"Welcome to Five Senses Coffee"

Last month Ben Bicknell, from the Western Australian Barista Academy, provided a little bit of insight on the difference between the wide range domestic espresso machines on the market. This month he looks at how to set up your coffee station at home.

You’ve just arrived home with your first ever home espresso machine. Having been a long time coffee drinker, you decided to take the leap and bring that café experience home. From setting up your coffee station to make your first morning cappuccino, here are some tips …

Note: Obviously, the following is general advice and you should always follow the setup instructions provided with your machine.

When you first take your espresso machine out of the box, it’s a good idea to give all the removable parts a rinse in warm, soapy water. The baskets, portafilter (handle containing the coffee basket) and water reservoir should be ridded of any dust and plastic or metallic tastes.

The next step is to make sure you’re using good quality water. Your espresso will be made up of 90% water so its taste will have a big impact on the flavour of your coffee. Additionally, the quality of your water will determine the longevity of your machine. It only takes a quick glance into your kettle at home to show that Perth tap water tends to be quite hard, containing a lot of chlorine and calcium, causing a build up of scale wherever it flows. This scale can clog the various valves and temperature probes within your machine causing all kind of problems. Bottled or filtered water are generally the recommended options but rainwater also gets good results. Once you’ve filled the water reservoir fit it back in and turn on your espresso machine.

Brewing temperature will also impact the quality of your final espresso. The easiest way to make sure that this factor is stable is to allow the espresso machine to completely heat — not only the water in the boiler or thermoblock, but also the portafilter and surrounding metal of the body (around 15–25 minutes should be sufficient).

Run a full reservoir of water through the group head, portafilter and steam wand to remove any dust or negative flavours from lines that will take water. Once finished flushing water through, refill your water reservoir.

Just like cooking, making coffee at home can be a little messy if you’re not organised. A couple of damp chux cloths and a tea towel are definitely useful, but probably the most important device to keep your kitchen café clean is a knock box. This is a small container with a cross bar which allows you to upend your portafilter and knock old/loose grinds from its basket. I used to use the corner of my bin at home and was constantly reaching into the murky depths to pick out and rinse off my basket because it would pop out. Check out the Bumper Knock Boxes we have available.

The other check boxes for you to tick are cups, a tamper, milk jug and grinder. You often receive a tamper with your espresso machine but these are usually a cheap afterthought and rarely fit your basket. Achieving an evenly compressed and level biscuit of coffee within your basket is imperative to extract the maximum flavour out of your grinds. Investing in a good quality tamper like a Reg Barber with a base that fits your basket will help with consistency and make the entire process more enjoyable.

Along with using freshly roasted coffee (ideal is within two weeks of roasting), the other key to achieving spectacular, café quality coffee at home is the use of a burr grinder. Rather than the ‘whirley blade’ grinders (generically known as ‘spice and coffee grinders’) which actually crush the coffee beans unevenly — a burr grinder will shave the beans into clean and consistent particle sized grounds. This allows the water to pass evenly over all of your coffee. Grinding fresh, just before you need to brew your coffee, will ensure that all the volatile oils and aromatics are kept trapped within the particles rather than, after being exposed to air for more than ten minutes, evaporating into the ether.

So your machine is hot, you’ve flushed several litres of water through (see pic) and you’re armed with some quality, fresh roasted coffee beans. A key to achieving a quality espresso base is the speed that the water passes over the coffee grinds. This is controlled by the particle size of the grind. To begin with set your grinder to produce a size which feels somewhere between dust and sand when rubbed between the fingers — generally on a scale of one–ten (one being the finest) this will sit around three.

Remove your portafilter from the hot espresso machine and wipe the basket dry with your tea towel. Placing your basket under the dosing mechanism, turn your grinder on and fill the basket until slightly heaped over (see pic). Turn your grinder off and give the portafilter a couple of light taps on the bench to collapse the coffee in. Heap up a little more coffee in the basket and then, keeping a straight arm above your tamper, compress the coffee grinds down evenly (see pic).

If the water pours too fast or too slow out of your espresso machine, attempt to keep the amount of coffee in the basket and the amount of pressure exerted consistent while adjusting the grind setting finer or coarser — a finer grind will produce a slower pour while coarser will produce a faster pour.

When first setting up your espresso machine and grinder, run three or four espresso shots through before making the first one you drink. These test shots calibrate the grind correctly while also seasoning the coffee surfaces with oil and flavour.

As shown in the series of pics below, you should be turning your espresso shots off as they lose their colour — the shot will progress from a rich, reddy brown to a tan, caramel colour and finally to a watery, white pour. This loss of colour indicates the completion of the extraction of oils from the grinds. Continuing the pour will result in bitter, sharp compounds being added to the cup. Using a double basket will result in two espresso shots around 20–30mls. Often it can be quite useful to use a shot glass with a 30ml measuring line for the first couple of weeks to make sure you get the correct amount of espresso as a base for your drinks.

So… there are the tips to get you started with your Kitchen Café. Remember, coffee drinking is a subjective experience so make sure you sample your efforts along the way to discover the perfect technique for your personal taste. And make sure, above all else, to have fun!

**Keep an eye out for next month’s Home Barista Tip to walk you through steaming your first jugs of milk — bring on the velvety creaminess! UPDATE – Read Café in your kitchen – Pt 2

Visit our Domestic Equipment section for our range of home espresso machines and Associated Products for our espresso workstation gear.

If you’d really like to hone your espresso making skills with a hands-on workshop, sign up for a class at the Western Australian Barista Academy — contact Jennifer at jennifer@baristaacademy.com.au or on (08) 9328 7675.