Brew Guides - Forge Coffee - Page 2

Extract

Return the portafilter to the grouphead and begin brewing. If your machine offers a separate pre-brew or”Pre-infusion” stage, complete this first.

By doing so, you’ll allow stored gases to release before full infusion begins. With fresh coffee, pre-infuse until you see the first drops exit the portafilter.

Purge

At this point it is healthy practise to purge a short amount of water from the grouphead, ensuring fresh water is used and correct temperature is maintained.

Wipe

Remove excess grounds from the rim of the handle with a dry finger. This will ensure you don’t have any coffee grounds build up on the tubber seal in the grouphead. Over time this build up will cause grounds to leak into the espresso you are preparing.

Tamp

With your wrist, arm and elbow positioned directly over the centre of the portafilter basket, focus on pressing evenly, using your fingertips to feel the edge of the basket. Inspect the dry puck to be sure the bed appears level.

Compacting ground coffee with a tamper restricts the flow of water, forcing coffee and water to interact. This process creates an emulsification of solubles and oil as the water passes through producing a ‘crema’. Start with a 30-pound press (your bathroom scale can tell you what this feels like), applied evenly. A firm, level tamp is essential to even extraction.

Dose

16 to 20 grams of freshly ground coffee into the portafilter. As coffee exits the chute, move the portafilter so that the grounds settle evenly in the basket.

Afterwards, use your forefinger to level the grounds and fill in any air pockets. The larger the coffee dose, your shot will increase in both body and intensity. Feel free to adjust your dose according to taste.

Grind

Before brewing, coffee beans need to be cut into smaller pieces. Making espresso requires a finer grind than most methods, with particles around the size of table salt. you know you’re in the right neighbourhood once the ground coffee beings to clump together.

Grind a few beans to check for appropriate fineness and purge your grinder of stale grounds. The coffee should clump loosely and appear powdery, but should still feel gritty when rubbed between your fingers.

Prepare

Turn on your machine and give it plenty of time to heat up. Depending on the size of your machine, this could take anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes. Don’t assume that you’re ready to go as soon as you’re up to brewing temperature, wait a bit little longer until the entire machine feels nice and warm.

Lock an empty portafilter in the grouphead and run the machine for a few seconds. This brings fresh water to the front and heats up the parts that get closest to your coffee. Then, wipe off the inside of the portafilter and the underside of the grouphead so that they’re clean and dry.