Extraction expectations

Tradition vs Modern

This week is a short and sweet explanation of the two main espresso recipes used in cafes all over the world, this will then lead into next week covering the new and slightly weird espresso recipes that have been popping up over the last few years!

The Italian way

This espresso recipe has been around since the start of espresso and has even become standardised by Italy so you can’t call it Italian espresso if its not following this extraction guide.

Single espresso:

7 grams of ground coffee into your group handle, tamped firmly, expected to finish extraction around 25 seconds with 8-10 bars pressure, produces 25 ml of liquid espresso.

Double espresso:

The same procedure as above but using a larger basket to fit 14 grams and to produce 50-60 ml of liquid espresso.

Both of these recipes are expecting a volumetric measurement out, this is unlike the modern approach which is all measured in grams as you may have seen on fancy coffee videos online.

The modern approach

You’ll have seen me mention the 1:2 ratio for espresso many times in these posts, all the ratio consists of is 1 part ground coffee to 2 parts liquid espresso, this is all measure in grams as I mentioned above so you’ll expect as a general standard to see:

18 grams of ground coffee in your group handle, tamped firmly, expected to finish extraction anywhere from 20-30 seconds with 9 bars pressure, to produce 36 grams of liquid espresso.

This newer recipe has become possible due to machines now having larger groups and so the group handles are able to hold more coffee than before.

The taste difference

The main difference between these methods is the intensity, the modern recipe produces a much more concentrated shot of espresso while the Italian method actually comes closer to a 1:3 ratio making the end drink noticeably more diluted.

Now bare in mind neither is better than the other as all people like different tastes so it’s best to try cafes that do specifically Italian espresso and ones that specialise in modern espresso to see which you prefer!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post! have a great week and some even better coffees!