Here is some more information on beans, blends and machines.
Briefly, let's discuss the coffee itself and how it relates to and is used to create espresso. Coffee beans must be freshly roasted - this means they should not have been roasted more than ten days ago. This is because espresso is made by extracting, under pressure and hot water, the oils and some solids and gasses from the finely ground coffee. Many blends are a large percentage of Sumatran beans or another Indonesian bean with some beans from Central or South American and rarely ever include beans from Africa or Arabian origins.
There was recently a surge and then a drop off in popularity of using single-origin coffees for espresso. Espresso intensifies (that is, espresso the brewing method) the flavors of the blend or s.o. that you are using, so if a coffee has the characteristics of bright acidity and slight bitterness when it is brewed as coffee, then it will be intensely acidic and bitter when brewed as espresso. There are some coffees that make a decent espresso all by themselves such as some South American beans and some Indonesian beans. There is a lot of skill involved in blending and roasting for espresso and the espresso blend of each roaster/coffee shop will differ in flavor, complexity and finish. One mass-produced espresso blend is by Illy. Illycaffe (caffe is Italian for coffee) is an Italian company that, has done much research into the quality and chemistry of coffee. The late Dr. Ernesto Illy and his son, Andrea, have written books together on the science of espresso. Their canisters are nitrogen flushed (to get the oxygen out) and sealed to keep fresh until opened.
There was recently a surge and then a drop off in popularity of using single-origin coffees for espresso. Espresso intensifies (that is, espresso the brewing method) the flavors of the blend or s.o. that you are using, so if a coffee has the characteristics of bright acidity and slight bitterness when it is brewed as coffee, then it will be intensely acidic and bitter when brewed as espresso. There are some coffees that make a decent espresso all by themselves such as some South American beans and some Indonesian beans. There is a lot of skill involved in blending and roasting for espresso and the espresso blend of each roaster/coffee shop will differ in flavor, complexity and finish. One mass-produced espresso blend is by Illy. Illycaffe (caffe is Italian for coffee) is an Italian company that, has done much research into the quality and chemistry of coffee. The late Dr. Ernesto Illy and his son, Andrea, have written books together on the science of espresso. Their canisters are nitrogen flushed (to get the oxygen out) and sealed to keep fresh until opened.
If you are searching for an espresso machine for light home use, you cannot go wrong with a Gaggia Baby or a Rancilion Silvia but some like Francis!Francis! and brands like Espressione that make colorful little sculpted machines. There are many, many single boiler home machines available now and most sites that sell them offer reviews and comparisons. These are machines that heat up quickly but require extra time to heat up to steaming temperature to steam milk after you have created your espresso. Remember to use softened and filter water or you will have to descale your machine with a citric acid based powder like urnex cleancaf. This gets mixed with water in your reservoir and then run through the machine slowly to disolve any scale buildup inside the boiler or other parts. Run it through the steam wand as well. Check out Espresso Parts for cleaning supplies, among other things like an amazing selection of tampers (I like Bumper).
Another good machine for light home use is the lever machine. The most common being the La Pavoni Europiccola. There is also the Elektra Microcasa Leva, which is spring loaded and doesn't require as much practice. These are machines that are literally hands-on. You can hardly get more in touch with your espresso than this. Instead of flipping a switch or hitting a button to activate the pump, you raise (or lower, in the case of the Elektra) the lever to allow water to enter the group where the portafilter is locked in. Water will begin to infuse the coffee bed and when the group is full of water you will see a drip of coffee come out of the portafilter spout. This means it's time to pull the lever (or release it, in the case of the Elektra). With a manual lever you will pull straight down with steady, but not too much, pressure. If you're pulling a double you will usually have to stop half way down and go back up to allow more water into the group. On the spring loaded lever, the spring will create even pressure and you will do the same if you are making a double. There are other lever machines like Ponte Vecchio and Olympia. 1st-Line.com carries many lever machines.
Another good machine for light home use is the lever machine. The most common being the La Pavoni Europiccola. There is also the Elektra Microcasa Leva, which is spring loaded and doesn't require as much practice. These are machines that are literally hands-on. You can hardly get more in touch with your espresso than this. Instead of flipping a switch or hitting a button to activate the pump, you raise (or lower, in the case of the Elektra) the lever to allow water to enter the group where the portafilter is locked in. Water will begin to infuse the coffee bed and when the group is full of water you will see a drip of coffee come out of the portafilter spout. This means it's time to pull the lever (or release it, in the case of the Elektra). With a manual lever you will pull straight down with steady, but not too much, pressure. If you're pulling a double you will usually have to stop half way down and go back up to allow more water into the group. On the spring loaded lever, the spring will create even pressure and you will do the same if you are making a double. There are other lever machines like Ponte Vecchio and Olympia. 1st-Line.com carries many lever machines.
