70
COFFEE MAKING
TIPS & PREPARATION
PRE-HEATING
Heating your cup or glass
A warm cup will help maintain the coffee’s
optimal temperature. Preheat your cup by rin-
sing with hot water from the Hot Water outlet
and place on the cup warming tray.
Heating the portafilter and filter
basket
A cold portafilter and filter basket can reduce
the extraction temperature enough to signi-
ficantly affect the quality of your espresso.
Always ensure the portafilter and filter basket
are preheated with hot water from the Hot
Water outlet before initial use.
NOTE:
Always wipe the filter and filter holder
dry before dosing with ground coffee
as moisture can encourage ‘channeling’
where water by-passes the ground coffee
during extraction.
SELECTING FILTER BASKET
Single Wall Filter Baskets
Use Single Wall filter baskets if grinding
fresh whole coffee beans. Single Wall filter
baskets allow you to experiment with grind,
dose and tamp to create a more balanced
espresso.
Dual Wall Filter Baskets
Use Dual Wall filter baskets if using pre-
ground coffee.
Dual Wall filter baskets regulate the pressure
and help to optimise the extraction regard-
less of the grind, dose, tamp pressure or
freshness.
Use the 1 cup filter basket when brewing
single cups and the 2 cup filter basket when
brewing two cups, stronger single cups or
mugs.
THE GRIND
If grinding coffee beans, the grind size
should be fine but not too fine. The grind
size will affect the rate at which the water
flows through the ground coffee in the filter
basket and the taste of the espresso.
If the grind is too fine (looks like powder and
feels like flour when rubbed between fin-
gers), the water will not flow through the cof-
fee even when under pressure. The resulting
espresso will be OVER EXTRACTED, dark in
colour and bitter in flavour.
If the grind is too coarse the water will flow
through the ground coffee in the filter bas-
ket too quickly. The resulting espresso will
be under extracted lacking in colour and
flavour.
COFFEE DOSE AND TAMPING
• Wipe coffee basket with a dry cloth.
• If using Single Wall filter baskets, grind
just enough coffee to fill the coffee bas-
ket. You may need to experiment with
how long the grinder needs to run to
achieve the correct dose.
• Tap the portafilter several times to distri-
bute the coffee evenly in the filter basket.
•
Tamp down firmly (using approx.
15-20kgs of pressure). The amount of
pressure is not as important as consistent
pressure every time.