Sticky Toffee Brew Guide - espresso
In the latest of our brewguides, we look at how to make the best espresso possible on any machine. You don´t have to spend big money to get big flavour!
Before we dive in, we will start this guide with the same advice as in all the others you will read on stickytoffeecoffee.com; focus on the basics. The 3 ingredients you need for any good coffee is rather simple:
1) Freshly roasted coffee that has been appropriately rested. If you are making filter coffee, aeropress or chemex your coffee can be used just a few days after roast date. If you are brewing espresso it is best to wait for 2 weeks after roast date to ensure the optimal brew-
2) Good quality water. This is sometimes easily overlooked but water is 98% of your coffee so ensuring the right hardness and mineral content of your water is essential. We will write a Sticky Toffee guide to water soon but until then, we recommend reading the fantastic Barista Hustle article on homemade water recipes
3) Freshly grind your coffee. It is not to be underestimated how much difference you can taste in the cup between beans that have been freshly ground and those that were pre-ground even hours before. We recommend investing in a decent burr grinder (a hand grinder is fine) to get the most out of your beans
Our espresso brew guide
Espresso can feel like a losing battle sometimes! There are many, many variables to this brew method and the margin for errors is sometimes wafer thin. Having said that, if you follow these steps we believe you will get the best out of your espresso machine - regardless of its price tag!
What you need
16g-20g of freshly roasted (but rested) coffee. Quantity will depend on your basket size so please check.
A simple WDT tool (Weiss distribution technique).
A scale capable of measuring to 0.1g accuracy.
What to do
Grind as fine as you need to in order to extract your coffee within a 28-35 second extraction (measured from the point you start the pump). Our preference at Sticky Toffee is for a slightly longer shot time (32-35 seconds) but experiment with your own tastes.
Once the coffee is in the portafilter basket, give it a stir with your WDT tool (google them, they are so cheap now!). Start stirring the coffee at the bottom of the basket and then work your way up to the coffee at the surface of the basket. You should now have a basket full of fluffy grounds.
Tamp firmly and in a single movement. No tapping or re-tamping!
Extract at a 2.2 ratio. If you are starting with 18g of coffee this means extracting about 39g of coffee. Use your scale!
Stir thoroughly and enjoy!