When getting started, you will need a machine of some sort, a tamper that fits the filter basket, fresh water that isn't too high in hardness, the proper grinder, and a lot of patience. Since I have not tried all the grinders that are available I can only say what I know from talking to others and reading reviews and doing my own research. Some of the best grinders for use with making espresso come from brands like Mazzer, Macap and Rancilio. If you'd like to shop around and see some others, I will provide some links to vendors. Remember that the grinder is the most important tool in your espresso-making workshop. There are two types of burr-sets - conical (cone in cone) and flat. There are also direct drive grinders and gear reduction grinders. Slow motors and gear reductions are good to look for because the slower the grinding happens the less heat buildup in the grinds (heat buildup is bad). Some people that like to split hairs in forums are now saying that conical burrs work best because they can grind slower and more uniformly. I have not seen actual evidence to prove this but it does make sense. Sense or no sense the effect is minimal. My grinder has flat burrs and I am not shopping for one with a set of conical burrs. So now that you know the types of grinders I will emphasise, yet again, that the grinder is the most important tool.
The right grinder is necessary because if the grind is not consistant and is not find enough the water will shoot right through the bed of coffee in the portafilter. No matter what espresso machine you have, the grinder will be more important. When you budget for a machine and grinder, plan to spend as much if not more on the grinder if you are going to get a simple, single boiler machine for your home. A good grinder for espresso starts at about $300 (Rancilio Rocky) and goes up from there. Some will say that there are grinders that can handle grinding for espresso that cost less than this, but those grinders can just barely do the job and they won't do it for long.
The right grinder is necessary because if the grind is not consistant and is not find enough the water will shoot right through the bed of coffee in the portafilter. No matter what espresso machine you have, the grinder will be more important. When you budget for a machine and grinder, plan to spend as much if not more on the grinder if you are going to get a simple, single boiler machine for your home. A good grinder for espresso starts at about $300 (Rancilio Rocky) and goes up from there. Some will say that there are grinders that can handle grinding for espresso that cost less than this, but those grinders can just barely do the job and they won't do it for long.
Blended For Espresso
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Heat Exchanger machines use a boiler that maintains two temperatures by using pressure. Sometimes they run a little hot and you have to run some water through the group-head to cool it down but other than this (called the water dance) these are good machines for light commercial use or heavy home use. They are harder to descale and because of this it is important to use the right water, as mentioned before and on the Espresso page of this website. Some well-known makers are Expobar, Quick Mill, Pasquini, Vibiemme, Grimac, Ala di Vittoria, La Spaziale, Nuova Simonelli, Fiorenzato and ECM. Some of these can be plumbed into your pipes at home so you never have to take out a reservoir and fill it; some do direct connect drains as well. When you step up from these machines you step into the world of expensive, commerical grade double boiler machines.
Standard practices call for a 7 gram scoop of coffee grounds per serving of espresso (about 1 ounce). Lately the ratio has been blurred and stretched to become a wide range of acceptable combinations. This is mostly because updosing - using more than the standard amount of grounds but not changing the amount of water - takes away some of the margin of error on the barista side of the equation. This is a great thing if you are a coffee shop owner and you want to keep costs down and drink flavors consistent. A problem with updosing is that the water needs to be hotter because more grounds absorbs more heat causing a cooler temperature in the cup and solubles at the bottom of the basket will not be dissolved into the cup. Because of the hotter water there will be more bitterness than there would have been at a lower dose with a lower temperature. This is also contributed to by the water volumes not being increased in ratio to the increase of coffee grounds. Essentially every shot becomes a ristretto (restricted) shot.
Some think that updosing helps fix a lot of extraction problems but this seems to be a myth that is lately being proven untrue. The grounds expand when wet and if you updose just a bit too much the bed surface will hit the screen and the screw that hold it to the grouphead. This will cause cracks and fissures that will cause channeling and other problems that lead to uneven extraction and bitter espresso.
Coffee shops that know their stuff have adjusted to dose with the proper ratio for shots that will be consumed straight and to continue updosing for shots that will be swimming in milk.
Some think that updosing helps fix a lot of extraction problems but this seems to be a myth that is lately being proven untrue. The grounds expand when wet and if you updose just a bit too much the bed surface will hit the screen and the screw that hold it to the grouphead. This will cause cracks and fissures that will cause channeling and other problems that lead to uneven extraction and bitter espresso.
Coffee shops that know their stuff have adjusted to dose with the proper ratio for shots that will be consumed straight and to continue updosing for shots that will be swimming in milk.
Shot Dose
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What we have now, probably thanks to Dr. Ernesto Illy's work in Brazil during the 1990's, is what people call the "Third Wave" of coffee. This is a generation of coffee and espresso drinkers that want to know where the coffee comes from and the chemistry behind it. This is a generation of coffee shops and roasters that visit the farms and talk with the growers and work toward better quality in the beans and fair prices for crops.
There are some who believe that robusta beans should be part of an espresso blend - these are lower quality, higher in caffeine beans - but this is not necessary. Nowadays most roasters only use arabica beans in their blends for espresso and for everything else.
Never buy preground beans for espresso since coffee begins to go stale immediately after grinding. And, as we discuss on the Espresso page on this website, and will discuss again, you will need the right grinder for the job.
There are some who believe that robusta beans should be part of an espresso blend - these are lower quality, higher in caffeine beans - but this is not necessary. Nowadays most roasters only use arabica beans in their blends for espresso and for everything else.
Never buy preground beans for espresso since coffee begins to go stale immediately after grinding. And, as we discuss on the Espresso page on this website, and will discuss again, you will need the right grinder for the job.