National Espresso Day: 23 November 
6 Things You Didn’t Know About Espresso
There is a distinct difference between ordinary drip coffee and espresso – the biggest difference being between brewing methods and the beans. Coffee beans used for espresso are usually roasted for a longer period; more so than beans are roasted for drip coffee. Additionally, the beans that are ground for espresso are finer with the end-result being of the consistency of sand or fine gravel. You could, however, use espresso-roasted beans to make drip coffee and dark roasted coffee beans to make espresso if you ground the beans properly and used the right equipment.
Espresso is a complicated drink – perhaps more so than other types of coffee. Espresso needs to be made under plenty of pressure, equipment and science to get the perfect cup.
Six Fun Espresso Facts 
- The very word espresso is derived from the Italian and means “forced out”. For coffee lovers that like their brew powerful and strong, then you can thank Italy for this marvellous drink created by the Itlians
- Espresso is created by using pressure to force the water through the coffee that is tightly packed hence earning its name of something being forced out
- Because espresso forms such a huge part of the Italian culture, the price of espresso is regulated by the Italian government
- Plenty can be derived by the crema of espresso and if you are wondering what the cream is – it is the brown layer on top of your coffee. By looking at the crema you can figure out how long your coffee has been extracted for and whether the beans were fresh or not
- One shot of espresso takes about 42 coffee beans to make one good cup of espresso
- Did you know that the fat content in your drip or filter coffee is lower than that of your espresso? The fat content in drip coffee is about 0.6% and in espresso, the fat content is about 2.5 %. It appears there is more fat that is pulled out of a cup of espresso when the force of water under pressure during the extraction process
Even though you might think that your espresso has more kick than your cup of Americano, this is not the case especially as espresso is served in a far smaller dose than drip coffee. For that midafternoon pick-me-up drink, settle for a coffee mug of drip coffee and not espresso as you will get more caffeine in one go. Espresso and coffee are certainly two different animals – the above explains quite clearly why and what you get in your cup of Joe.
Article compliments of Illy Coffee – South Africa
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