Espresso: the magic of intensity
Express espresso: coffee in the age of steam
The development of espresso at the end of the nineteenth century was inspired by changes in a world suddenly moving faster in the age of steam. Speeding up every aspect of life became fashionable. People travelled faster and worked faster, so naturally they wanted to enjoy their coffee faster too.
At the 1855 World Exhibition in Paris, the first drops of an unusually intense coffee, similar to today's espresso, were produced at an astonishing rate of 2,000 cups per hour. This impressive result was achieved by putting steam and high pressure to work inside the first coffee machines.
From then on, rapidly brewed coffee began its rise, along with a race to make it faster. The optimum brewing pace was reached almost a hundred years later, in 1948, when Achille Gaggia introduced the first modern espresso machine. Espresso then flowed steadily towards today's easy-to-use machines. Despite their futuristic appearance, they still rely on ideas patented by engineers more than a century ago.
Espresso for beginners
Making the world's most iconic coffee is an art that requires a few basic rules. First, remember that ideal espresso is intensely flavoured and concentrated. It is therefore no surprise that extracting a single 25 ml serving requires 7–8 g of coffee and only 35 ml of water.
Despite those proportions, a correctly prepared drink is not bitter, but deep and remarkably complex. Espresso's rich bouquet of flavours and aromas comes from very fast extraction, lasting 25–35 seconds at around 9 bar of pressure.
Professional baristas like to experiment with these parameters, but poor adjustments can seriously spoil the result. If the first sip produces a mouth-puckering sourness, the coffee has brewed for too short a time. An unpleasant, aggravating bitterness, on the other hand, signals an extraction that lasted far too long.
The art of attention
The care given to each stage of preparation has an enormous, even decisive, influence on espresso. Every step is an exercise in attention. That is why even grinding requires an absolutely uncompromising approach. Beans for espresso should be ground very finely. Once added to the basket, the coffee must be levelled and compressed with a tamper. This helps prevent channelling: pathways forming between the particles that allow water to pass too quickly, resulting in under-extraction.
A well-made espresso has complexity in both flavour and texture. The first thing you encounter is the crema: a foam of tiny carbon dioxide bubbles floating on the surface. Its colour and consistency can help you assess the drink. A firm, hazelnut-coloured crema with characteristic mottling suggests that the coffee beneath will also be a pleasurable sensory experience.
Combining the right proportions, grind size, brewing time and pressure produces an ideal coffee — but a small one. Why? Such a concentrated infusion is best enjoyed in small quantities. This is not because of its caffeine content, but because of the concentration of flavour and aroma compounds, which could irritate the body in a large dose.
Espresso and company
A perfectly balanced espresso can be an end in itself, but it is also the foundation of milk coffees. Without an intense coffee shot, there would be no latte or cappuccino.
Adding liquid or frothed milk to a standard espresso creates an entire range of drinks. Combine a shot with milk or milk foam for a flat white or a gentle caffè latte, perhaps with a natural rose or salted caramel syrup. A more elaborate combination of the shot with both liquid and frothed milk gives us the popular cappuccino, while adding chocolate syrup opens up the flavourful world of caffè mocha.
Espresso is coffee with potential, whether you prefer it on its own or with milk. Give it your full attention and care while brewing, and it will reward you with a distinctive, wonderfully complex bouquet.