CoffeeForums Coffee Facts

Q: If you use regular freshly ground coffee in an Espresso machine, why is it different than regular coffee? I mean, can you taste the difference? If so, can you describe it, please? Thank you.

A: Espresso coffee is an extremely fine grind. If you want to grind your own Espresso, you must grind it VERY VERY fine. This makes the coffee stronger. Regular grind coffee would not compact tightly and the water would flow through too quickly. Hope this helps you. As for the taste - Espresso is a very strong, full bodied taste compared to regular coffee, which will taste almost watered down in comparison. It's like the difference between coffee made in 'Starbucks', and that you get in a machine in the hospital snack room. That goes to the coffee or Espresso itself, not the machine it's made in. Regular coffee is often from Brazil or Columbia where the coffee is cut with other items like flavoring agents and the like, due to the fact of its location and what else is grown in that area. Smugglers often try and sneak baggies of it in with the powder (a.k.a. cocaine) and the drug enforcement agencies testing for that illegal substance use a chemical drop turning the bag of coffee powder a different color if the illegal substance is there before it is processed and put into cans or jars taste a bit different, but it isn't toxic to humans or animals so don't worry about that. Espresso is often grown and ground in Italy where such things are often not done, hence the reason not to add the chemical agent to test for cocaine prior to putting it in cans or jars after it is ground, or the beans sold for fresh grinding. I learned all this when I worked at a coffee house in Seatle Washington State which is where most folks don't walk around with a coffee I.V. in their arm. There's more water in regular coffee. Espresso is intensified coffee, but in European countries, especially Italy, Espresso is the main drink, and if somebody wants a regular coffee, they add hot water to it. Also, an Espresso machine is a lot more advanced than a coffee machine. The temperature of the water or steam is more exact, and the water is forced through the beans in an Espresso machine, whereas in a coffee machine, it just drips through the grounds. Espresso comes through the grounds faster. The longer the water stays in touch with the grounds, the more bitter it makes the finished product. I think its really cool to tell people about Espresso - it has less caffeine than regular drip coffee, but hardly anyone knows that...the Espresso method is very fast and not much comes thru (depending on a variety of factors of course), but still, it's less than COFFEE!