The Crema in an Espresso and What You May Not Know

THE CREMA IN AN ESPRESSO AND WHAT YOU MAY NOT KNOW

A dark-brown or tiger-striped crema with a fine, smooth foam is the hallmark of an espresso worth looking forward to, and it tempts the customer’s palate. Why is there crema in a cup of espresso?
Crema is mainly created by air (mostly CO2) in the coffee cells when brewed with a high-pressure coffee machine. It emulsifies the coffee oils in the extract – oil normally cannot dissolve in water, but under high pressure the oil droplets are broken down to microscopic size and can disperse in the water. This emulsion, combined with some CO2 gas, forms the crema foam we are talking about.
Crema brings out the aroma of a straight espresso. Depending on quality, roasting, storage and brewing, there are thick, thin, smooth, airy... different kinds of crema.

How to make a great espresso that suits your taste?

Grind fineness
20–30 seconds is the standard extraction time for an espresso. However, for one reason or another, usually the grind fineness, you may extract too fast or too slow – watching the flow makes this most obvious.
Water for espresso
Tap water and well water contain minerals, odors and flavors you don’t want. Some minerals such as iron, zinc, magnesium… above the permitted level hinder emulsification and saturation. Espresso demands high water quality. The best advice Greenfields Coffee always gives customers is to install a dedicated water filter for the machine.
Is your coffee fresh or old?
Coffee is still the deciding factor in a great cup.
If the coffee is too fresh and hasn’t degassed, you can fix this by resting the coffee before brewing.
If the coffee is kept too long, it oxidizes, its quality drops and its cell structure changes, so it is hard to make a truly good cup.
Best of all, buy pure roast (no additives) coffee of good quality that has just finished degassing, from a clear brand origin, with no additives or impurities, and grind just enough for each brew.

🔜 At Greenfields Coffee, customers are advised on coffee by taste, so each coffee shop has a different flavor that becomes its own signature.
Greenfields Coffee always guides customers to blend Robusta and Arabica beans, for a cup that is delicious in both aroma and flavor, with just the crema you want.