The espresso cheat sheet is designed to help you set up our espressos quickly and easily. It also shows you how to switch from one coffee to another to achieve a good result fast and save coffee.
Extraction times for our espresso roasts / sweet spot vs. sweet range
We often talk about a sweet spot in espresso extraction, meaning a point where the espresso tastes better to us. We source green coffees and roast them in such a way that this sweet spot is more of a sweet range, an area where the coffee is convincing.
General remarks:
- the darker a coffee, the shorter we extract it on extraction systems that quickly ramp up from 0 to 8-9 bar.
- the lighter a coffee, the longer we generally extract it
- With espresso machines with pressure profiling, such as lever machines, the San Remo YOU or even the Decent, we also extract darker roasts for longer. Their pressure profiles can be individually adapted to the coffee, making the extraction time longer than with an immediate pressure increase.
- for more info on how we set up specialty espressos: here's the video
The optimal grind size for our espresso roasts
Grind settings cannot be copied. Not between different grinders, not even between two identical models from the same manufacturer. The settings of the burrs, the retention figure, as well as the particle distribution make espresso grinders a particularly individual matter.
However, we can give general assessments on grind size if we set a frame of reference. On the far left of our scale is very fine (Mamy), next to it (Toca) is fine, and a bit coarser again is the Apas. We recommend grinding the Henrique even coarser than the Apas.
Especially if you are familiar with our coffees, or use them as a reference, you can now put them in relation, and the quicker adjustment on the grinder should be even easier.
Changing grinders, made easy
With the graph above, it should be even easier for you to quickly adjust the grind size when switching between our coffees. The coffees on the left side are ground finer, the coffees on the right side coarser. The distance between the individual coffees in the graph is chosen to reflect how we would set it on the grinder.
Example 1: Switching from Toca to Henrique
- you have a Toca in the grinder and want to switch to Henrique
- we would not grind a little coarser (then you would be at Dreispitz), but significantly coarser
Example 2: Switching from Apas to Mamy
- The Apas is in the grinder and you want to switch to Mamy
- You orient yourself on the graph and would grind significantly finer
Coffee properties and grinder settings
With the help of the following information, you will be able to set up a coffee more quickly. These are general assessments that we have written down here based on our experience.
Beverage ratios / brew ratio / a matter of taste
The ratio of ground coffee used to the amount of coffee beverage in the cup is called the brew ratio - although there is a massive difference here. For filter coffee, brew ratio is understood as the ratio between the dosage of roasted coffee and the water added to the coffee grounds. For espresso, however, we are talking about the ratio between the ground coffee used and the brewed quantity in grams in the cup.
The days of ultra-strong espressos are increasingly over. Just ten years ago, it was easy to get highly dosed and lightly extracted double espressos in specialty cafés. Too often, these beverages were unbalanced.
By using a less tight ratio, we increase the extraction of the coffee grounds and support the balance of the espresso. By increasing the water flow through the grounds, we also increase the extraction rate, which can give the coffee more sweetness.
Basically, with the choice of the appropriate brew ratio, we are compromising between texture, the balance of sweetness and acidity, and the intensity of aroma.
Just as tastes differ, so do the chosen brew ratios.
Here we have summarized our preferences:
- lighter roasts we prefer in a larger brew ratio, e.g., 1:2.4 and higher
- darker roasts we prefer in a smaller brew ratio, e.g., 1:2.2 and higher
- Robusta roasts like the Mamy we particularly like at a 1:2 ratio
- especially very floral coffees convince us with longer extractions like 1:2.6 and more
