Making Good Coffee

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Making a good cup of coffee

Coffee is a food so make it fresh. Roasted and ground immediately prior to brewing, you will taste the difference. If you do not have a grinder, buy in small amounts regularily (air alters the coffee taste)
The grind consistancy to allow maximum flavour should be like fine sand but this will need to be altered throughout the day depending on tempurature and humidity. 7-10 grams of coffee over an 18-25 second pour will result in a 30ml shot of espresso; the foundations of the coffee.
How much in a handle? Having the correct quantity makes the difference. A handle that is underfilled cannot be tamped to the degree required to impede the flow of water, this means the cup will be under extracted, watery and bitter. If the handle is overfilled or too compressed the water will not flow through the grounds fast enough, this can be noted by the slow or dripping pour and the burnt taste.
The tamp. The purpose of tamping the coffee grinds in the handle is to remove trapped air, doing so will allow the water to pass evenly through the coffee grinds. As water takes the path of least resistance under tamping results in a fast pour and underextracted coffee while over tamping will result in a slow pour and a burnt taste. The perfect extraction results in a deep brown crema, resulting from the coffee oils drawn from the grounds.

Making an Espresso

• Heat up the cup by filling it with hot water from the machine
• Dose a single handle with 10 grams of coffee. Generally 2 shots from the grinder
• Distribute the grounds evenly
• Press the coffee to form a flat surface with the tamper
• Dislodge the grounds from the basket wall(taping the side of the handle should surfice)
• Tamp the handle again so the surface of coffee is 3-5mm below the top of the basket.
• Wipe around the rim of the basket and place in the machine head
• Place the cup under the spout
• Turn the machine on(allow 5-7 seconds for the water to work through the compressed coffee), pour your expresso shot. This is around 30ml and should take 18-25 seconds.

Things to look for the extraction should hang from the spout (like liquid honey) and should be a constant brown colour. The crema is the essence of a good espresso, it should be brown in colour and if the cup is tipped lines of crema should remain. Do not allow extraction to continue beyond 25 seconds (low tide is better than high). Beyond this time the bitter flavours of the acids and excess caffine from spent coffee grounds are entering your cup resulting in a bitter over-extracted coffee. Watch for colour consistancy, if your extraction turns lighter in colour this a sign of over extraction

Steaming Milk

• Place cold milk in a flat bottomed jug
• Open the steam tap for a second so the steam nozzel can be cleared
• Place the nozzel just under the surface of the milk
• Open the valve fully but be careful not to force too much steam into it (which causes unwanted large bubbles)
• The milk will start to stretch, raising the level. The higher the nozzel the more froth.When you are happy with the amount of froth lower the nozzel into the milk until the desired tempurature is met (60-70c) and the steamer can be turned off
• Remove jug and set to rest. The longer the resting period the more the milk and froth will seperate

Tips: Just before using the frothed milk pour in a small amount of cold milk, this will increase flavour. Frothed milk can be reused but should be put in the fridge to call before reuse.