Coffee Under Pressure: Espresso Brewing at Home. | Tom Plets | Skillshare
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Coffee Under Pressure: Espresso Brewing at Home.

teacher avatar Tom Plets

Watch this class and thousands more

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Taught by industry leaders & working professionals
Topics include illustration, design, photography, and more

Watch this class and thousands more

Get unlimited access to every class
Taught by industry leaders & working professionals
Topics include illustration, design, photography, and more

Lessons in This Class

    • 1.

      Introduction

      0:43

    • 2.

      Equipment

      1:46

    • 3.

      Coffee

      0:48

    • 4.

      Water

      0:44

    • 5.

      Dose

      1:40

    • 6.

      Tamp

      1:45

    • 7.

      Extract

      1:20

    • 8.

      Record

      1:19

    • 9.

      Latte

      3:14

    • 10.

      Tips

      2:13

    • 11.

      Mocha

      2:30

    • 12.

      Vanilla Latte

      1:13

    • 13.

      Iced Mocha

      1:42

    • 14.

      Iced Vanilla Latte

      1:04

    • 15.

      Cappuccino

      2:06

    • 16.

      Macciato/Espresso Con Panna

      0:45

    • 17.

      Outro

      0:15

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About This Class

Hello and welcome! In this course, you will learn how to brew exceptional espresso, and craft espresso-based beverages at home with a basic consumer espresso machine.

I am Tom Plets and I have been a coffee consultant and trainer for over 7 years.

Together we will go over the best practices for pulling well balanced shots, steaming milk, making a variety of drinks, and the equipment and methods necessary to achieve consistent results.

As home espresso machines vary quite a bit, this course assumes you understand the basic operation of your machine. Basically how to fill it with water, how to turn it on, and activate the brewing: the stuff covered usually in the first pages of its manual.

By the end of this course you will brew with confidence and use your equipment to its full potential.

Join me today and learn the exciting art of crafting exceptional espresso at home!


Meet Your Teacher

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Tom Plets

Teacher

Hello, I'm Tom! I am a barista and coffee roaster based in Arizona.

