A perfect cup of espresso is a ‘God Shot’
By Dmitri Z. Fridman
As one Italian once said
”
Espresso is the heart of coffee.
”
For a lot of people espresso is the ultimate coffee and possibly
the most misunderstood.
What is espresso? It is not a roast color. It is not a special
bean. It is not just stronger coffee. It’s not spelled with an x.
And it does not have extra caffeine. What it does have is extra
flavor and extra body.
A perfect cup of espresso is a ‘God Shot’
By Dmitri Z. Fridman
As one Italian once said “Espresso is the heart of coffee.”
For a lot of people espresso is the ultimate coffee and possibly the most misunderstood.
What is espresso? It is not a roast color. It is not a special bean. It is not just stronger coffee. It’s not spelled with an x. And it does not have extra caffeine. What it does have is extra flavor and extra body.
A well-made espresso is distinguished by a quarter inch layer of crema on top. Crema is an emulsification of water and coffee oil. It gives espresso its complexity, depth of flavor and texture.
The regular cup of coffee, as good as it can be, represents a compromise of time vs. extraction. The longer it is brewed the more bitter it becomes. The shorter the brew cycle the thinner and watered down it will taste.
Some 60 years ago the Italians came up with a solution, and they called it espresso. Instead of minutes it’s brewed in seconds, under 130 psi of pressure. The resulting bitter sweet elixir (if expertly brewed) is thick, extremely full bodied, and intensely aromatic. But it is more than just coffee run through a pressure machine.
Espresso is a philosophy married to methodology married to technology, and it all starts with the beans selection for the blend. Espresso magnifies all the coffee attributes but by the same token any mistakes and deficiencies will be exaggerated as well.
There is a lot of heated debate as to what constitute a good espresso. Taste preferences differ from region to region, country to country and they certainly change over time. But for a classic northern Italian espresso the blend has to be a dark range of a medium roast, perfectly balanced, smooth and mellow with extremely low acidity. No one feature should dominate.
Espresso beans have to be aged at least three days after they’re roasted (freshly roasted coffee releases a lot of Co2, and behave unpredictably in an espresso machine) but should not be used after two weeks. That leaves a window of just about 10 days (a logistical headache for coffee shops that choose to do it right – and most don’t).
Beans are ground just before the shot is extracted. A straight shot of espresso is unstable, with a shelf life of about 30 seconds and has to be enjoyed as soon as it is served. Here in the States, people scoff at adding sugar but in Italy it is the norm. It is customary to down it with a couple of quick swallows.
Making a good espresso requires a certain expertise and lots of practice. Making a perfect espresso is like hitting a bull’s eye while galloping on a horse. The various interrelated variables affecting the finished drink are too numerous to mention here. It is somewhat akin to a slot machine. Pull ten shots in a row and odds are each will taste slightly different, good, but nowhere near perfect.
God shot is the term professional baristi coined to describe that perfect extraction. If you’re lucky enough to taste one, you will likely become obsessed with tasting it again. At least, that’s how it was for me. I wasn’t kidding about hitting a bull’s eye. In the last five years I have experienced it all of three times, and believe me, I drank a lot of espresso in that time!
How do you know when you get a God shot? Why, it tastes almost exactly the way fresh roasted and ground coffee smells!
The straight shot of espresso is for a coffee purist. The espresso cuisine (i.e. various combinations of espresso and milk) has more universal appeal. Often there is a maturity curve our taste buds follow. We start out with very sweet and very large milky concoctions, then gradually over the years gravitate to unsweetened, more concentrated drinks.
Ultimately we all have our preferences. There are no rights or wrongs here. Just make sure the coffee is fresh and your barista knows what he or she is doing.
So, get out there and start drinking espressos, macchiatos and cappuccinos.
And remember, the way to a God shot is paved with many less than perfect but nevertheless fantastic tasting espressos!
Dmitri Fridman is the founder of Vertigo Coffee, which he roasts at his San Juan Bautista home. He can be reached at [email protected] or visit www.vertigocoffee.com.
