Part 3: Extraction Is The Key To Perfection
Here's part three of five in our Secret To Good Coffee series.
It's true! The coffee inside every coffee capsule is important. Green beans that have been blended, roasted and ground to exacting requirements and packed fresh into every coffee pod.
The real magic happens when you fire up your Nespresso machine and add water. Extraction is the process that creates the showtime in your cup.
Extraction is everything that the water takes from the coffee.
There are three types of extraction:
- Under: extraction that is too short or too fast means not enough flavour is extracted resulting in a thin weak coffee.
- Over: extraction that is too long means too much of the coffee solids are dissolved resulting in a bitter, harsh coffee.
- Ideal: the perfect balance of coffee flavours. A rich, sweet and full espresso that hits the spot.
The chemicals in the coffee bean dissolve at different rates. That’s why the taste profile changes through the extraction process.
The most soluble parts of the bean are the fruit acids and organic salts which offer light, bright and fruity flavours. Next follow the coffee oils and sugars that have been browned in the roasting process to produce tones like caramel and chocolate. Finally, the heavier plant fibres, that may carbonise (burn) in very dark roasts, offer wood and tobacco style flavours.
Altering the ratio of water to coffee is how you find the right extraction for your perfect Espresso.