instance is coming through in about
15 seconds still too quick but look at
the difference to start with
you've got a much more golden crema on
the espresso it's still too thin
remember and after a few seconds or
after a six minute 30 seconds we'll say
the creme has disappeared so concentrate
on your grinder nearly everything to do
with your coffee is controlled by your
grinder so first of all use fresh coffee
beans
ideally less than 24 hours from opening
they've got to be fresh especially with
espresso coffee beans because it's so
oily then adjust your grinder coarseness
and dosage there's a separate video on
how to do this because this is such a
crucial point for espresso coffees it's
a good idea to mark the grind once
you've done it to test your espressos do
the sugar test put some sugar on the top
and it should stay on the top for a
couple of seconds before it falls
through that one just failed didn't work
we know it's wrong okay here we've
slowed down the coffee even a little bit
more now to a 21 second extraction time
this is more like it you can see the
crema forming and after probably about
10 seconds that forms its own distinct
layer it's settling a little bit like
Guinness there you go look at that crema
what a difference in glass you can
actually see the thickness and do the
sugar test again this time it passes
look how long it stays on the top before
it falls through that's what you're
looking for that's what your espresso
should be all about
and once again now test your espressos
now and do the sugar test and see if it
passes
if you've got everything working
together then you should get that result
here we're using something slightly
different we've got rid of all the
spouts and everything and we're using a
bottomless porta filter this time we've
got the extraction about 20 22 23
seconds or so the creme is much much
thicker it's not passing over any metal
surfaces at all
now must admit haven't got my machine
set up perfectly there but what a
difference look at the thickness of that
crema and after again after a I know 5
10 seconds or so that will settle as it
is there and when somebody drinks that
they're sipping that really nice oily
creamy top to it
that's what espressos are all about
that's what you should be getting ok ok
here we come on to some common problems
that we have when we making espressos
the most common problem is actually over
filling the cup here we got the really
nice extraction to start with two of
them but what a lot of people do is they
continue to pour water through the group
heads to top up the cup essentially and
this is what happens essentially
you fill the cup up with relatively
bitter insipid will it wait one but it's
not what you really would call an
espresso and if you're continuing to
top-up your cup with water through the
group head you're basically adding the
cup on the right to the one on the left
if we continue to do this even more
which is what some people do when they
make Americanos they just run water
through the group heads you get the one
on the on the right there
again well look at these three all in a
row
the espresso to start with then what a
lot of people add to it just to top the
cup up thinking they're going to be
generous to the customer they're not
really they're not doing the mini set
any favors eight any favors at all it's
not perfect the one on the the front
there but it's much better than the
other two so it's a good idea to measure
what you think is the right measure for
espresso which is about 30 mils put that
into a cup and then go past that point
this is what you're doing if you're
topping it up to the top of the rim
there you're wrecking it that won't be a
very nice espresso to drink at all and
look at the white streak on top that's a
good indicator that you've over
extracted another really common problem
and check this on your own machine a
leaky group headsails
you've probably seen that quite often
actually and it's a sign that you need
to do something or get an engineer in to
change your seals a relatively cheap to
change but if you get any drips of water
like that then change your group head
seals it means that when you come to
clean it you're not going to be cleaning
it correctly and you're not going to get
the right pressure through the group
heads and if you have slight differences
in levels and as these two are all it
means is that your machine isn't quite
level so here my top tips are espressos
use fresh espresso coffee beans really
important stair ones you won't get the
creme you won't get the flavor take some
time to set up your grinder properly
make sure your machine is really really
clean there's other videos on these to
show you how don't overfill your cup
otherwise you'll ruin your espresso
and after you've done all that you do
stand a chance of making a great
espresso now we haven't covered
everything here to do with espressos
there's an awful lot more to this
subject and we'll come on though come on
to those on other
your nice fancy expensive machine and
you've got a hopper full of lovely fresh
coffee beans but unfortunately about 90%
of coffees sold in the UK oh poor
standard look at all those beans they
come thousands of miles but
unfortunately when you went cafes and
restaurants hit the espresso button they
started to get something which doesn't
live up to expectation so here we go
we've got some espressos which share
probably like 90 percent of coffees that
come out of an espresso machine in this
country is either old coffee or more
likely the grinder setup wrong this is a
really common problem waters just
rushing through the coffee it's not
picking up any of the oils at all and as
a consequence you're going to get a
really thin tasting coffee the crema
that you can see there is light there's
no depth to it and all this really is
down to two points either the coffee is
old which is quite common or the grinder
setup wrongly and that's really really
