Key steps in brewing high quality Espresso or a ‘Perfect Shot’ are as follows:
1. Use fresh Arabica coffee beans which have been medium or dark roasted.
2. Appropriately-grind the coffee beans.
3. Use of 7- 9 gram of ground coffee per one Expresso shot.
4. Use 30 pounds (or 16 kilograms) of pressure on the coffee ‘Portafiller’.
5. Use hot water, at a pressure of between 9-10 Bar, for the extraction of the coffee essence.
6. The entire process of extracting the coffee essence is between 23 and 28 seconds.
7. The end result is an ‘Expresso coffee shot’ of between 1 and 1.25 ounces (or 30-38 milliliters).
8. There should also be a golden brown ‘crema layer’ of approximately 0.4 millimeters, on the top of the Expresso coffee shot, which will last for about 1 minute.