Even though there are wide varieties of coffee brewing, Espresso has a separate fan base. Being rich in ingredients like caffeine, many people like to drink Espresso due to its thick texture and flavorfulness.
We talked to Rob Wilson, a coffee lover who owns a restaurant in Downtown Vancouver. Here are his recommendations.
“Yes, you can brew it at home as well with the help of a barista coffee machine. You can try out the steps mentioned below to learn the art of brewing Espresso at home,” Rob says.
1. Select an Espresso Filter
The first thing is to select a nice Espresso filter to brew a cup at home. Further, you can either take the single basket to brew one cup of coffee, which I think can be shared with your friend into 2 singles, or go for a double basket for two shots of coffee.
2. Grinding coffee beans
Ground coffee usually starts to become dry and hard after approximately 20 minutes. If you want your coffee to last longer with a good flavor, grinding the ground coffee as much as possible until it turns into a powder can be an excellent way to overcome this phase.
3. Dosing and Levelling
There is a holder located on the grinder, place the portafilter on it. Then, pull the lever as it will make the coffee fall into the portafilter from the grinder. However, the amount of coffee you can determine according to your choice.
As a next step, hold the portafilter to the grounds chamber and the top of the chamber with the help of fingers. Level up the coffee through the heaping, it will create a smooth surface by leaving a nice hollow.
4. Time for Tamping
Tamping is the most prominent step of brewing espresso, so ensure that you do it carefully. Here, you need to hold the tamper in one hand and the portafilter in the other. Now, pack the coffee with high pressure by pointing your elbow towards the ceiling with a straight wrist, it may sound complicated but that’s the right position to do it. Then, you need to tap on the side of the espresso filter by using the side of the tamper sharply. It will knock down the grounds in the middle of the tamper from its side. To give a more smoothness, you can tamp again and also if there are any grounds in the portafiler wings, push them off as well. And now your espresso is almost ready to go!
5. Rinsing
It’s crucial to rinse so if there are old stuck coffee grounds, they will be washed, you can rinse the group head for a couple of seconds by using the manual button on the machine and then insert your portafilter.
6. Finally, Brewing!
Lastly, after inserting the portafilter, choose a suitable button to press and begin immediately as leaving the coffee in the group head for even a little time without brewing will burn the coffee. Also, after brewing your coffee, remember to wash out your portafilter after every drink.