THE GOLDEN RATIO of COFFEE

Water is essential for all life on earth, however we rely on a balance of water to sustain life. Too little and we dry up, too much and we flood.

Now, I know what you are asking, what does WATER have to do with my COFFEE?

Like all fine things in life, complex flavours rely on balance to really bring to life all the amazing tastes and sensations. The same applies to coffee, with its inability to cope with unbalanced or over balanced dosing.

I tend to refer to coffee as being allergic to the 21st century, and if you thought hipsters were fussy about their coffee, you’ll be surprised to know that their coffee is WAY more fussy than they are!

Here is a sneaky tip to help get the most out of your espresso shot!

Lets focus on RATIOs. Specifically the WATER:COFFEE ratio in both your BASKET and your CUP!

The Golden Ratios for Espresso are:

Basket – 2:1

Cup – 7:1

 Let’s assume you have a 16g basket (most breville, delonghi and sunbeam baskets are 16g-18g). If you are unsure, go have a quick read of your manual and come back.

Now if you have a 16g basket you are wanting to add 16g of ground coffee into your basket, and hoping for 32ml of espresso pouring out the other end.

This is a guide, not a rule, the bigger that basket means more grinds and more espresso. We have a 22g basket in the Cafe, and we run 22.5g In, hoping for a 50ml extraction. Adjust the guide to your machine and preference, whilst keeping as much to this ratio as possible

All of this, however, should be done within an extraction time of about 30-35 Seconds. Almost every espresso coffee is made in the golden 30 Second timer, and is just the best output when placed against HEAT and PRESSURE. Science tells us that coffee cannot taste good if the time it extracts in is any more or any less than 30 seconds, however that is a can of worms we can open another day!

Back to the coffee in question!

Now that you have your perfect golden ratio espresso, and you are pouring that beautifully made espresso into your cup. The best way to get the best flavours is finding an 8oz cup, for your 1oz of espresso. Adding 7oz of water, milk, whatever, into your 1oz of espresso creates the perfect balance of coffee to additive ratio.

Obviously if you are playing along at home, you won’t be scientifically measuring how many ounces your coffee cups are, I recommend finding your favourite and adjusting to taste from there. (Everyone should have a favorite coffee cup, it’s part of adulthood). A standard cup being 250ml will do, technically 7oz is around the 200ml mark, again the ratio is a GUIDE rather than a RULE!

And that’s that, a perfectly ratioed cup of coffee in its purest form. Now keep in mind a larger cup will require more coffee, however as long as you are following the GOLDEN RATIO you are good as gold!

Give it a try with our coffee and see it for yourself. Honestly you will not believe the difference this little trick will do to make your coffee at home EVEN BETTER!