[miso soup]

The definition of 'espresso' is nothing to do with roasting.  Light roast espressos are all the rage at some of the trendy London coffee shops at the moment.  Any coffee beans can be used in an espresso machine to make an espresso.  When beans are sold as 'espresso beans' it's generally just someone's opinion that those particular beans are best enjoyed that way.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Espresso

 

[shurt]

I'll be honest I did look at that page before posting but it seemed a bit vague in terms of the question I had which weirdly you've answered. That its basically someone's opinion that a bean can be used for espresso. I mean Wikipedia is good buts its not always gospel.

There's a lot of knowledge contained within the people on this board and you often get an answer with more depth by asking them rather than googling it. Anyway, peace.

[Fultonius]

I find the pressure one of the hardest things to get right at home as I always grind in batches as don't have time to grind before I make every coffee. As it dries out you have to adjust pressure to get it right. I suppose that's why coffee is great at a good place with a barista that's used to the grinder and machine and making coffee all day. I've heard that they adjust the grind slightly depending on the weather to keep the quality consistant! High tech...

Ok, let's start:

You do have time to grind before every coffee. In fact, you must grind just before. You should not adjust "tamp" pressure - i.e. the pressure you press the coffee down into the portafilter. If it comes out too fast and watery, you need a finer grind. Slow and overly strong, coarser grind. (unlikley)

Muenchener, I'm sorry but I have to disagree about the roast. A dark roast is not required for an espresso. Typically, Italian espresso would use a darker roast but it is no way necessary. I much prefer a medium (City+ / first Crack) roast. Each to their own...

Like Andy said, espresso is purely the process: - Finely ground coffee, tamped into the portafilter of a proper espresso machine, which provides water at ~96°C and 10+ bar pressure. It is the process of forcing the water through the fine grounds at pressure that extracts the coffee oils, which then emuslify in and provide that lovely, rich, creamy black nectar!

Espresso should not be bitter, or burnt tasting. A good espresso has a balance of bitterness, sweetness and acidity. If bitterness is the over-riding flavour it's not a good espresso.

[Fultonius]

The definition of 'espresso' is nothing to do with roasting.  Light roast espressos are all the rage at some of the trendy London coffee shops at the moment.  Any coffee beans can be used in an espresso machine to make an espresso.  When beans are sold as 'espresso beans' it's generally just someone's opinion that those particular beans are best enjoyed that way.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Espresso

 

Although, to be fair, good coffee roasters will probably sell an "Espresso blend" which will make a fairly standard tasting espresso.

[shurt]

I find the pressure one of the hardest things to get right at home as I always grind in batches as don't have time to grind before I make every coffee. As it dries out you have to adjust pressure to get it right. I suppose that's why coffee is great at a good place with a barista that's used to the grinder and machine and making coffee all day. I've heard that they adjust the grind slightly depending on the weather to keep the quality consistant! High tech...

Ok, let's start:

You do have time to grind before every coffee. In fact, you must grind just before. You should not adjust "tamp" pressure - i.e. the pressure you press the coffee down into the portafilter. If it comes out too fast and watery, you need a finer grind. Slow and overly strong, coarser grind. (unlikley)

Tragically my machine is old and I am poor! I'm on finest grind and my tamping tool is the back of a spoon repeatedly turned to squish everything down. Many men couldn't work in these conditions but i muddle through. It's hard to get a consistent pressure using this method.

[andyd]

What the F man said.
I guess that in the absence of readily available good coffee from trained staff in passionate establishments, the British are a little (understandably) ignorant to the world of the black-gold. It's good to share the knowledge. Everyone knows what they like from what's available, but there's often better out there if you did deep.
Coffee in Britain has come a long way in the last ten years
           
                   Every day's a school day.

[Muenchener]

Muenchener, I'm sorry but I have to disagree about the roast. A dark roast is not required for an espresso.

And where, pray, did I say anything remotely like that? I responded to the original question that darker roast beans are most commonly used for espresso. Surely you can't possibly believe that that isn't the case?

Strictly speaking espresso is the process, the distinctive thing about it being that the hot water is forced through the coffee by steam pressure instead of by gravity. In principle you could do it with any coffee, but darker roasts seem to be generally preferred and give the best results.

[Muenchener]

I guess that in the absence of readily available good coffee from trained staff in passionate establishments, the British are a little (understandably) ignorant to the world of the black-gold.

I had an interesting coffee experience on my last trip to .uk

Visited at my parents in Leicester en route to Wales, and needed coffee for a week in a hut. As far as google could tell there's one roastery in Leicester, and I had had coffee there before and not been impressed. Sure enough, drank another coffee there; still not impressed. Very, very acid. But I still needed beans for Wales, beggars can't be choosers and the beans smelt ok. So I took some of their Sumatra with me to Wales and, to my surprise, run through a Hario filter it was excellent.

[Fultonius]

And where, pray, did I say anything remotely like that? I responded to the original question that darker roast beans are most commonly used for espresso. Surely you can't possibly believe that that isn't the case?

Fair point - apologies for misrepresenting you. I had actually started that sentence to disagree about it being steam pressure, but got sidetracked...   Steam destroys the coffee. A good espresso machine uses a pump to create the pressure and the water should be just off the boil.

I've just got myself a hario too ... another skill to learn. 

[Muenchener]

I'm getting quite mixed results with the Hario so far, and no machine to blame. Very zen thing dependent one's own state of mind, steadiness of hand etc. But the results are never less than good and sometimes excellent.

Some coffees are tricky with the hario too: one of my local roasters is doing a lovely Antigua at the moment which, however, blooms to a frothy mass about double the size and is then tricky to pur until it has settled down a bit.

