I generally judge when to stop my shot based off when blonding begins to occur. This is when the espresso changes to a noticeably lighter, yellowish color. At this stage, only bitter flavors are being extracted from the coffee, and any more extraction will only degrade the flavor of your shot.
Blonding is when the flow of your espresso turns a very light tan and starts to become thin and watery. As soon as you see this process begin, stop your shot. Past this point you'll begin to extract undesirable qualities, such as bitterness.
It is very easy and simple to know when your espresso is done. You will definitely hear or see it when your espresso is done. When you hear a bubbling or see that your espresso is splashing, done it is ready to be served.
However, while some myths come and go, one that's stuck is the concept of the ten-second espresso. Essentially, this school of thought maintains that a shot of espresso should be consumed – or mixed with milk or other ingredients like milk – within ten seconds of brewing. If not, it spoils.
If you over or under extract your grinds, milk is the perfect cover up. But espresso is less forgiving. That's why you should always aim to let your espresso extract for 25 – 30 seconds.
If the time is too long, the espresso will be bitter and harsh. This isn't a hard and fast rule, but will certainly apply to most coffees.
If you drink one espresso shot (which has about 50-65 mg of caffeine) and your personal caffeine half-life is about five hours, you'll have a pretty negligible amount of caffeine in your system ten hours after ingestion.
Avoid caffeine after 3 p.m.
Caffeine can disrupt your sleep up to six hours after consuming it, leading to an hour or more lost in rest, one study found. So if you want to start winding down and going to bed at 9 p.m., drinking coffee after 3 p.m. is a bad idea.
Wet or soupy espresso pucks can indicate an issue with your extraction process. While some moisture is expected after brewing, an adequately extracted espresso puck should be relatively firm and hold its shape. A soupy or excessively wet puck can result from channeling, improper grind size, or an uneven tamp.
Most coffee shops generally use brew times between 22 and 40 seconds – and often between 25 and 32 – to achieve their desired result. Espressos that are extracted in less time will typically be more acidic and have less of a body, while espressos that are extracted for longer are often sweeter and more bitter.
When you make coffee more coarse - more water will also pass through the coffee quickly. If your espresso or brew is too long, a coarser grind is what you are looking for. Fine - Think of a finer grind as you would think of a jar of sand. The smaller the sand particles, the slower water will pass through the jar.
Espresso extraction should produce a double espresso of 50-60ml in 25-30 seconds or a single espresso of 25-30ml in the same time. Before you connect the filterholder (loaded with coffee) to your espresso machine it is a good idea to to flush some water from the machine.
If you use low-quality coffee, you can over-tamp espresso. The risk is minimal when you use top-quality grinds. If you tamp low-quality coffee grounds too hard, your espresso becomes over-extracted and thus extremely bitter.
There are three qualities to pay attention to when you taste your espresso — acidity, sweetness and bitterness. The acidity is often described as the citrusy, tangy taste of your coffee. It's sometimes compared to actual citrus fruit like lemon, orange and lime, as well as berries, apple and melon.
The 5 most important factors to pulling perfect espresso shots are: Water Pressure, Extraction Time, Water Temperature, Grind Consistency, and Tamping. If any one of these are off, your shots will lose a lot of flavor and you won't enjoy your end espresso drink.
Sip, Don't Slurp
Despite being called an espresso “shot,” that doesn't mean you need to down a single or double shot in one go. Ideally, you'll want to consume the intense drink before it cools down, but many espresso lovers like to sip their shots.
It will have a burnt, ashy flavor and may be less palatable than fresh shots; however, they still contain caffeine. The length of time it takes for a shot to 'die' is debated, ranging from ten seconds to three minutes.
The 30-second rule for espresso refers to the target extraction time for pulling a shot of espresso. It suggests that the brewing process, from the moment water comes into contact with the coffee grounds until the end of extraction, should take approximately 30 seconds.
The flow rate of an espresso machine is a measurement of how much water passes through the grouphead while the pump is active. Most commercial machines have a flow rate of between 250 and 500 grams per 30 seconds (g/30s), but the ideal range is between 200 and 280 g/30s.
3 parts of an espresso shot. Crema, Body, Heart. The second layer is the Body, the middle section of the espresso shot.