How to Make Espresso - Tips to Making the Perfect Espresso

Learning how to make espresso the right way isn't difficult. While every person is probably going to make their espresso just a bit differently, there are some basics to keep in mind when making espresso.

If you want to make sure you get it right every single time, the following are a few tips that will help you out in making espresso that tastes great.

Tip #1 - Get the Water Right

First of all, the water that you use for the espresso is very important. Part of knowing how to make espresso is knowing how to get the water right. You'll need to make sure that you get water that is fresh and clean and then you will need to get the water extremely hot as well.

When you make the espresso, the best water temperature is about 203 F, which is quite close to boiling. Just make sure that your water is well filtered to keep out impurities and make sure that the machine is clean or you may get a stale or mildew like taste to the espresso.

Tip #2 - Selecting the Right Coffee

Another tip to remember if you want to learn how to make espresso is to make sure that you select the right coffee to make the espresso with. Usually you will want to go with Arabica that has been freshly roasted. You will also want to go with a roast that is dark for espresso and either Viennese or French is a great choice.

Tip #3 - Getting the Grind Right

Believe it or not, the grind has to be right to get the perfect espresso as well. The coffee should be ground with a burr grinder instead of a blade grinder. You see, blade grinders actually chop the coffee up instead of grinding it, where the burr grinders have special teeth on them that actually grind up the coffee beans.

When you grind the coffee you will want to have granules that are about the size of a grain of sand. If you grind it up into a fine powder, it is too find of a grind; however, you don't want to let it stay as large as small size gravel either. Also, right after you grind it, try to avoid exposing the newly ground coffee to the air, since it can lose flavor and pick up other odors.

Tip #4 - Clean the Machine

One of the most important things to keep in mind if you want to know how to make espresso is that you are going to need to have a clean machine to work with. If the machine is not clean it can affect the quality of the espresso and it can even change the taste.

Tip #5 - Use a Quality Machine

The quality of the machine you are using for the espresso can also affect the quality of the espresso that you can make as well. If you want a quality machine, go with one that uses a thermoblock or boiler to heat and there should be a pump pressure of at least 9 bar.

If you go with a cheap machine, the espresso will not turn out as great as you want it too, so you are better off with a more quality espresso machine.

Tip #6 - Run Water Through First

Before you actually make the espresso, it is a great idea to go ahead and send water through the machine first. This will help you make sure that the whole machine is well heated and that the system is flushed out as well.

If you run water through the machine first with no coffee you'll make sure that the whole machine gets to the right temperature and that you get the best possible cup of espresso.

So, as you can see, it is really rather easy to make a great cup of espresso. Use these simple tips to help learn how to make espresso and you are sure to come up with espresso that tastes simply wonderful.

How to Make Espresso Video