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Level: Beginner

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Transcripts

1. Introduction: Hello and welcome. In this course, you will learn to brew exceptional espresso and craft espresso based beverages at home using a basic consumer espresso machine, we will go over the best practices for brewing a well-balanced shot, steaming milk, making a variety of drinks, and the equipment and methods necessary to achieve consistency. As homeless person machines vary quite a bit. This course assumes that you understand the basic operation of your machine. Basically, how to fill it with water, how to turn it on and how to start the brute. All the stuff covered in the first few pages of its manual. So join me today and learn the exciting art of crafting exceptional Espresso at home. 2. Equipment: This is my humble home espresso brewing setup. I have the cafe Roma espresso machine by Brazil. It is a very basic home espresso machine. Years might be a little different, but the steps in this video we'll still apply. Over here. I have my bottom Bistro electric burr grinder. You will need some kind of bird grinder for doing espresso at home. A hand crank or cheap electric one will get the job done. This one's pretty reasonable and does a great job. You will also need a digital kitchen scale capable of measuring 2.1 gram. Also vital to getting good espresso results at home is using a non pressurized port, a filter basket. This is the basket the fits in the port of filter handle, and it's just a simple metal filter. However, many home espresso machines come with a pressurized port of filter. This forces the coffee through one little hole on the bottom to sort of create an artificial crema and error rate the coffee. It does not yield good results. So make sure you get a non pressurized port of filter basket for your porta filter handle. Fortunately, you can find these online for almost any port of filter handle and it's really cheap. It will be the best investment you can make to get good results at home. Useful accessory to have, although not essential, is a knock box. It allows you to conveniently dispose of your brewed coffee. You can't, however, use a small bucket or a trash can for the same purpose for making those lattes and moca, we're going to want to have a stainless steel steaming picture. Also useful to have is a thermometer to measure the temperature of the milk as you steam. It not essential, but it's useful to have. So there it is, my simple setup. Let's brew some coffee. 3. Coffee: Let's talk about coffee beans. So any coffee can be used to make espresso. Espresso just means coffee brood under pressure, usually with an espresso machine. You'll sometimes see coffee's marketed as an especial blend. This just means that the creators of it have put a lot of different single origin coffees together to try and create a balanced blend at bat taste good as an espresso. Regardless of the coffee you choose, it is important that you get something that has been roasted within the last month, anything older than that, and the flavor is quite degraded. Fortunately, reputable coffee roasters, I always put the row state on the bag. For this reason, I advise skipping the grocery store and instead looking to local coffee shops and local coffee roasters for your beans. I encourage you to try a lot of different coffees to experience the huge range of flavors possible. 4. Water: To get good espresso, we need to use good water, something with a balanced mineral content that is free of odors and contaminants. Using bottled water is one option. Look for something labeled spring water or purified water. Do not use distilled water as it lacks the proper minerals for extracting the espresso well, and it can actually damage the machine. While bottled water works, it can be expensive and generates a lot of waste. I recommend using a simple picture water-filter on your tap water that usually gets good results. If the water tastes good and fresh by itself, it will make good coffee. 5. Dose: So we've got our fresh beans, we've got our fresh water. What we need to do now is figure out the dose. That is how much coffee we're going to brew with. To determine the dose, we're going to take the Port of filter basket filled until it's heaping with ground coffee and weigh it. That will be the consistent dose we use when we brew with this basket. So we're going to grind about 30 grams of coffee, which will be more than enough to fill up the coffee basket. You didn't there. Grind this on a fine setting. Now we want to place the Porta filter handle on the scale, tear it, and then fill it till it's heaping with coffee. There we go. That's just about as full as it will get. So rounding it looks like it's a 16 Graham basket. So every time we brew with this coffee basket, we're going to want to weigh 16 grams of whole bean coffee, grind it, and add it to the port of filter. We'll do much. 6. Tamp: Now that we've got our coffee ground, what we wanna do is preheat the poor to filter basket. So I'll put it in the group head and run some hot water through it. That should do it. And now take the pore to filter out. Careful not to burn yourself because it's hot now. Dry it out thoroughly. Perfect. We've got this preheated, we've got the group had preheated. Now we wanna take our ground coffee added to the port of filter and tamp. I made a little funnel by cutting the bottom off of a paper cup. This makes adding the coffee to the port of filter quite a bit easier. Okay, we weren't to level the grounds gently. Good, the coffee nice. And even. Then I take my tamper. This is just a cheap plastic tamper. You might wanna do yourself a favor and get a nice heavier tamper. What this will do the job. So I'm just gonna gently pat the coffee down. This is the pre tamp. I just want it to be nice and even before put pressure on it, clean the edges off right there. Alright, now we're ready to tamp. Okay, when I tapped my coffee, I like to put the Porta filter on the edge of something very sturdy. And then I take my tamper and with my elbow out about a 90 degree angle to my tamper. I push with a nice firm pressure. There we go. Clean up any grounds that are on the edge. Okay, now put the Porta filter back into the machine and tighten the handle. 