What is Espresso?

Let’s get a better understanding of Espresso…

Let’s get this one out of the way quickly:  Espresso is primarily a brewing method that uses finely ground coffee, high water pressure, and a short extraction time (usually around 25-30 seconds) to create a concentrated shot.  There’s technically no distinct coffee plant or bean type called “espresso beans.”  Any coffee bean—Arabica or Robusta—can be used for espresso. 

Espresso is more commonly associated with a specific roast. Traditionally, espresso beans are roasted darker to bring out rich, bold, and less acidic flavors.  However, you can use light or medium roasts for espresso if you prefer a brighter, more acidic cup with fruity notes.

Yes! While darker roasts are traditional, any roast level can be used for espresso. The choice comes down to personal taste:

• Light roast: Bright, fruity, floral

• Medium roast: Balanced, nutty, chocolatey

• Dark roast: Bold, smoky, bittersweet

So when your are looking for a coffee that is meant for espresso, any coffee will do, but will deliver different tastes that you may or may not be thinking of.  

For us at The Commercial Drive Coffee Company (CDCC), we have 2 offerings that we would say you could use for making Espresso and Espresso based drinks.   We have our The Drive Espresso – Medium Roast (Very Traditional and what we would consider - the espresso that puts us back into Italy - well balanced taste, little bitter, little choclate with no acid!) and the East Village Espresso – Dark Roast (What more in North America might enjoy - little more bite).

There you go!  That is you quick and dirty crash course on Espresso…

The next couple of blog posts will discuss they types of Roasts in a little depth and we will chat about the use of Arabica, Robusta or a Blend in your favourite Espresso!