[Muenchener]

Further Hario experience report.

As was probably inevitable at some point, I ran out of Hario filter papers. And as will also be the case for most people in this situation, I also had a normal filter cone and papers at the back of the cupboard.

So: normal filter paper in Hario cone: doesn't sit neatly due to wrong shape, works ok if poured carefully and doesn't capsize.

Hario pouring technique applied to normal filter paper in normal cone (aka: is Hario equipment a scam?). No. Hole is too small to allow the proper rate of flow, one quickly gets the telltale pale froth of over-brewing. Result is not outright awful, but rather dull and flat.

Next steps: (a) order more Hario papers, (b) experiment with normal cone and drill

[shurt]

Hey M, which Hario filter have you got? just having a look on their website. I've heard good things about a Cemex too. Do you not use an espresso machine or dyou swing both ways?!

[Muenchener]

The plastic V60 Hario. Guy in the shop wanted me to buy glass or ceramic but I initially thought I wanted it mainly for trips away to huts & campsites. Then the results were so good I switched to it at home too.

No espresso machine. I leave that to professionals.

[Fultonius]

I just got the white ceramic one, size 1.

I read a bit about the difference between the Chemex and Hario ones and concluded that I might prefer the Hario. Can't actually remember why now; something about the flavour profile..blah blah...

I was hoping that it might be less reliant on coffee freshness than the espresso machine. I was wrong. That's me just finishing a 250g bag of ground coffee and it's noticably less ... erm ... tasty than it was on day 1. The coffee barely blooms and just tastes a bit dull.

Porlex grinder might be next...

[andyd]

 

I ...

I was hoping that it might be less reliant on coffee freshness than the espresso machine. I was wrong. That's me just finishing a 250g bag of ground coffee and it's noticably less ... erm ... tasty than it was on day 1. The coffee barely blooms and just tastes a bit dull.

Porlex grinder might be next...

Mate, if you like coffee enough to write about drinking it then you need to grind your own. Before long you'll notice the difference between coffee that was roasted today and three days ago. Then you'll get picky about how it was roasted and which coffee shops have well kept recently roasted coffee.
Different levels of coffee consciousness...

[DubDom]

I have heard that it's pretty critical to get the right grinder. Any recommendations?

(not thishttp://grindr.com one

[shurt]

You do have time to grind before every coffee. In fact, you must grind just before.

That's me just finishing a 250g bag of ground coffee

I'm confused??!

I have heard that it's pretty critical to get the right grinder. Any recommendations?

(not thishttp://grindr.com one

They say a slicer (grinders with blades in) are not great. The ones that crush are better and a ceramic hand grinder better again something to do with heat from the machine. Can't give any recommendations although the Hario grinders I looked at on their site after hearing about their filters from this thread look good. Not cheap though..

[Duma]

I've got a porlex. lovely thing, probably wasted on me.

[Fultonius]

Sorry to confuse you all - I do have a grinder, just a duallit burr thing that does the job in the flat. I'm always on the look out for a nice second hand professional one. What I want the porlex for is when we're away in the T4, or camping etc.

I'm back in Glasgow to do some work and just picked up a Hario and a bag of coffee to keep me going in the office... It's that or the dreaded Flavia!!! Hence the pre-ground...

[Pebblespanker]

Am in Dublin with work at the moment and have picked up some Badger & Dodo Guatemala Finca San Francisco Tecuanburro on spec from the local Art of Coffee cafe I use every day - anyone tried Badger & Dodo? I have chance to get some more before I leave this week, just didn't want to waste my euros - main issue is I have no access to grinder or filter machine here to taste test

Thanks

[DubDom]

Is this the one?

http://hario.co.uk/products/ceramic-grinder-skerton

[chris j]

The plastic V60 Hario. Guy in the shop wanted me to buy glass or ceramic but I initially thought I wanted it mainly for trips away to huts & campsites. Then the results were so good I switched to it at home too.

I'm intrigued. Is it much faff to use? Do you obsess much about water temperatures and the like or just boil a kettle and pour away?

[Duma]

DubDom said:
Is this the one?

http://hario.co.uk/products/ceramic-grinder-skerton

this is mine: http://www.coffeehit.co.uk/porlex-tall-hand-grinder
great, but too small for much more than travel use, unless you're the only coffee drinker in your house

[Muenchener]

The plastic V60 Hario.

I'm intrigued. Is it much faff to use? Do you obsess much about water temperatures and the like or just boil a kettle and pour away?

Yes, no, no, and no.

Yes it is a bit of a faff, especially on schooldays when I'm trying to get the sprog ready for school and self ready for work simultaneously. But I find the quality of the results worth it.

No I don't obsess about water temperature. Obsessives possess separate thermometers calibrated to tenths of a degree.

But, no I don't just boil a kettle either. I have a kettle that I can set in 5 degree increments and I set it to 90. True obsessives would laugh at my sloppiness.

No I don't just pour away. I do the proper ritual: pre-wet the filter and warm the pot, pre-wet the coffee and let it bloom for a bit, then a careful slow pour in a spiral from the middle to the edges, taking care not to go off the edge of the coffee and pour water directly onto the paper. All as detailed in the instructions that come with the cone and/or on youtube. I don't have one of those special teapots that Hario also make; I find anything with a reasonable spout on it, and a reasonably steady hand, suffices.

[Richie Crouch]

I do exactly the same technique as described by muenchener (using freshly hand ground beans too ofc) but can't adjust the boil temp of the kettle, so usually eave it for around 1 minute after boiling time and then pour it using a small gardening style watering can instead of spending stupid £££ on a posh connoisseur one. Wonder if the water I am using is too hot and may scorch the coffee?