Nothing more disappointing than learning, planning and executing a project only for the project to end up in a bin without any value to add to you and any person that relied on it. That is what a bad tasting espresso is.
Your espresso might taste bad for a lot of reasons ranging from coffee bean quality to the water used and it's temperature. Others like the brew ratio and extraction might affect how it tastes based on how well you were able to draw out the essence of the coffee beans.
It's really painful to get a coffee beans, grind it, get a machine and brew your coffee. Only to get the wrong message at the tasting phase. (The word 'Message' is used to describe the taste of the espresso shots). If you had plan on impressing someone who is a true coffee fan, you just lost that opportunity.
What might be wrong you ask?. A lot might be wrong without you knowing. Making coffee might seem simple especially when all you do is press a button but after repeated fails you discover coffee making is complex.
So in this article, you will discover the cause of bad tasting espresso coffee and things to do so you don't make that same mistake again when brewing your next coffee. Some are simple, others are basic things to follow and they all will be a guide when you plan your next coffee making experiment.
Let's begin.
The Coffee: Quality, Roast and Storage.
When making an espresso coffee, one of the most important ingredient is the coffee beans. We all know that. The quality of the coffee will always affect the end product of the brew. You should make sure you source for good quality coffee.
And adding to quality, a major marker is freshness of the bean. Fresh coffee tastes... fresh. Old and stale coffee will always disappoint you no matter how good of a barista you are. You should take it upon yourself and source for fresh coffee. Always.
Roasting also plays a roll on the quality and taste of the brew. Some people prefer dark roast for espresso but you could also try out the light roast to see if it matches what you want. Different roast types possess different notes which might make you prefer one to another.
Storage at the product warehouse and at your place can and will affect the coffee. Always keep it clear from moisture. Store in a dry and cool place away from direct sunlight. And as a note, always make sure to consume your coffee beans within a short time so you can always get fresh replacements.
Dirty Coffee Maker.
Here you have no excuse if your espresso machine is dirty. Always endeavor to clean your espresso machine from time to time. It is both healthy for you and the right thing to do.
Cleaning it helps to clear coffee grounds whose quality have been compromised. If these grounds come in contact with your fresh brew, you can be rest assured that the coffee with always taste bad, really bad.
No matter how tired you are, you should always clean and rinse up before you use or preferably immediately after using it.
Learn to Properly use your Espresso Machine.
You want to make good espresso?. You need to learn how to use an espresso machine for the process. Some might be okay with a super automatic espresso machine where you press a button and everything is down quickly without any additional input.
If that's not you and you want to do it more actively, you could get an automatic espresso or a semi-automatic espresso machine and work on learning the process.
Grind Size and Extraction.
Next is the grind size for the coffee. Anytime you grind, try as much as possible to make sure your grind it even. Getting a good grinder is a must if you want good espresso. The most recommended type of grinders is the Burr grinder type.
The grind size ties in to the extraction and both the grind size and extraction can completely transform your results from good beans to bad coffee. Even if the coffee is the most expensive coffee beans in the market, grind size is important.
When the coffee is grinded too fine the water stays longer on the coffee soaking up and dissolving lots of coffee solids leading to over extraction and the coffee will taste bitter. When the coffee is ground too coarse the reverse occurs. The water flows freely through the coffee dissolving very little and the coffee is under extracted making it taste.. I don't know. Maybe light.
This over extraction and under extraction alters the normal coffee brew time of 25-35 seconds which is like a golden timeframe for maximum brew quality.
Measurements and Scaling.
Precise measurements are not just for the chemistry lab or for recipe sheets. When working to craft a good quality espresso, you must make sure the measurements are gotten right for every brew. You want to be sure that you document the quantity of coffee for every shot you make. With that you have enough to work with when troubleshooting your coffee errors.
You could buy a scale to make the process easier. As that is one of the best method for taking appropriate weight of your coffee before you put it in the portafilter for brewing.
Water: Temperature and Cleaniness
Water used for making coffee is to be clean and drinkable. Water as a solvent can alter the taste of coffee due to the quantity of dissolved mineral in some. Getting a pure drinkable water, demineralized if you want, can make you bring out the pure coffee taste you want.
On the matter of temperature, I won't say much as most coffee machine will regulate the temperature of the water before the brewing takes place. However, you can run the machine as a test without coffee in it so as to ascertain the temperature of the water making sure that you are on the right path.
So you see that making espresso is something that requires a lot of checks to get the best. But the thing is once you are able to monitor what needs to be monitored you can be sure to brew quality shots repeatedly. Which is what you want right?.
Thanks for reading.