What does it take to make the Classic Italian espresso?
This is a complex question and I'm not an expert. The espresso machines & grinders vary across the country, as does the water and the beans themselves. So the answer depends on lots of factors.
Plus, one can't discount the beauty and richness of Italy itself. Just sitting in a cafe while looking at Roman architecture is bound to elevate the senses.
Italian coffee is often described with words such as rich, thick, chocolate, caramel, toffee, creamy, etc
Generally, Classic Italian espresso machines are set to use "Italian-style" roasted beans (medium dark to dark).
Most machines use the standard “flat 9 bar” profile.
This is a simplified (and in my humble opinion, less good) version of the Lever Profile.
Below is a screen shot from a DE1 (decent). It's "classic Italian profile" is :
1. pre-infusion =< 8 sec, ramping from zero to about 4 bar.
Flow at 8ml/sec.
2. Raise the pressure to 9 bar & hold (up to 35 sec)
The pressure doesn't drop. You simply stop the extraction when you receive the dose aim.
(18g in , 36 out in the 1:2 ratio case below).
Flow is limited to 4.5ml/sec.
The temperature throughout is set at 94C, however I like to aim for
88C (for dark/medium beans) to 92C (for light roasts).
It's good to remember that the darker the beans, the more brittle they are.
You have a larger margin for error with dark roasted beans because they are easier to extract.
(the lighter the coffee, the harder to extract).
Water temp and grinder particle distribution is not as important with darker coffees.
With darker roasts there is not as much acidity.
The baristas don't seem to pay too much attention to weight.
They just quickly dose by time & go.
I think coffee is considered to be a commodity in Italy.
The average price for an espresso is approximately €1.00 to €1.20
(prices like this would make most cafe owners in Australia cry).
I don't think this price has changed for 30 years and the quality has possibly gone down over that time.
Has the percentage of Robusta to Arabica increased over time?
BTW, portion size is usually 7g.
Nobody seems to be willing to pay specialty coffee prices.
Maybe this is because coffee is not grown in Italy .
It seems that lots of bars in Italy are run with a husband and wife team or family members, .... minimising the wages bill ???
This might help to keep costs down (along with a love of cash).
Many cafes use heavy Robusta blends that allow for more crema but also keep the cost down.
I saw a lot of Mazzer Super Jolly grinders being used in cafes in Naples.
These use 64mm flat burrs.
Mazzer and Ceado seem to dominate the Italian market, with Mazzer serving over a million baristas daily.
Ceado being a Venetian-based leader in grinder production is also very popular as are Anfim and Eureka.
With dark roasts, the coarser you can grind the better I think it will be.
You will also get more crema with a coarser grind.
The SCA defines espresso as:
In: Single shot: 7-10g/ double shot 14-20
Out: Single: 10-25g / double: 21-45
Shot time 20-30 secs
Brew ratio: 1:1.5 to 1:2.5
Experiment.:
When you prepare the portafilter, reduce the headspace as much as possible.
To thicken the shot, pull for less time.
To decrease the thickness.. pull for longer or coarsen the grind.
I commonly use this recipe;
I grind a bit coarser, 18g in, 30g out, in about 20 seconds.
This is what the shot looks like. I dosed 18g in and was trying to get 36g out in under 30 secs but it pulled a bit long (36s).
I'll coarsen the grind a bit next time.
I used a DF 64V grinder with the setting at 15.
So I might try 16 or 17 next time.
The Bookoo scales are quite nifty. They connect to the Gaggimate app and the Rancilio via blue-tooth.
I must remember to flush just before I pull the shot to bring the initial temp down a bit.
A video of the shot:
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