This video explains how to prepare a perfect espresso, focusing on the functionality of a coffee grinder. The speakers address common problems with grinder settings and aim to provide viewers with the knowledge to make a great espresso.
To maintain freshness, coffee beans should be stored properly, ideally in a freezer and used directly from the freezer to the grinder without thawing. This helps prevent the bean's physical characteristics from changing, which affects the grind consistency.
Under-extraction (too coarse a grind) results in a watery espresso that extracts too quickly (under 5.4 seconds for the grinder discussed). Over-extraction (too fine a grind) results in a very slow extraction (over 6.5 seconds), often with very little liquid produced. The video visually shows these differences in extraction speed and the resulting espresso.
The ideal espresso extraction time is approximately 5.4 to 6.5 seconds when using a grinder with 55mm discs. A longer extraction time indicates the coffee is ground too finely, and a shorter time means it's ground too coarsely. The optimal grind size is related directly to achieving the target extraction time.