MILAN – Andrea Bazzara of Bazzara Espresso explains how to manage a balanced coffee extraction in an extract from the book CoffeExpert, the encyclopedia book on coffee we talked about here. Soon in these pages, there will be other insights from the various coffee expert authors who contributed to the writing of CoffeExpert. We report the advice of the coffee expert and co-author of CoffeExpert Andrea Bazzara.
The method of Andrea Bazzara
MILAN – “Correctly managing the grind size of the coffee to be extracted is a key point for a balanced extraction. The need to grind the coffee following some rational criteria derives from the fact that if the distribution of the particles in the filter is not uniform we run the risk of the espresso and any other filter preparation being either over-extracted or under-extracted.
A finer grind size will contribute much more to an espresso in terms of both body (therefore, tactile and taste sensations) and dissolved substances in the water.
In essence, all can be explained in percentage terms: a maximum of 30% can be extracted from the product, although this is usually not advisable because there is the risk of over-extracting the coffee and making it bitter and astringent.
Therefore, it is essential to assess the size of the particles to allow the coffee to retain its ability to dissolve the particles in the correct extraction range. Moreover, too fine a grind will tend to oxidise the coffee faster than a coarser grind.
Therefore it is necessary to pair the ideal size of the particles being extracted to the preparation method being used.”
