Espresso

Alert!  Alert!  There is a new craze afflicting coffee shops throughout the nation.  Every café you go to, there's an alarming amount of people drinking some type of espresso drink.  There is only one solution … join them and embrace this strong, flavor filled drink.

An espresso is a unique drink that originates from Italy.  What makes the espresso so distinct is the way that it is brewed.  An espresso is made through an espresso machine (one type of coffee maker that you can read about in the section Coffee Makers) that brews coffee by forcing hot water through finely ground dark-roasted coffee beans.  An Italian term that can be translated to 'pressed out' or 'express', many coffee shops advertise this fine drink as an expresso.  This is wrong and any person or establishment that describes the drink as an expresso is wrong and should be corrected because they are violating the laws of grammar.

An espresso is often used as the foundation for other popular specialty coffee drinks like lattes, cappuccinos, and mocha.  It is a bit of an acquired taste, as many coffee lovers feel that it is a bit strong.  However, people that enjoy the taste of an espresso really love an espresso.  It is a unique coffee drink that differs from the common drip brewed coffee as it has a thickly concentrated consistency that provides the drink with a robust flavor.  Additionally, the espresso drink is best served by using high quality coffee beans.  While most high quality coffee beans tend to be from the coffea arabica plant (or Arabica coffee, something that you can read about under the Coffee Plants section), many excellent espresso blends use coffee beans from the coffea robusta plant (or Robusta coffee, which you can also read about under the Coffee Plants section).

To make an excellent espresso drink or shot, as espresso is served in small amounts called this, just follow these steps:

1. Grind up roasted dark espresso beans that are oily-looking.  Imported Italian Roast blends are the darkest espresso coffee beans and are considered the best to use.
2. Grind these beans until they are fine but not yet a powder.  Place these espresso beans into the strainer of your espresso coffee making device.  Make sure that the strainer is packed full and hard for maximum taste.
3. Turn your espresso machine on and watch as it drips down.  Make sure that a nice layer of foam forms on top of the drink, as the foam is the most delicious part of an espresso drink.  This foam is called crema.
4. Drink your espresso soon after it is made.  You may want to add some sugar to sweeten the taste but make sure you drink it quick.  An espresso that is cold is not truly an espresso.

When you are making an espresso, make sure that you do not make more than two ounces at a time.  This is vital as the espresso making process is designed to bring out the most flavorful part of the coffee grounds.  By adding more coffee grounds into the mix, you will be reducing the flavor, which leads to a diluted cup of espresso.  If you are making more than one cup of espresso, you will just have to make these shots separately.  However, you won't regret it when you're enjoying a great drink.  To learn about other coffee drinks, just check out the remaining drinks under the section Coffee Drinks.