5 tips on how to choose the best coffee for your espresso machine!
If you like coffee and have an espresso machine at home, you've probably wondered what coffee to choose for it. The answer is definitely not straightforward. The best coffee for an espresso machine should meet several important factors. Below are 5 tips to help you find your favorite.
- Match the coffee to the type of your machine
For a pressure espresso machine, the best coffees are those that have been roasted for a long time at a high temperature. This ensures that the coffee is devoid of acidic or bitter notes while retaining its best flavors. However, with a lever espresso machine, we have a choice: either choose ground coffee or invest in a grinder to grind the coffee before brewing. In the case of a lever espresso machine, it is important that the beans are finely ground. On the other hand, a drip coffee maker requires beans that have been subjected to high temperatures for a shorter period and have been quickly cooled. This type of machine also requires coarsely ground beans.
- Choose the right coffee variety
When choosing the best coffee for an espresso machine, it is extremely important to select a coffee variety that suits your taste preferences. Each variety has its own characteristic features. Arabica is said to be the most popular and best variety of coffee. It is characterized by lower caffeine content, dense body, intense aromas, and delicate acidity. Robusta, on the other hand, is more stimulating due to its high caffeine content. It also features a strong flavor and bitterness.
- Check the origin of the coffee, its flavor notes, and aromas
It is worth checking where the coffee beans come from to assess whether they are likely to suit our taste. For example, African coffees can be slightly acidic due to the presence of citrus notes. Fruits, caramel, berries are also detectable in them. It is also worth mentioning that they are considered some of the best in the world. One standout African coffee is Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Grade 2. Brazilian coffees, produced in Brazil, taste like nuts, caramel, honey, or chocolate, and one of the most popular Brazilian coffees is Santos. Colombian beans, on the other hand, offer more mature, full-flavored beans that pair perfectly with milk-based coffees. Asian coffees are characterized by hints of Indian spices or aromatic fruits.
- Decide - ground or whole bean?
Buying ground coffee certainly has several advantages. It allows us to save some time that we would spend grinding the beans ourselves. We can also save some money that we would spend on buying a grinder. However, when we look at the flavor merits, whole bean coffee freshly ground by us will fare much better compared to pre-ground coffees. Freshly ground coffee is more aromatic, fresher, and allows us to fully enjoy its bouquet of flavors.
- Pay attention to the freshness of the beans and the roast level
When you smell freshly roasted coffee and compare it to coffee bought in a regular store, you'll notice the difference. Ground coffee usually loses most of its natural aromas within a few hours of grinding. On the other hand, beans are best within three months of roasting. The degree of coffee roasting is also one of the most important criteria when choosing the best coffee for an espresso machine. Medium and light roasts are characterized by rich flavor, while dark roasts are ideal for espresso, more bitter, tangy, with noticeable notes of dark chocolate.
The best coffee for an espresso machine is one that suits our taste preferences, is freshly roasted, and ground recently. It is also a coffee whose variety contains the right caffeine content for us and matches our machine. So pay attention to these elements so that you can enjoy excellent coffee every day!
