With the advent of food days around the world, many may not realize that most days are associated with a type of food. And luckily for you, November 23rd is National Espresso Day!
Who doesn’t love an espresso, or an espresso-based beverage, when you need a kick? Do you know where espresso comes from or the history behind it? Since majority of people don’t, here is a brief history of espresso.
How is Espresso Made?
Espresso is made by forcing very hot water under high pressure through finely ground, compacted coffee. The water’s even penetration through the grounds is helped by tamping down the coffee, resulting in an almost syrupy beverage by extracting both solid and dissolved components. The crema is produced by emulsifying the oils in the ground coffee into a colloid. For the non-science folks out there, this is where one substance of microscopically dispersed insoluble or soluble particles is dispersed throughout another substance, which does not occur in other brewing methods.
There is no universal standard defining the process of extracting espresso. However, there are several definitions which attempt to place constraints on the amount and type of ground coffee used, the temperature and pressure of the water, and the rate of extraction. The act of producing a shot of espresso is often termed pulling a shot. This originated from spring-loaded piston lever espresso machines. Most machines manufactured today use an electric pump to generate the pressure.
What is Espresso?
Espresso is both a coffee beverage and a brewing method. It is not a specific bean, bean blend, or roast level. Any bean or roasting level can be used to produce authentic espresso. For example, in southern Italy, a darker roast is generally preferred. Farther north, the trend moves toward slightly lighter roasts, while outside Italy a wide range is popular.
In addition to being served alone, espresso is frequently blended, notably with milk, either steamed with or without a foam layer, or with hot water. Notable milk-based espresso drinks include macchiato, cappuccino, flat white, latte, latte macchiato, cortado, and galão. Espresso and water combinations include Americano and long black. Other combinations include coffee with espresso, sometimes called red eye or shot in the dark.
Whether or not you like to use a classic espresso roast for your favourite cup a joe, Vince’s Market has you covered with our own ground or whole bean coffees available in a variety of roasts and flavours to enjoy national espresso day.
We’d love to hear from you! Are you an espresso fanatic, or have a fantastic recipe incorporating espresso you’d like to share? Leave us a comment here or head over and join in the conversation on Facebook (don’t forget to give us a “like”) and Twitter.
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Let’s catch up soon,
Julie
