The espresso
Ludwig Oechslin: I prefer my espresso cold. What’s more, I like it very, very dense – viscous, even.
You only get that if the espresso machine has double-sized filter baskets for making two cups at once, and if you use both nozzles for one cup.
It’s also best if it has a lever for manually dosing the water pressure. Once the first three drops are in the cup, I release the pressure and let another couple of drops through. And that’s it!
Try it for yourself. You also need the right kind of water to suit your coffee – and the beans must be ground just so.
Beat Weinmann: It was Ludwig who got me into this whole espresso thing a few years ago.
He always takes his espresso in the form of several ultra-short ristrettos, each cup containing just a few drops. As often happens in life, it takes an outside force to get you thinking about something. Ludwig has passed this little foible of his regarding the ultimate espresso onto me…
I couldn’t stop thinking about shiny chrome, muscly Italian espresso machines that hissed and were hot enough to burn your fingers. As a result, we now have an ECM standing next to the sink, complete with a grinder.
You only get that if the espresso machine has double-sized filter baskets for making two cups at once, and if you use both nozzles for one cup.
It’s also best if it has a lever for manually dosing the water pressure. Once the first three drops are in the cup, I release the pressure and let another couple of drops through. And that’s it!
Try it for yourself. You also need the right kind of water to suit your coffee – and the beans must be ground just so.
Beat Weinmann: It was Ludwig who got me into this whole espresso thing a few years ago.
He always takes his espresso in the form of several ultra-short ristrettos, each cup containing just a few drops. As often happens in life, it takes an outside force to get you thinking about something. Ludwig has passed this little foible of his regarding the ultimate espresso onto me…
I couldn’t stop thinking about shiny chrome, muscly Italian espresso machines that hissed and were hot enough to burn your fingers. As a result, we now have an ECM standing next to the sink, complete with a grinder.
Perfect espresso needs pre-warmed cups and a machine that’s cleaned every day.
It needs to have a reciprocating pump delivering the right kind of pressure, and the heat needs to be right, too… You use the plunger to carefully apply the correct amount of pressure to the freshly ground coffee in the well-filled sieve, then you let the water through… I personally prefer a little more of the precious liquid in my cup than Ludwig, but I still like my espressos short, very short… This gives a perfect crema to match the day…
I sometimes wonder just how much enjoyment George Clooney gets out of using those little cold plastic machines that deliver the required pressure, though don’t ask me how. Granted, the brew looks really quite adequate, but I don’t even want to think about how they achieve their crema.
What else…? Well, there is something else, and it’s more than just an alternative: the real thing, a proper espresso… and please remember to clean out the grounds…
It needs to have a reciprocating pump delivering the right kind of pressure, and the heat needs to be right, too… You use the plunger to carefully apply the correct amount of pressure to the freshly ground coffee in the well-filled sieve, then you let the water through… I personally prefer a little more of the precious liquid in my cup than Ludwig, but I still like my espressos short, very short… This gives a perfect crema to match the day…
I sometimes wonder just how much enjoyment George Clooney gets out of using those little cold plastic machines that deliver the required pressure, though don’t ask me how. Granted, the brew looks really quite adequate, but I don’t even want to think about how they achieve their crema.
What else…? Well, there is something else, and it’s more than just an alternative: the real thing, a proper espresso… and please remember to clean out the grounds…
