What"s the Story With Espresso Coffee?
Over the last 10-15 years, espresso coffee has undergone an amazing renaissance.
With its origins in the invention of the espresso machine in Italy in 1906, this unique form of coffee has spread throughout the world, with particular strength in Australia, New Zealand, the US, and believe it or not, the Scandinavian countries.
The 'espresso' itself is the starting point for all espresso coffee - by definition, it is approximately 25 ml of coffee extracted under pressure, in 25-30 seconds.
A well-made espresso is characterised by a dark, golden crema.
A further sign of a good espresso is that the surface tension of the crema should maintain one teaspoon of white sugar on its surface for 3-4 seconds before falling through.
Most commonly presented in a small cup under the name 'short black', the espresso then becomes the starting point for many other coffees when added with milk.
These include Caffe Latte, Cappuccino, Flat White [in Australia and NZ] and Macchiato - all basically comprising the shot of espresso and various amounts and qualities of milk.
There's also the Ristretto and the Long Black, which are variations of the basic espresso shot, and which don't include milk.
A Caffe Latte is a shot of espresso into a 200-220 ml glass, with densely textured milk added.
A Flat White is similar, but served in a smaller cup, and therefore contains less densely textured milk, while a Cappuccino is similar to a Flat White, but typically has a frothier milk texture.
A Ristretto, meaning 'restricted' in Italian, is normally only the first 15mls of extraction, and is served without milk [typically it is sweeter and richer than a 25ml espresso shot].
A Macchiato is an espresso shot 'stained' with a small amount of textured milk [the Italian word means 'to mark, which in this case is what we're doing to the coffee with the textured milk].
Finally a Long Black [commonly called an 'Americano' in the US] is an espresso shot which has hot water added and is served in a larger glass, rather than a small espresso shot glass.
With its origins in the invention of the espresso machine in Italy in 1906, this unique form of coffee has spread throughout the world, with particular strength in Australia, New Zealand, the US, and believe it or not, the Scandinavian countries.
The 'espresso' itself is the starting point for all espresso coffee - by definition, it is approximately 25 ml of coffee extracted under pressure, in 25-30 seconds.
A well-made espresso is characterised by a dark, golden crema.
A further sign of a good espresso is that the surface tension of the crema should maintain one teaspoon of white sugar on its surface for 3-4 seconds before falling through.
Most commonly presented in a small cup under the name 'short black', the espresso then becomes the starting point for many other coffees when added with milk.
These include Caffe Latte, Cappuccino, Flat White [in Australia and NZ] and Macchiato - all basically comprising the shot of espresso and various amounts and qualities of milk.
There's also the Ristretto and the Long Black, which are variations of the basic espresso shot, and which don't include milk.
A Caffe Latte is a shot of espresso into a 200-220 ml glass, with densely textured milk added.
A Flat White is similar, but served in a smaller cup, and therefore contains less densely textured milk, while a Cappuccino is similar to a Flat White, but typically has a frothier milk texture.
A Ristretto, meaning 'restricted' in Italian, is normally only the first 15mls of extraction, and is served without milk [typically it is sweeter and richer than a 25ml espresso shot].
A Macchiato is an espresso shot 'stained' with a small amount of textured milk [the Italian word means 'to mark, which in this case is what we're doing to the coffee with the textured milk].
Finally a Long Black [commonly called an 'Americano' in the US] is an espresso shot which has hot water added and is served in a larger glass, rather than a small espresso shot glass.