7. Extract: Okay, we're ready to brew. What we want to do now is measured the yield of espresso. That is how much mass of liquid espresso we get out. We're usually going for a ratio of about one to two. That's a good starting point. So we're using 16 grams of coffee, so we want a yield twice that of 32 grams of liquid espresso. I'm gonna put the cup on the scale and tear it. But what we also want to do is time the extraction to determine how much time the water is in contact with the coffee. That's another important variable to keep track of. I'm going to use the stopwatch app on my phone to do that. All right, I'm going to start the extraction and start the timer at the same time. So we got 32 grams approximately of liquid espresso at 29 seconds. Getting a one-to-two yield in about 25 to 35 seconds is just about ideal. We want the shot to start slow, dark and syrupy, gradually speedup and turn Carmel and colored with a nice layer of crema on top. Next up we're going to record the results of our extraction. 8. Record: Record your results. So our dose with 16 grams, our yield was 32.4 grams. That was just about a one-to-two ratio of coffee beans to extract it espresso. We can go for a slightly larger yield, say 35 or 40 grams, and see how that affects the flavor. Or it goes slightly shorter for what they call a ristretto shot. And see how that affects your flavor and maybe you prefer that one more. Then we're going to record the time, which was 30 seconds. So we could brew longer or shorter if we want to and see how that affects the flavor. Here's brood too quickly. You're going to want to try a finer grind to increase the brewing time. If it brood much too slow, you're going to want to try a coarser grained. See, I make small adjustments to the grind to see how it affects the time. It doesn't take much to get it to change quite a bit. And when you experiment with this, change only one variable at a time. In other words, try to find our grind to get a longer time, but keep the yield the same. That way you can really see how the time affects the flavor of your brew. Just always record your shot and make some notes of how it tastes to you so you can optimize it for yourself. 9. Latte: Okay, now let's make a latte which is just espresso and steamed milk. Start by preparing your shot just like we did before, but don't really yet. Now that we have are shot ready to go, we want to take our steaming picture, put it underneath the wand and turn the machine to steam. Want to get a nice stream of steam coming out and remove any condensation that's built up in the wand. Go ahead and dispose of that water. So we'll be making a ten ounce latte in this mug. This steaming pitcher holds 12 ounces of milk. As you steam the milk, the volume of the milk is going to expand. So we're not going to want to fill it all the way to the top. For this example, we're going to be using whole milk. But these steps apply regardless of the milk type used, even if it's dairy or non dairy. So we want to leave enough room in the pitcher for the milk volume to expand and knock over the top. So we're going to fill it to just beneath the spout there. Now, we want to take our pitcher full of milk, submerged the wand just barely into the milk and start the steam. You want the wand to be facing into the picture at an angle like that. And about half an inch from the edge of the steaming pitcher. Our goal is to get a nice swirling motion of the melting. We don't move the picture much as the milk steam. You can see as the milk heats up, we're getting that nice spinning motion. At this point. Drop the picture so the wand just barely comes out of the milk to let it take in some air, you'll really start going now. Our gold temperature is about a 140 degrees Fahrenheit. If you're using a milk thermometer, you can measure this precisely. It's not entirely necessary though. It's about when it's too hot to touch and you go about five seconds after that, it is opened to personal preference though. You'll notice the pitch of the milk steaming significantly drops right when it reaches a 140 degrees. Now that we're done, carefully remove the pitcher from the machine and wipe off the steam wand with a wet rag to prevent milk scum from drawing on their purged a little steam through the want to get rid of any milk that may have built up. And we're ready to brew the shot. Now, add your shots to the mug. And then I'm gonna take the milk tablet a few times and swirl it. This reconstitutes the foam that's floating on top with the milk underneath. It'll get a nicer texture when we pour, pour into the center and at the end bring the tip closer to the surface of the coffee. And there we have it. Boom, latte. 10. Tips: When the distance from your espresso machines drip tray to the bottom of the port of filter, allow it. Brew your shots directly into the cup you are drinking from. This is not only more convenient and simplifies the process. You avoid losing parts of the shot to sticking to the side of the cup when you transfer it to another vessel. Steamed milk before you pull your shots. This applies mainly to non boiler type espresso machines. In other words, espresso machines that can either brew the shot or steamed milk, but not both at the same time. Espresso shots have a tendency to go bad when they sit. The highly volatile aromatic compounds evaporate out of the shot, leaving it tasting astringent and better. Since it usually takes more time to steam your milk vendor pull your shots, it is better to steam your milk. Have it ready for when your shots finished brewing so you can combine them quickly. Once your espresso is combined with milk, it will stay good for much longer. Not only do light and dark roasted coffees have vastly different flavor profiles, but a light roast is far less soluble than a medium roast, and a medium roast is less soluble than a dark roast. You will find that dark Roast Coffee's need to be ground a bit courser to achieve proper brew times. Conversely, a light roast will need to be ground finer to achieve good extraction. First and foremost, don't get too hung up on latte art. You can make an excellent latte and excellent coffee without being able to make latte art. However, being able to make latte art is a good sign that you are steaming your milk properly and that your shots are brewed. Well. When you pour your milk, pay attention to the proximity of the pitcher to the surface of the coffee. In the beginning you want to start higher up to stirred all together. And then towards the end, pause and bring it closer. This will start drawing that lovely white foam on top of the coffee. Then if you wanna cut through it, pull it away again, and push through. 