Espresso Shots

Like I’ve said before, I am not in any way an expert. I’d call myself an enthusiast. I am very interested in continuing to learn about coffee and all it’s relims but I am not an expert. At the coffee shop I work at, we use a Laranzato machine to pull our shots. So here is what I know about espresso. 

Espresso is a small amount of liquid that in turns can make you study harder, learn better, and stay awake longer. AKA any adult’s form of liquid gold. According to a book (that consequently enough, my boss gifted to me) states a shot of espresso as “an honest and unforgiving thing. It celebrates attention to detail by highlighting what may be excellent about coffee, and laughs at your bad practices by tasting intensely bad.” 

Now, for every shot, there are parameters, or variables, that are necessary for every barista to take into consideration before and after pulling a shot. These are the grind size, dosage, extraction time and even possibly the weight of the drink in total. A barista doesn’t just show up at work and start pulling shots right away, though. Instead, we have to ‘dial in’. This is a fancy way of saying that we pull shot after shot with different parameters to make sure it tastes good and is servable to customers. Each one of these things can be adjusted, but the process remains the same.  

So, how in the world do we pull a shot? Well, there are a few steps. First, we take the portafilter (holder for the actual grounds) out of the machine and tear it out on a scale. We freshly grind the beans per drink to anywhere between 18-20 grams into the portafilter. The grinds that are ground for espresso are very fine, with no big chunks. A visual for espresso grinds is between regular white sugar and powdered sugar. We then level out the grinds by tapping on the portafilter until it is a leveled surface. By leveling the surface of the grounds, we ensure that when it goes into the machine, it is not lopsided and pulls wrong. We then tamp the grinds into the portafilter. Tamping is a fancy way to say pushing all the grounds together very tight. We tamp by exerting about 30 pounds of pressure on the portafilter with a metal object that fits directly in the portafilter and has a stem for our hands to fit in. This allows us to pack our grinds in tightly and ensure that there are no air pockets within the grinds. This way, when the water flows through the grinds, there are no imperfections. Now, we are finally ready to pull a shot. We precede by putting the portafilter with the tamped grinds into the machine securely. As we flip the switch to start pulling the shot (making sure the shot glass is below the prongs that exert the espresso!) we also start a timer. We time our shots because each espresso shot has specific parameters. For timing, it should be between 21-29 seconds. The shot should also be between 1.5-2 ounces. The best way to know if your shot was pulled correctly is to taste it. It should be strong, but not overly bitter or sour; somewhere in between. After you have found a perfect tasting shot, write down what you weighed the grinds at, how hard you tamped, and how long you pulled the shot for. These are the parameters of your shots for the next few hours. 

Now, that sounds like a lot. I’m not disregarding the fact that it is, but I’m more or less saying that like many things, once you get the hang of it, you can do it very quickly. This is also the way we do it because of the machine that we use. Other shops or baristas may use other machines which call for different processes. 

Now let’s talk about the specifics of an espresso shot. There are technically three parts of an espresso shot that we can physically see when it pulls out of the machine. The first layer, the heart, is the base layer is a dark, rich brown color that has more bitter notes. This layer will show up more after a minute or so the shot settles and the gas has dissipated. The next layer comes out looking stripy from the machine and is called the body. This is a caramel brown color that levels out the taste in the shot. Lastly, the top layer is called the crema. This layer holds a lot of flavor and sugars that balance out the base bitter layer. This is the  golden brown, almost blonde colored part of the shot. 

Espresso is a beautiful process of trial and error. I’m still not perfect at it. I’ve been working at the shop and pulling shots for over a year and I still have my days that don’t go perfectly. Like I stated above, I am not an expert either. The way that I just described to you is the way that I was trained and that I do it at the shop. This does not mean in any way that there are other places that do it differently and call that the correct way. It all depends on what works with the barista, machine, grinds and shop.

Tamper Espresso Shot

Portafilter