The Basics

By request this post is going to cover the basics of espresso shots and milk texturing, which are absolutely necessary foundations for a decent tasting cup of coffee, forget about latte art. I know right? Someone actually read this blog!

Firstly I'm going to re-iterate that I am not a barista, I'm just an amateur coffee enthusiast and these are my observations. If you see advice out there to the contrary, definitely give it a go and see if it works for you.

Here are some images to cover off terminology before we get started:

This is a porta-filter

This is a Filter Basket

The caramel coloured layer on the espresso is called Crema

The Shot:

There are really 3 major components to producing a good shot of espresso; the grind of the beans, the pressure of the tamp, and the pressure capability of the espresso machine you're using.

The typical measurement of pressure for espresso machines is the BAR, I have never seen a machine use PSI. Any espresso machine that doesn't produce 15 BAR of pressure is not worth the money as before you even get started, you will have a sub-par shot of coffee. That is pretty much the standard for most home espresso machines now, so you shouldn't have any trouble getting your hands on one.

The tamp, is basically how hard you cram the coffee grounds into the filter basket of the porta-filter. This link  will take you to a site that describes tamping in detail, but essentially you want to have a solid cake of coffee grounds in the filter basket that the water will be forced through evenly. When inserting the porta-filter into the group head of the espresso machine (the only place you can stick the porta-filter) you want some resistance as you lock it in - but not so much that it's a struggle.

When tamping the coffee grinds, it is good to do it in stages; the first tamp after adding grounds to the filter basket (about 5 pounds of pressure) is just to clear space for more grounds. Once you have basically packed the basket, the final tamp should be at 30 pounds of pressure - about the same amount of pressure applied when leaning with one hand against a kitchen bench.

Finally, the grind. If you are experimenting with many different beans, the grind is not a 'set and forget' setting. Different beans, with different roasts require different grinds, as their oils are released at different pressures. If you have too fine a grind on the wrong bean, you will notice your espresso machine struggling to push the water through the coffee (usually lots of noise and vibration with only a slight coffee stream) and end up with a bitter coffee. So this requires some experimentation.

I will segue slight to the subject of Grinders. If you can, I recommend getting a Burr Grinder which allows you to set how fine you would like your grind, rather than a Blade Grinder (also used for herbs) which is mostly guesswork. For reference, I use the Sunbeam Cafe Series Conical Burr Grinder, and it's pretty damn good.

The Milk:

Texturing the milk to create that silky microfoam requires a bit of finesse, but once you are used to your machine's steam wand, it's usually a piece of cake. That said, many of the cheaper espresso machines have crappy steam wands with frothing attachments that overly aerate your milk. Sometimes there's no getting around the capabilities of your machine, but I recommend removing the frothing attachment and giving it a go with just the steam wand.

Again, there are some components which are key to success with texturing milk; Firstly, the milk needs to be cold before texturing - like straight from the fridge cold. I actually put my milk jug in the freezer for a minute before adding milk so that everything is nice and chilled - this has to do with how the fats in the milk react to the steam, colder milk = tighter microfoam.

The next component is the temperature, when starting out I recommend getting a milk thermometer to measure the temp while heating the milk, before starting to texture, you really want the milk at around 60 degrees celcius. You don't want much more than this as if you over-heat the milk you will scald it, and your coffee is ruined - not to mention you could burn someone's mouth.

Obviously, the final component comes down to technique. The general idea is to create a whirlpool effect in the milk jug. After pouring the cold milk into your jug, the steam wand should be on an angle in your jug so that it will push the milk into a whirlpool. The end of the steam wand should be just slightly below the surface of the milk, but deep enough that you're not blowing bubbles on the surface. Turn on the steam and start whirling.

If you don't have a milk thermometer, a rough way to do this is to place your fingertips on the milk jug on the opposite side to where you have positioned your steam wand; Eventually you will feel the jug warming as the milk heats up. When the jug reaches the point where it is too hot to touch comfortably, that is the point you should start texturing.

To texture, just very slightly raise your steam wand (really you're lowering the milk jug to do this) to the surface of the milk until you're hearing the hissing, slurping sound of the milk being aerated. The key is to make this a slow, regular process; too fast and you will over-aerate the milk, too slow and your milk temperature will climb before you have fully textured the milk.

Just raise the steam wand in small increments and you will see the milk start rising up with your steam wand in the jug. Once you are starting to see some fine foam appearing directly in front of the steam wand, continue for about 10 seconds and shut off. Your milk is textured :)

It will take a bit of practice as every machine is different, some steam wands are better than others, but hopefully my observations will help you out to making some great coffee.

Cheers,

Brandon.