Espresso Coffee Tips For Your Inner Barista

Living in Australia, we’re pretty blessed to have espresso coffee available in most cafe’s and shops. Thanks to a strong Italian influence, especially in the development of early ‘cafe culture’, espresso style coffee is very mainstream, and has been for over 25 years.

I do believe that once you’ve had this Italian style coffee, it is hard to go back to regular drip filter coffee, although French plunger coffee can be fantastic too. Of course, when you need a ‘pick-me-up’, any coffee will do!

What is the difference between drip and espresso coffee? Italian coffee is made very differently. It uses a high pressure to force water through the ground beans. Interestingly, whilst the water is very hot, it is not boiling. And the beans themselves are ground very fine and smooth. Contrary to some commercial presentation, this style of coffee is not dependant on one type of bean or roast. It is the process of making the beverage that makes it espresso coffee, nothing else. When a cafe refers to a dark, or stronger roast as an espresso roast, it is no more than an idiosyncrasy of marketing. All coffee beans used to make Italian coffee could be called espresso beans or roasts.

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