Once upon a time i went out for coffee with some friends. When i ordered a cup of espresso, one of them asked me “why did you choose the smaller cup? I think it is same as black coffee”.
Oh my God, there are many people who dont know the differences between espresso and black coffee.
Well..they are both coffee, but Espresso is roasted a bit darker and it is stronger and you drink it in little cups.
The beans are roasted until they are dark and oily-looking. The two main differences between coffee and espresso are the fineness of the grind and the brewing time. The brewing time for espresso is much shorter, made possible by espresso machines that generate up to 15 atmospheres of pressure to force hot water through the ground coffee.
When the espresso is placed into a small filtered basket, it is tightly packed with about 40lbs of pressure. Coffee is loose grinds and not packed at all. When the espresso liquid comes out, it is a dark brown color and slightly thick liquid with a small amount of crema on top. ( Crema is a foam similar to that found on beer.) Also, there are many factors in making the perfect shot of espresso.
As mentioned above, the temperature and pressure of the water, the fineness of the ground coffee, and how tightly it is packed into the filter basket are just a few.
So…now you know the differences between espresso and common black coffee. =)
I prefer to have espresso rather than black coffee, by the way.
How about you?? 😉
Shanti Sudarmadi 