What Coffee Do I Use in My Espresso Machine?

Buying an espresso machine means you’ve decided to add the opportunity to have delicious espresso and lattes (provided you have learned about milk steamers) in your home whenever you want. The first time you try making your own, though, it doesn’t exactly come out like the coffee drink you so love from your favorite café. You go through the steps wondering what you’ve done wrong or if you’ll have to attend a barista school in order to make coffee in your own house. Your latte construction skills may be perfectly fine, but the beans you put into your machine along with the way they were ground before packing them can be key factors in how your latte looks, tastes, and boosts your energy.

Grinders Come in Many Types

The way your espresso beans are ground and stored plays a major impact on how they’ll taste when after they’re packed into your espresso machine and brewed for a drink. You want a fine, even grind for your beans that can be packed correctly into the basket of your machine, without worry about clumping or large pieces being distributed unevenly.

• The blade grinder you may have used for your regular coffee beans isn’t a good fit for espresso beans. If you can get the beans finely ground at all, they’re often uneven and powdery.
• There is such a thing as TOO fine for your espresso grounds. Some grinders may have the capacity to grind correctly but you want to also be sure there is control in the machine. Settings for specific fineness of the grounds are available and you should look for this feature in your grinder.
• A burr grinder is ideal for espresso beans. The difference between conical and flat burr grinders is negligible but it only takes a little research to find out more detail. As opposed to blade grinders, which grind by cutting the coffee the way a blender would, a burr grinder literally grinds the coffee between two surfaces. Many of these machines offer differences in the size of the grinding surface and so the size of the grounds but the main thing to take away is that the grounds are uniform in size with this type of grinder.

The world of espresso beans can be confusing but this is a major part of how you’ll use your espresso machine. The grinder is not something you should purchase just because it’s trendy or on sale. Take a look at the factors discussed above to be sure you’ll be able to grind the beans you buy into the perfect espresso blend.

Coffee Trends

Becoming a coffee connoisseur is not an easy task. You’ll have to learn what the differences actually are between the medium and dark roasts and what happens when different plants are grown in high or low altitudes. After it all, the coffee that seems to be the hottest thing at the moment could be extremely expensive and then next week, another blend is hogging the spotlight. The best thing to do is learn about the beans you love, so that you can always make the best use of your espresso machine. Just because it’s new or everyone says it’s the best because it’s so expensive doesn’t mean it’s the espresso you’ll love. Read about it, keep up with the coffee trends, but at the end of the day your machine is there so you can have your favorite brew whenever you want, not the brew that everyone’s talking about.

A Few Things You May Not Know About Coffee Beans

Did you ever wonder how your coffee goes from the plant to the store? The coffee bean is just a small part of the plant that is harvested for processing and the state of the plant, where it grows, how it’s harvested, and how it’s processed all play a part in how it will taste after the beans are ground up and brewed in your espresso machine.

If you learn about where and how the best beans are produced, it could stop you from paying an inflated price for subpar coffee. Read about the trends, even though they tend to change often, and make it a hobby you enjoy.

Find a “coffee guru” who knows all about what’s happening in the world of coffee production and ask that person for their opinion. They should be well versed in the kinds of coffee that are available, how they should be priced, and what might be new or on sale in the future.

Talk to other people who own espresso machines to find out what works for them. Use message boards, chat rooms, and the customer service sections where you bought your machine to find out what people who already use one every day might think.

Experiment with different beans even after you find the one you love. With all the changing trends in the world of coffee, you might find one you like even better if you keep trying what’s new!

Try and Try Again

The first time you grind your espresso beans and put them through your machine, you might not yield the perfect product, even if you do have a good grinder and excellent beans. This doesn’t mean that you should just give up and return your espresso machine. It takes a certain amount of trial and error before you find the beans you love in the brew that tastes best for you. You might have to try different grinders or milk steamers before you perfect the home latte but when you do, you’ll be happily whipping up your favorite drinks every day! There is no one specific type of coffee that you use in your machine. Try and try again to discover a whole new gourmet experience you never imagined you’d have in your own home.