What is An Espresso

In layman’s terms it is a coffee-shot beverage that is extracted from finely ground coffee using an espresso machine, a mocha pot or other equipment

To make sure that our espresso has a viscosity of warm honey and the beverage has a thick dark, golden crema we need to take care of the certain things

Grind Size of the Bean: To obtain the perfect grind size from the grinder, the barista has to go for a few hit and trials. The barista should keep pulling shots from the machine until he/she starts getting shots within 20-30 seconds. 

If the shots do not fall within the stipulated time then they are either under extracted or over extracted. Also it will affect the body of the espresso, it will either end up being too watery or too thick

Freshness of the Beans: To obtain thick golden crema, the barista has to use freshly roasted coffee beans 

Crema is nothing but microbubbles of carbon dioxide attached to the fats and oils of the coffee that remain at the top of the beverage. So, if the crema is missing in the espresso shot then there are high chances that stale coffee beans are being used

Dosage of Coffee: When extracting a perfect espresso made from specialty coffee beans one needs to measure the dosage every time. Whether you are a barista working at a café or a coffee connoisseur, you need to have a fixed recipe for your bean. You need to extract shots with dosage between 7g to 10g for single shot which are perfectly tamped. If the dosage is not measured and tamped properly it can lead to inconsistent flavour and under or over extraction.