How do you make coffee with an espresso machine?

Espresso, cappuccino, latte macchiato or lungo, coffee in all its tempting forms has never been so popular. Enjoying a good pick-me-up, preferably brewed in an instant, is often what we want most. At first, you might think that brewing a good cup of coffee at home is a lot of work.

If you buy a good espresso machine, it actually turns out to be very simple. Easy, for when you're in a hurry in the morning and want to quickly drink a cup of coffee. But how do you brew a delicious cup of coffee with such an espresso machine?

Espresso machines can be divided into fully automatic and semi-automatic machines. The difference between these machines is the full control over the brewing process of your coffee versus the control you leave to the machine itself. If you want to keep the brewing process in your own hands, you're talking about a semi-automatic machine, also called a piston machine. If you regularly want a cup of coffee and don't want to be busy with every cup, then it's better to brew your coffee with a fully automatic machine.

Brewing coffee with a fully automatic machine

You can drink the perfect cup of coffee right at home. And convenience serves man with a fully automatic machine. You set on the machine how you want to drink your cup of coffee, you press the button, wait a few seconds and... enjoy. You can easily adjust the strength of your espresso or other coffee specialty by setting the grind of the beans to coarse, medium, or fine. Keep in mind: the finer the grind, the stronger the taste.

View fully automatic espresso machines.

Brewing coffee with a semi-automatic machine

With a semi-automatic machine, you can completely determine how your cup of coffee will taste. There are a huge number of possibilities with a semi-automatic machine. For example, you can adjust the grind to your own liking or the water temperature. Below are the steps for brewing a cup of espresso with a semi-automatic machine.

• Place the (porcelain) coffee cups on the warming plate of your espresso machine beforehand, or fill these cups with warm water. Because if you don't do this, the coffee will fall into a cold cup. The temperature of the coffee will then drop by 10 to 15 degrees, causing the crema layer of the espresso to disappear.
• Use clean and fresh water. A cup of espresso consists mainly of 93 to 97 percent water. Baristas often use mineral water. Discover and experiment for yourself which water you find best for your espresso.
• Make sure you grind the coffee beans finely and let the ground coffee fall into the portafilter. The goal is to eventually have 25 – 30 ml of espresso in 25 – 30 seconds. Most baristas use around 7 grams of ground coffee beans for an espresso.
• Lightly tamp the ground coffee (with a pressure of about 5 kilos) with a tamper in the portafilter. Then use your finger to remove any excess coffee on the edge of the portafilter. Do this again, but now quite firmly. The pressure you exert should now be about 20 kilos.
• Before placing the portafilter in the espresso machine, let hot water run through for a few seconds. You do this to remove any coffee residue from the previous time.
• After you have placed the portafilter in the espresso machine, immediately start the machine. Measure the time and stop after 25 to 30 seconds. If everything went well, you now have an espresso of approximately 30 ml, with a light to firm crema and a brown color.
• 25 to 30 seconds? Yes. You clock this time from the moment you turn on the espresso machine. Then you'll get 30 seconds. If you measure from the moment the espresso runs into your cup, it's about 25 seconds.
• View semi-automatic espresso machines.

As the saying goes: Practice makes perfect. This also applies to brewing an espresso. By practicing a lot, trying and tasting, you will discover the most delicious espresso or coffee specialty yourself.

Of course, for a good cup of coffee, it is important to use quality coffee beans. You can buy the best coffee beans in the Kaldi webshop.