• Skip to content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Top Milk Frothers
  • Home
  • Gear
    • Coffee Makers
      • Espresso Machines
      • Single-Serve Brewers
      • Combination Coffee Makers
      • Drip Coffee Makers
      • Cold Brew Coffee Makers
      • French Presses
    • Milk Frothers
      • Automatic (Electric) Milk Frothers
      • Handheld Milk Frothers
      • Manual Milk Frothers
    • Coffee Grinders
    • Brewing Accessories
  • Coffee Beans
  • Home Use
  • Commercial Use
  • Blog
  • Recipes
  • About Us
    • Olya Klets
    • Nastya Kovalenko
    • Contact
  • Testimonials

What Is Espresso & Espresso-Based Drink?

Home / Blog
1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5) Loading...

Last updated: September 21, 2021 by Nastya Kovalenko

What is espresso & espresso-based drinks

Espresso is a very important drink that originated in Italy in 1901. It’s the base for many coffee drinks, so it’s important to talk about it. There are contradictory opinions about the meaning of the word. If we take Italian interpretation, it means a short and concentrated drink. According to Wikipedia, espresso is an Italian coffee beverage that is made with the help of an espresso machine. The pressure in groups has to be about 9 bars, the grind size should be fine, and the espresso roast should be darker than the filter roast. Unlike the rest of the specialty coffee world, Italians use their traditional dark espresso roast.

Generally speaking, espresso is a drink with a volume of 25-30 ml. The brewing time for it is 25-30 seconds. The brew ratio is 1:3 in the Italian tradition and 1:2 in specialty coffee shops.

Italians differentiate espresso from ristretto and doppio. Ristretto is half of an espresso drink: 1 shot of coffee brewed for about 15 seconds. It’s actually one sip of the drink. Italians like drinking this beverage 8-10 times a day standing at the bar. It corresponds to their temper, as they’re always emotional and in a hurry. Doppio is a double shot of espresso, which is brewed for about 45 seconds. The brew ratio for this beverage is 1:2. Doppio is much stronger than espresso. The closest milk-based beverage to it is a flat white. It’s an Australian signature drink of a barista champion. However, you can find information that the drink originated in New Zealand. It’s based on doppio and milk. The volume of the drink is about 200 ml. It gained in popularity because of its flat, silky, soft but strong coffee taste.

Ristretto, espresso and doppio

Talking about espresso, we always use the word “about” because perfect espresso depends on many things. First of all, we take into account the stage of roasting, then the kind of coffee beans (robusta or arabica), and finally the location of farms, which also influences the taste of the beverage. We also pay attention to which way coffee is processed (natural, washed, anaerobic, etc.). The altitude at which coffee plants are grown, as well as the climate change, is important too. After all, a barista should be careful and conscious while brewing the espresso. The equipment (a coffee machine and a grinder) must be clean and in good condition. The customization depends even on the weather: the difference in humidity causes changes in the grind. Coffee beans are quite sensitive to humidity and strong aromas. So, don’t keep them near spices or other strong flavors.

Don’t miss out on the unique information on alternative methods of brewing coffee! Keep up to date with the latest innovations in the world of coffee.

Tamping is a very special thing as well, which influences the taste of espresso. In coffee guides, you can read advice about pressing around 18 kg while tamping. I disagree with it because this piece of advice is very general. The most important thing in this process is that the coffee tablet doesn’t fall out of the holder, and it should be even and flat.

Coffee tablet

Espresso mainly consists of water. So, it’s very important to use high-quality water because it also influences the taste of your drink. In many 3d wave coffee shops, baristas use special filters. The level of total dissolved solids (TDS) in water should be in the range of 120-150 ppm. At home, I use mineral water with a TDS level of 80 ppm, and it’s not bad. However, in coffee shops, I can try much tastier water: it’s soft and sweet for me.

Crema is the last but not least thing to mention. It’s a thin layer of foam that forms on the top of the coffee drink. It should be thick, browny, and foamy. When you stir it, it returns to its previous state; it doesn’t vanish at once.

Crema in espresso

Baristas used to use a very funny term – “mouse’s tail” – when talking about the liquid pouring out of a portafilter. The stream of coffee shouldn’t be very thick or drip down slowly. It should look like a thin tail of a mouse. The baristas of the 3rd wave coffee shops don’t pay special attention to it because they use scales while grinding and brewing coffee, and it’s enough for them. For me, it is still one of the good indicators of the perfect coffee.

Mouse's tail

What are the other famous coffee drinks based on espresso? During summertime, my favorite ones are iced latte and iced flat white. By the way, in Italy, if you want to order a latte, you should ask for a caffe latte because just latte means milk in Italian, so a waiter can bring you only a glass of milk instead of coffee.

Cappuccino and latte are based on 1 shot of espresso. The main difference is in the amount and structure of steamed milk. In a cappuccino, the amount of milk is about 200 ml, while in a latte – 300 ml. The steamed milk for a cappuccino is thicker and contains more foam than that for a latte. In my next article, I’ll discuss the perfect milk for coffee drinks in more detail.

Sometimes you don’t get the coffee drink you want? Find out in my post why does coffee taste bitter…

In conclusion, I want to emphasize that for me espresso means one shot of coffee, though nowadays as a barista, I brew doppio as in specialty coffee shops. Americano is now also popular in Ukraine, but it’s based on a double shot of espresso and tastes much better than it used to when it was brewed with one shot. If you start your way as a barista, it could be difficult to keep all this information in mind. But in reality, experience comes with practice, so just keep on trying!

Ready to drink espresso

Related Posts
  • Alternative Methods of Brewing CoffeeAlternative Methods of Brewing Coffee
  • Best Italian Coffee TraditionsBest Italian Coffee Traditions
  • Can You Reuse Coffee Grounds?Can You Reuse Coffee Grounds?
  • Does Cappuccino Have Coffee in It?Does Cappuccino Have Coffee in It?

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Disclosure

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. There may be affiliate links in this post. If you buy products through these affiliate links, I may earn some commission directly from Amazon Company. Thanks for helping my site grow!

Recent Posts

  • How to Make a Latte Without an Espresso Machine?
  • Why Is Iced Coffee Illegal in Canada?
  • How to Make a Caramel Latte?
  • Top 5 Keurig Coffee Makers with Carafe (2022)
  • How to Make Latte Art?

Best Offers

Best Milk Frothers

DMCA
PROTECTED
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
Cookie Policy
Sitemap
Contact Us
MilkFrotherTop.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for website owners to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon(.com, .co.uk, .ca etc) and any other website that may be affiliated with Amazon Service LLC Associates Program. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.

Copyright © 2023 · MilkFrotherTop

Cleantalk Pixel