|
There are many coffee drinks available to the discerning coffee drinker today, eg, Cappuccino, Latte, Americano, Café Crème, but the basis of many of these drinks is the Espresso. Espresso is a drink that originated in Italy at the turn of the 20th century and literally translated it means “fast”.
The perfect Espresso is produced when water is forced through finely ground coffee beans quickly. To achieve this perfection requires a piece of coffee espresso equipment that will hold 7g of finely ground Espresso bean in a hopper and force water heated to 195 degrees F (considered the optimal heat for the perfect Espresso) through the coffee at 9 atmospheres of pressure. This process should take somewhere in the region of 15 to 25 seconds depending on the strength of Espresso to be achieved. The result will be a consistent caramel coloured drink with about a half a centimetre of crema (or froth) on the top.
The original espresso machine, invented by Luigi Bezzera in 1901, used boiling water and the boiler pressure to force the water through the espresso coffee, which unfortunately gave the coffee a burnt flavour. The intervening years have seen a number of innovations to the market enabling coffee makers to get the most out of their coffee and to achieve the best possible espresso coffee. Today there are a myriad of espresso makers – both domestic and commercial on the market. Their prices range from just £50 up to several thousand pounds.
Today, there are two types of coffee espresso equipment on the market – steam-driven and pump-driven. To espresso lovers only the pump-driven espresso machines will do. This is because the steam-driven machines heat the water above 195 degrees F and only use anywhere between one and three bars of pressure instead of the optimum of nine.
Therefore, when buying any coffee espresso equipment, it is important that all components are made of metal to withstand the pressures being exerted upon them. Other important features to look out for are a heavy brass boiler, built-in tamper and a cup-warming tray (the heat, and therefore the flavour, of the coffee is lost rapidly if poured into cold cups).
One last thing to consider before purchasing an espresso machine is - cleaning. To ensure your espresso machine gives you that perfect coffee every time and to prolong the life of your coffee espresso equipment, it must be cleaned on a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis. Coffee beans contain essential oils, which are responsible for the lovely creamy crema on to top of your espresso. Unfortunately, these oil are deposited at a number of points throughout the machine and if not properly cleaned will emulsify and build up, blocking the filter basket and portafilter. Also, water running through the machine will cause limescale, even in the softest water regions, to build up and this also needs to be dealt with. Cleaning procedures are not difficult and with the aid of the correct manufacturers’ detergents and descalers, your machine will be kept in tip-top condition for many years to come.
|
|
