The Espresso Home Barista

As with many things in life you can delve deeply into whatever interests you and sometimes get carried away with doing what you believe is the right thing. Coffee is definitely one of those areas where you can get lost in the technicalities and the search for that perfect espresso or flat white.

To me making an espresso based coffee is about taking a bit of time to prep my coffee puck, watch my bottomless portafilter for signs that I got it right, feel the anticipation of what I am about to drink which is a delicious cup of coffee whilst I steam the milk to a smooth and rich consistency and then savour the flavour. That’s it, no more and no less.

So what new fangled and expensive espresso machine do you have Mr I’m So Good At Making Coffee? I hear you cry. I have a Sage Barista Express, no more and no less! What? I hear you cry again, I thought you would have a Rocket Mozzafiato Cronometro or a Bicocca. I would love one but I can’t afford the real estate in my kitchen for such a lovely espresso machine, plus grinder, plus knock box, plus coffee station so a Sage it is, and I’m very happy with it.

So what makes a good espresso? The barista I would say coupled with good quality beans and an espresso machine capable of producing the right temperature and pressure to pour that perfect shot. Will a sub £200 system work? Yes, we sell the Italian made Espresso Deluxe at £199 or £299 with an espresso capable grinder. This will, with some input from yourself make a perfectly acceptable espresso.

To grind or not to grind, that is THE question. Grind, that is THE answer. You need a grinder capable of grinding to fine espresso standards which does not have to cost the earth, that said the more you spend the more features your grinder will have. If like me you have found a coffee that you like a grinder with a hopper to keep your beans in would be my choice such as the Sage The Smart Pro Grinder Pro. Or if you want a Kenyan in the morning, a Columbian in the afternoon then a Decaf in the evening you need a single dose grinder such as the Fellow Opus. This allows you to grind just the right amount of coffee for your espresso but you will also need scales to measure out your dose and a dosing cup to measure your beans into. There is some setting up of your grinder to get that magic 2:1 liquid to grounds ratio but that is another subject for another blog, hopefully you have done this already.

So which home barista accessories are essential and which are desirable? A great question and that depends on how you prep your coffee puck. Let’s assume that you do not use an auto-tamp system such as the Sage Impress systems and that you grind into your portafilter or at least put freshly ground coffee into a portafilter. My first step is to attach a dosing funnel then use my WDT tool to break up the clumps using a spirograph style movement (remember them?). Once the clumps have gone I then tap the portafilter on my tamper mat to even the puck out and use my distribution tool to spin the puck and ensure that the puck is of even depth throughout the portafilter.

Really, does all of this make a difference? Quite simply yes. If your puck has more dense areas your water will bypass them, if your puck is thicker one side than the other the water will take the path of least resistance and go through the thinner area and in both cases you will not get 100% extraction from your ground coffee. With just a bit of prep, less than a minute and a few quid on ‘bits’ you will get better extraction from your coffee puck and a fuller, richer tasting coffee as those of you who have been through our coffee demo sessions will attest to.

To me the absolute must have item is a puck screen. This item ensures that after you have done all of your puck prep (or even if you haven’t if you have an Impress system) that the water column is distributed evenly throughout your puck giving you the best possible extraction. We sell one with every espresso system. Oh one last thing that I use is a knock box, I keep the spent coffee pucks for my composting.

So you now have options. Up your espresso game with just a few items to assist getting the most from your espresso and you will see that I have linked to what I use and none of it costs a lot of money. As a Home Barista looking to make delicious coffee I use quality items at an affordable price rather than being a nerd, I mean Home Barista looking to make a hobby out of coffee who want to spend vast amounts of money on the same items, in which case I don’t think that The Coffee Shack is the right place for you guys.

The bean itself is subjective, you may not like what I like but that doesn’t make it a bad bean we just have differing tastes. Do the beans need to be roasted within the last six weeks? Not at all, I tend to take older bags home and still make perfectly delicious coffee so I don’t subscribe to this ‘if it is older than six weeks from roasting don’t use it‘ it’s rubbish in my taste buds opinion. There are limits but six months is fine, trust me.

If you would like a Home Barista session at the shop let me know, we will be happy to assist and all that we ask is that once we have been through the puck prep with you is that you purchase your items from us, there is no charge for our time if you do. Call us or send us an email to arrange your session or just pop into the shop, any excuse to make a coffee!

Share:

More Posts

Waiting For The Sun!

Something I hear a reasonable amount is “I haven’t barbecued much this year as it hasn’t really been sunny”. As someone that not only enjoys

Send Us A Message

Recent Posts