11. Mocha: So let's make a mocha, which is a latte with chocolate. Just like before. Get your shots ready. And of course, steam some milk. And set that aside. Now place your cup on the scale and tear it. We're going to use a readily available chocolate sauce for making our mocha today. But you can also use a chocolate powder for a twelv ounce moca, we're going to want to add about 20 grams of Sauce. Now, go ahead and brew your shots. Add your shots directly on top of the chocolate in your cup. And give it a thorough str. Now, take your steamed milk, give it a few taps and swirls to reconstitute that phone. And now pour it over the shots and chocolate. And there we have it. A mocha. Stay tuned. I'm going to show you an alternate way of making a mocha as well. This is actually my favorite way to have a mocha made with raw sugar and cocoa powder. So add a packer, two of raw sugar to a cup. And then about a teaspoon of raw cocoa powder. I'm making this in a smaller cup so I can put it right underneath the group had to brew. It is always advantageous to Bruce straight into the cup if you can. Now give that a very thorough str. I like to add a pinch of cocoa powder on top at this point. Now take your milk and pour. And it's done. A MOOC are made like this is a bit less sweet than the commercial sauces and powders available. I really like it this way. 12. Vanilla Latte: Now let's make a vanilla latte. Get your shots ready, place your cup on the scale and terror it. Add about 15 to 20 grams of vanilla syrup. Get your shots ready to brew into a shot glass. Now steam some milk and extract two shots. Add your shots to the cup with the vanilla and give it a stir. And now pour your milk. And now we have a lovely vanilla latte. Be sure to adjust the amount of syrup you use to taste. 13. Iced Mocha: Now let's make an iced mocha. The process will be similar to that of the hot moca, but instead of adding steamed milk, we're going to add cold milk and ice. Go ahead and take your shot glass, put it on a scale and tear it. Add about 20 grams of chocolate once again. And extract your shots right over the chocolate. Stir your shots and chocolate thoroughly, and then fill up your main Cup about one-quarter of the way with cold milk. Add your shots and chocolate on top of the milk. Give it a quick stir. Now, add your ice. I like to increase the volume of the liquid by about a third from the added ice displacement. Now add more belt to nearly the top of the glass and give it a final stir. Now we're technically done at this point, but feel free to go crazy with the little whipped cream and some chocolate sauce on top never hurts. That's looking good. 14. Iced Vanilla Latte: Okay, now we're making an iced vanilla latte. The process will be super similar to that of the iced mocha. Go ahead and add 15 to 20 grams of vanilla syrup, either to your main cup or a shot glass. Extract some Espresso and add it to your cup. Add milk to about 1 third of the volume of the cup. Give it a quick stir. Go ahead and add your ice and top it off with milk and give it a final stir. There we have it an iced vanilla latte. 15. Cappuccino: Now we're going to make a cappuccino, which like a latte, consists of espresso and steamed milk, but in the cappuccino, but milk is much dryer. That is, there's more foam. It is traditionally done as a six ounce beverage, which we will brew here as we are steaming the milk to make it foamy or the volume will increase significantly so we don't need to add too much. As usual. Get your shots ready, purged some steam and get ready to steam your milk. This time when we steamed milk for the cappuccino, we want to keep the wand even closer to the surface of the milk, just barely submerged. That sipping sound that we got a few times when steaming for latte. We want that to happen almost perpetually through the steaming process for the cappuccino. We're still going for that swirling motion. And you should see the volume increase much quicker though as we steam for the cappuccino. Do you hear that sucking sound as we let air into the milk? That's what we're going for. There we go. You see, we have that really nice thick foam sitting on top of the milk. That's exactly what we want. Now, extract your espresso. Now, I'd like to make my cappuccinos as dry as possible, that is as foamy as possible. So I'm going to take a spoon, poor little bit of milk as I scraped the foam on top of the shots. And there we have it. A cappuccino. 16. Macciato/Espresso Con Panna: An espresso macchiato is a simple, classy and easy drink tomake. It consists of an extraction of espresso marked with just a little bit of steamed milk. All you have to do is extract your shots into a small cup and top it off with a little bit of steamed milk. You can use a spoon to just scrape a little bit of foam on top. But I think it's best pouring a little bit of milk in as well. And there we have it, an espresso macchiato. Another simple but delicious way to enjoy your espresso isn't espresso compound, which is simply espresso with whipped cream, can't go wrong. 17. Outro: Thank you for brewing with me today. I hope this course has helped you hone your home espresso making skills. Please feel free to send me any questions and comments. I appreciate reviews if you have the time to leave one. Thank you again and happy brewing.