COFFEE, A PROCESS OF EXTRACTION
When it comes to preparing coffee, there are various things to consider. It is thus necessary to understand how coffee is made before drinking it. In fact, you will learn that there are three variables that influence the quality and taste of a coffee. First is the delicacy of the grinding second is the amount of coffee used and third is the water pressure of the machine on the grounded coffee in the porta-filter. But no need to worry - we will keep it simple and mostly focus on coffee extraction time. In simple terms, we will teach you how to dissolve your ground coffee into hot water in order to get that perfect cup.
FIRST STAGE: THE GRINDER
No matter what type of coffee you want to prepare - espresso, French press, pour-over and so on - the process remains pretty much the same. Yet, each coffee will have a different flavor and strength. It is in fact the appropriate grind size that will determine the speed of coffee extraction and therefore helping you on making delicious coffee. This is what makes the grinder your most important piece of equipment.
Here are the most common grind sizes to be used as a reference:
Coarser: very thick and chunky pieces of coffee beans,
Medium: relatively crumbly, looks like soil,
Fine: feels very soft and sticks together when pressed. In terms of size, it looks like table salt,
Extra fine: powdery and very light.
If the grounds are coarse, the water will run through easily and result in a short amount of time to extract enough aroma and flavours in the water. This is the under-extraction. If the grounds are fine, the water has more resistance and will run slowly through the water. When this happens for too long, the coffee is over-extracted. How do you get the perfect fineness of grind? Try, practice, and test until you are satisfied!
SECOND STAGE: COFFEE EXTRACTION TIME
You should now be ready to pour the perfect espresso extraction shot with your espresso machine. Remember, it is all about consistency.
To make the extraction time clearer, we will give you one more piece of information. In short, the yield is the weight of the liquid we obtain in the cup and more or less yield means more or less liquid in the cup. In the case where there is more yield, there will be less body, fewer flavours and the coffee will be bitter. On the other hand, less yield means more body and more flavour, but the coffee will be sour. Therefore, a perfectly balanced Vascobelo needs an extraction time of 26 seconds although anything between 24 and 28 seconds is acceptable.
Now, this is your turn to get the perfect fineness grind. Try, practice and test until you are satisfied.
Next: get to know your machine
