Ok a friend of mine (let's call her... Jenni) emailed me today and asked a question that I thought was really good and deserved a few lines in my blog.  It goes back to one of my college rules:  "If I have a question, a lot of other people have the same question."  So I'm sure a lot of you are asking yourselves these same things.  

Now, on with the show:

During a lovely brunch in new york, the topic of coffee came up and my friends enquired on the difference between an Americano. Espresso and water. And just coffee. Coffee and also water?? We realize that one involves espresso. So I guess what exactly is espresso? How does it differ from just coffee? Etc etc etc…

Peas espain. Tanks.

Ah yes.  Coffee, espresso, americano, etc etc etc.

I love it.  I love it all.

Let me begin.

Coffee is a large, all-encompassing term.  All coffee- and espresso-based drinks are made with coffee.  Coffee is the name that begins with coffee trees and ends with... I just drank a cup of coffee.  I guess.  

Whenever I'm doing a talk on coffee, I always try to begin like this:  "Coffee beans are the seeds of coffee cherries."  Sometimes I go on and assume people already know that, when in reality most people don't have any idea that's the case.  I won't take the time to describe the various coffee processing methods that take place between the time the cherry is harvested to when it arrives at the DoubleShot in sacks made of fique or jute.  Let's just say, for now, that the beans inside the cherries are dried and sorted and bagged and sent to me.  They're not usable until I roast them.  I roast every Monday night and then again either Thursday or Friday morning (whenever we need it).  I do that because coffee goes stale very quickly and I love the taste of fresh coffee.  

These roasted beans are what we consider coffee beans (from coffee cherries that grow on coffee trees).  In order to make coffee (in every way we currently know how) you have to grind the coffee (or crush it) to expose more surface area of the bean.  This is where everything begins to deviate.  Because depending on the type of brewing method you are planning to use, you need different coarseness of grind.  

The answers to your questions are coming, I promise.

Coffee, as most people know it, in liquid form, is brewed using the drip method.  Drip brewing is basically an automated version of the pourover method of brewing.  Coffee ground to about the size of table salt is put into a filter basket and hot water is poured through it into a carafe.  That's one brewing method, and the one that most people are familiar with and that is generally referred to as "coffee."  "Like a cup of coffee, hun?"

Espresso is another brewing method for coffee.  Still coffee.  But this time, instead of letting gravity push the water through the ground coffee, we use a machine that pressurizes the water to push through the ground coffee at 9 times the force of gravity.  Because of this force, in order to get proper extraction of the good stuff inside the coffee, it must be ground finer and packed into a small "puck."  The amount of coffee that comes out during this extraction is less.  With around 7 grams of ground coffee, you can expect about 4 fluid ounces of drip coffee or 1 ounce of espresso.  So espresso is concentrated.  In general, there is one-fourth the water and the same amount of coffee. That's why espresso is so intense.  It's meant to be shot within a few seconds of extraction and then the flavor oils remain on the palate for a long time after, which can be enjoyable if the espresso was good.

An americano is espresso in hot water.  It's watered-down espresso.  When I say it like that, people don't tend to want it.  I like to say it like that because it's ironic.  It's like saying DoubleShot Coffee is not the worst coffee in flyover country.  The americano, made correctly, is my favorite drink.  Since it is made with espresso a more complete extraction is made from the ground coffee and the drink tends to be richer and have more depth.  It should have a bit more body and more complexity, but that could be from the blend of coffees used in the espresso.  It's really good.  You should try it.  It tends to be a bit sweeter than a straight drip-brew too, because it seems that more of the coffee oils and sugars are forced out of the ground coffee.  It's really the flagship drink of the DoubleShot.  

So when someone asks me if I want a coffee, I say yes; a small americano please.

Does that answer your question?  Maybe I went too far.  Or not far enough.

Thanks for asking.   I like talking (and writing) about coffee.

Brian

ps.  You looked really good in that blue dress you wore yesterday.  I like those shoes.