common of that probably more common than
you think
there's only a few places in the country
that actually do good espressos and why
is it so important well it's because the
espressos go into nearly every single
drink you make from your espresso
machine you won't sell that many
espressos on their own but if you get
this bit right get the shot of coffee
coming out correctly to start with then
all your lattes and cappuccinos and
Americanos will taste good as well so
what can we do to rectify this problem
well first of all you've got to start
off with good coffee don't attempt to
use a hundred percent Arabica coffee for
an espresso machines to start with it's
difficult coffee to use and you tend to
end up with a result like this even if
you've got everything else right here
we've adjusted the grinder slightly so
we're slowing the coffee down the
coarseness of the coffee is being reduce
it much finer and the water struggling
to get through it a little bit more in
this instance is coming through in about
15 seconds still too quick but look at
the difference to start with
you've got a much more golden crema on
the espresso it's still too thin
remember and after a few seconds or
after a six minute 30 seconds we'll say
the creme has disappeared so concentrate
on your grinder nearly everything to do
with your coffee is controlled by your
grinder so first of all use fresh coffee
beans
ideally less than 24 hours from opening
they've got to be fresh especially with
espresso coffee beans because it's so
oily then adjust your grinder coarseness
and dosage there's a separate video on
how to do this because this is such a
crucial point for espresso coffees it's
a good idea to mark the grind once
you've done it to test your espressos do
the sugar test put some sugar on the top
and it should stay on the top for a
couple of seconds before it falls
through that one just failed didn't work
we know it's wrong okay here we've
slowed down the coffee even a little bit
more now to a 21 second extraction time
this is more like it you can see the
crema forming and after probably about
10 seconds that forms its own distinct
layer it's settling a little bit like
Guinness there you go look at that crema
what a difference in glass you can
actually see the thickness and do the
sugar test again this time it passes
look how long it stays on the top before
it falls through that's what you're
looking for that's what your espresso
should be all about
and once again now test your espressos
now and do the sugar test and see if it
passes
if you've got everything working
together then you should get that result
here we're using something slightly
different we've got rid of all the
spouts and everything and we're using a
bottomless porta filter this time we've
got the extraction about 20 22 23
seconds or so the creme is much much
thicker it's not passing over any metal
surfaces at all
now must admit haven't got my machine
set up perfectly there but what a
difference look at the thickness of that
crema and after again after a I know 5
10 seconds or so that will settle as it
is there and when somebody drinks that
they're sipping that really nice oily
creamy top to it
that's what espressos are all about
that's what you should be getting ok ok
here we come on to some common problems
that we have when we making espressos
the most common problem is actually over
filling the cup here we got the really
nice extraction to start with two of
them but what a lot of people do is they
continue to pour water through the group
heads to top up the cup essentially and
this is what happens essentially
you fill the cup up with relatively
bitter insipid will it wait one but it's
not what you really would call an
espresso and if you're continuing to
top-up your cup with water through the
group head you're basically adding the
cup on the right to the one on the left
if we continue to do this even more
which is what some people do when they
make Americanos they just run water
through the group heads you get the one
on the on the right there
again well look at these three all in a
row
the espresso to start with then what a
lot of people add to it just to top the
cup up thinking they're going to be
generous to the customer they're not
really they're not doing the mini set
any favors eight any favors at all it's
not perfect the one on the the front
there but it's much better than the
other two so it's a good idea to measure
what you think is the right measure for
espresso which is about 30 mils put that
into a cup and then go past that point
this is what you're doing if you're
topping it up to the top of the rim
there you're wrecking it that won't be a
very nice espresso to drink at all and
look at the white streak on top that's a
good indicator that you've over
extracted another really common problem
and check this on your own machine a
leaky group headsails
you've probably seen that quite often
actually and it's a sign that you need
to do something or get an engineer in to
change your seals a relatively cheap to
change but if you get any drips of water
like that then change your group head
seals it means that when you come to
clean it you're not going to be cleaning
it correctly and you're not going to get
the right pressure through the group
heads and if you have slight differences
in levels and as these two are all it
means is that your machine isn't quite
level so here my top tips are espressos
use fresh espresso coffee beans really
important stair ones you won't get the
creme you won't get the flavor take some
time to set up your grinder properly
make sure your machine is really really
clean there's other videos on these to
show you how don't overfill your cup
otherwise you'll ruin your espresso
and after you've done all that you do
stand a chance of making a great
espresso now we haven't covered
everything here to do with espressos
there's an awful lot more to this
subject and we'll come on though come on
to those on other