The full guide for coffee lovers: Medium-roasted beans will have a chocolate brown color, dry surface, and a full flavor. These beans will have less acidity than lightly roasted beans and a slightly sweet, toasty flavor. Due to the balanced flavor and acidity, this is the most popular roast within the major commercial coffee market. Medium roasts are also known as Full City, Breakfast, or Regular Roast. After roasting or once the seal is broken on a vacuum-sealed bag, it is best to use the beans within two weeks. For this reason, buy only the quantity of coffee that will be used within two weeks to maintain freshness and flavor.
Lungo – Lungo is often confused with Americano, but it’s not at all the same. Lungo is a long shot prepared by extracting double the amount of water with same amount of coffee grounds. In figures, it means, 50 ml of water is extracted with 7 grams of coffee. This results in extraction of more caffeine, but with dissolved off-notes of coffee. It’s a less popular drink but it’s a preferred drink for people who demand more caffeine. Caffe Crema – An extra long espresso drink served in Northern Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. It has different flavor profile than related drinks like Lungo and Americano due to different extraction process. Rough brewing ratios of ristretto, normale, lungo, and caffè crema are 1:2:3:6 and the average water part per shot is 6 oz (180ml). Cafe Zorro – This is a double shot of espresso that is added to water in a 1:1 ratio.
Let’s discuss about nespresso machines. If you’re a sucker for espresso and want a Starbucks caliber short shot to kickstart your days, think seriously about this Breville Infuser espresso machine. Water pressure is initially kept low to avoid over-extraction and the nifty auto-purge ensures the temperature remains consistent after steam so you’ll get awesome, even espresso every time. Volumetric programming means you can opt for single or double shots at the press of a button. You’ll also be able to override this manually so you get maximum freedom.
Walking through the coffee aisle of your local grocer, you’ve probably noticed at some point that nearly, if not all, of the bags say “Arabica Coffee” or “Arabica Beans” on them. Ever wonder why? There are actually several different types of coffee beans, with Arabica being the most common. It actually accounts for 60 – 70% of coffee produced globally, but there are some other types that are far less common in the United States. Discover additional details on Edmond Hui.
First off, let’s dispel some confusion about these terms. If you’ve been dabbling in the coffee community for awhile, you’ve likely come across them before but might not know exactly what they are referring to. A coffee’s “variety” is a classification term that identifies a specific subspecies or genetic makeup of the coffee plant. The term “varietal” is used for the resulting brew or product that comes from a singular variety of coffee. Among coffee varieties there are original (naturally occurring) varieties, Sub-varieties, mutations, interspecific hybrids, and infraspecific hybrids. If you’re into botany, going further will likely be pretty interesting, but it may just seem like a bunch of nonsense to other people. So know that you don’t really need to be familiar with every single variety to buy good coffee.