Espresso Brew Temperature: 90-94F For Perfect Espresso

Daily, millions of people drink coffee and the number keeps getting higher. The question most of them have in mind when they wake up is, will todays coffee be smooth and sweet as honey or rough and bitter as sand?

Perfect Espresso Shot

Making good coffee is tricky business. You somehow have to treat it with utmost respect to get the best result. In fact when it comes to espresso, there is no such thing as a 100% perfect shot.

A perfect espresso shot is a form of art. It constitutes a balance of sweetness and a proper representation of the character of coffee.

Espresso brew temperature and its effects on espresso taste is a topic that has been explored in depth at the Australian Barista Academy in the advanced barista skills class. Basically, you need a good espresso machine to deliver safe exquisite results.

There exist numerous methods and recipes to preparing espresso coffee but achieving best brew temperature, you must go beyond the basic barrister skills. Controlling the temperature depends entirely on the espresso machine. Commonly available in the markets are the heat exchange machines.

Controlling the Espresso Brew Temperature.

The heat exchange machines have a large boiler that heats up to around 120 degree. As you prepare the espresso, fresh water passes via a pipe running through the boilers, the fresh water gets heat up on its way to the coffee.

It is harder to judge the temperature using this machine since the fresh cold water continuously passes though the boiler even when it’s is idle. It means that the less frequent you make coffee the higher the water temperatures you will have.

You have to flush the heat exchange thoroughly for longer to cool it. In short, it takes great barrister skills to prepare good espresso coffee using the heat exchange machine.

Multi-Boiler Espresso Machine

Dalla Corte multi boiler Espresso Machine
Dalla Corte multi boiler Espresso Machine. IMG Credit dallacorte.com.au

Using the multi-boiler espresso machines is much easier. The design has a boiler meant just for steam production. It has a thermostat that electronically control the ideal temperature. Water comes from one or more independent boiler attached to the thermostat.

Some of the modern multi-boilers have additional features to help control the brew temperature like the pre-heat water feed which mixes water from fresh cold water to feed the smaller brewing boiler. This makes sure temperature does not drop when you refill.

What Determines the Temperature You Use?

The taste you want to achieve should overrule everything else when deciding on the temperature.

• Less temperature is ideal for darker coffee since they are easy to extract.
• The amount of coffee you are making; 30g of dry coffee will need more temperature compared to say 15g of dry coffee.
• Less temperature is good for lower grown coffee. The coffee is normally less dense thus easily extractable.

Effects of Brew Temperature on Espresso Taste

Lower temperature has lower body, bitterness and sweetness but higher acidity while high temperature has a combination of medium acidity, higher body, bitterness, sweetness plus an interesting powdery mouth-feel.

Medium temperature gives a balance of higher degree of sweetness, medium acidity, good body and lower bitterness.
The conclusion that can be made from this is that higher espresso brew temperature gives high extraction yields, improved sweetness, bitterness and body accompanied with mildly reduced acidity.

On the other hand, lower temperatures leads to higher acidity, less body, lower extraction yield, sweetness, and bitterness.

The Art of Barista

Waiter smiling and making cup of coffee at coffee shop
Waiter smiling and making cup of coffee at coffee shop

To create espresso with a good body, excellent taste and aroma, pass hot water through finely-ground coffee under approximately 10 atmospheres of pressure. The extraction using the espresso method takes place under temperature conditions of about 90 to 94 degrees Celsius using demineralized water.

For a single cup of coffee, use approximately 8 grams of finely ground and medium roast coffee. The water and coffee should have a contact time of about 20 to 30 seconds. This will give you an espresso shot of about 40ml.

For a single cup of coffee, use approximately 8 grams of finely ground and medium roast coffee. The water and coffee should have a contact time of about 20 to 30 seconds. This will give you an espresso shot of about 40ml.

When making espresso, your goal should be to create a perfect even resistance of water. The physical state of water makes it lazy hence taking the path of least resistance.Too much resistance leads to less water reaching the compartmentalized coffee cake. The opposite is true, too little resistance means more water will come through the compact coffee cake quickly resulting into a whisky like

Too much resistance leads to less water reaching the compartmentalized coffee cake. The opposite is true, too little resistance means more water will come through the compact coffee cake quickly resulting into a whisky like taste of the espresso.

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