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Espresso (Italian) is a concentrated coffee beverage brewed by forcing very hot, but not boiling, water under high pressure through coffee that has been ground to a consistency between extremely fine and powder. more...

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It was invented and has undergone development in Milan, Italy since the beginning of the 20th century, but up until the mid 1940s it was a beverage produced solely with steam pressure. The invention of the spring piston lever machine and its subsequent commercial success changed espresso into the beverage we know of today, produced with between 9 and 10 atmospheres of pressure.

The qualitative definition of espresso includes a thicker consistency than drip coffee, a higher amount of dissolved solids than drip coffee per relative volume, and a serving size that is usually measured in shots, which is about 1 - 2 ounces in size. Espresso is chemically complex and volatile, with many of its chemical components degrading from oxidation or loss of temperature. Properly brewed espresso has three major parts: the heart, body and, the most distinguishing factor, the presence of crema, which is a reddish-brown foam which floats on the surface of the espresso. It is composed of vegetable oils, proteins and sugars. Crema has elements of both emulsion and foam colloid.

As a result of the high-pressure brewing process, all of the flavors and chemicals in a typical cup of coffee are concentrated. Some people prefer a single or double shot instead of one or two cups of coffee to get a quick shot of caffeine. But contrary to popular belief, espresso contains less caffeine per serving than other types of coffee due to the quick extraction process. Also, because of its intense and highly concentrated ingredients (including caffeine) espresso lends itself to mixing into other coffee based drinks, such as lattes, cappuccini, macchiati and mochas, without overly diluting the resulting drink.

Brewing process

A professional operator of an espresso machine is a barista (Italian for a bartender), and the act of producing a shot of espresso is termed "pulling" a shot. The term derives from lever espresso machines which requires pulling down a handle attached to a spring-loaded piston, which forces hot water through the coffee at the requisite pressure. To pull a shot of espresso, a metal filter-basket is filled with either 7-10 grams of ground coffee for a single shot or 12-18 grams for a double shot. The espresso is then tamped, lightly or heavily into a firm puck of coffee. The portafilter (or group handle) holds the filter-basket and is locked under the grouphead's diffusion block. When the brew process begins, pressurized water at 90±5 °C (200±9 °F) and approximately 900 kPa (130 PSI) is forced into the grouphead and through the ground coffee in the portafilter. Water cooler than the ideal zone causes sourness; hotter than the ideal zone causes bitterness. High-quality espresso machines control the temperature of the brew water within a few degrees of the ideal. The serving temperature of espresso is significantly lower, typically around 60-70 °C, owing to the small serving size and the cooling effects of the cup and the pouring process.

Read more at Wikipedia.org