Do you want to know how to make espresso without a machine? You’re a coffee lover, so you don’t want to miss a day without a shot or two of your favorite espresso. However, you don’t want to own a coffee machine, which can be pretty expensive, and you don’t have a budget for it yet. While you love espresso, you do not like the idea of the price tags attached to many of them. Plus, there is no guarantee that they will last forever.
Another reason is that you don’t want to deal with the cleaning up later simply because you don’t have the time to do that. You’re just too occupied to spare a few more minutes to clean up. It is because you have to attend to a business, meet with a friend, do a hobby, and do the house chores, among other things that keep you busy.
Also, you might be living near a great café. There are days when it takes days off for an unknown reason suddenly. That’s surprising, really. And unfortunately, we cannot do even the simple stuff without having an espresso. It is what starts the day for us. We simply cannot miss our daily shots of it.
#CoffeeIsLife, you’re saying. If you’re addicted to caffeine like us, that’s fine. However, you need to prepare so that you won’t feel disappointed if it is not available. So for that, you might want to prepare and learn how to make yours at home. It is the exact same reason that we’ve created this guide.
Why learn how to make your espresso at home? Well, you bet. With the knowledge on how to prepare it, you will save yourself plenty of time queuing up in the coffee shop.
You don’t also have to wait until you get to the café before being table to get your hands on your favorite coffee in the world. And if you knew how to make an espresso even without a machine, you’ll save money, too.
Again, you’re an espresso lover that doesn’t want to miss a day without it. So if you would do the math, the amount of money spent on espresso can really be high depending on how often you get your shot of caffeine in a day.
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I. How to make espresso without a machine?
Today, you will learn how to make espresso at home without a machine. Let’s check them out in the following.
1. Brewing an Espresso with a French Press
If you have a French press, use it to make espresso. Prepare your roasted coffee beans, burr coffee grinder, scale or a tablespoon and kettle.
Step 1 : You need to grind your coffee first. For two cups, you need four tablespoons of coffee. Boil the water, and make sure it’s hot enough, or you will not achieve great taste. Let the water cool for about 25 seconds.
Step 2 : Add your coffee grounds to the trust French press before pouring a little hot water.
Step 3 : Fill you press with the remaining water before gently stirring the grounds. Stir a little bit more to extract the beans.
Step 4 : Let your coffee steep for about four minutes, not more than that because it will taste bitter.
Step 5 : Press your plunger or piston. Don’t do it in one movement or energetically, but make sure to do it gently. You should take the plunger backward by a bit, if you encounter resistance while the plunger is going downwards. Resume plunging towards the bottom. If you have reached the lowest point, retract.
There you have the steps in making espresso using a French press, which is one of the cheapest ways of brewing coffee. Follow these steps and prepare your espresso at home using French press today!
2. Brewing an Espresso with a Moka pot
For this brewing method, you need your moka pot, burr coffee grinder, coffee beans, kettle, scale and a spoon.
Step 1 : Grind four and a half teaspoons of coffee fine.
Step 2 : Reach the fill line of the pot, but don’t overfill the water reservoir. Otherwise, it will cause waterlogging of the coffee, affecting the flavor.
Step 3 : Add your coffee to the filter basket. Attach the spouted top of the pot, and then put it on the stove over medium heat. You will notice that the boiling water’s pressure is pushing the coffee stream through the filter, leading it to the upper chamber.
Step 4 : Check the brown foam appearing before your coffee will be done. Once you noticed that the top of the pot is full, you can take it out of heat.
Step 5 : Stir your coffee in the upper chamber gently, and then serve it.
Using the moka pot is a science, so taking some time to practice is necessary. You will need to brew several pots before mastering the art of brewing using a moka pot. Over time, you will be able to master this method and enjoy your espresso at home anytime even without a coffee machine.
3. Brewing an Espresso with an Aeropress
Definitely not the least, you can prepare an espresso using an Aeropress. You can use it to make double shots. For a single dose, you can just divide the coffee amount into two. For this method, you need a burr coffee grinder, coffee beans, scale or a tablespoon and stovetop or gooseneck kettle.
Step 1 : Heat a cup of water to 85 degrees Celsius. Using the Aeropress, you can experiment with temperature that can be between 85°C and 96°C until you find the right water temperature for you. The ideal temperature, however, is 96 degrees Celsius.
Step 2 : Grind the coffee beans, and achieve two tablespoons of coffee.
Step 3 : In the drain cap of the AeroPress, put a filter, and then rinse with hot water.
Step 4 : Place the drain cap onto the coffee mug. As you will be applying pressure in the process, you need a strong cup.
Step 5 : Put the coffee grounds to the AeroPress. Start tamping it using tamp if you have it. Alternatively, you can use an item with a flat bottom. Make sure that it fits into the AeroPress.
Step 6 : Get 120 ml of water and then pour it into the AeroPress. Stir it quickly.
Step 7 : After 30 seconds of stirring, you can use your hand’s weight to plunge. Keep pushing even with the strong resistance you’re feeling. You can then remove the press from the cup once you’ve fully depressed the plunger.
Enjoy your favorite coffee!
Definitely, you can prepare your favorite espresso without a machine by using your creativity. Do you know of other methods? Please let us know.
II. What factors make a great espresso?
Certainly, it feels rewarding to know how to make coffee without a machine. However, there might be nothing as good as a rich espresso made using a good espresso machine. Even so, you have to achieve what you’re looking for regardless of the method you have chosen. The following are some of the most important factors in making an espresso.
Bean
If you would like to make an espresso without a machine, you need the best coffee beans. Choose coarse coffee grounds because the fine coffee beans result to muddy coffee. Also, you need four tablespoons of coffee for the two cups of espresso.
Roast of the bean – it is also important in addition to choosing your coffee beans. Roasting is a process that will bring out the flavor and aroma of the coffee. Both are locked inside the beans, which are stored green so that they will not lose their taste quality.
However, green beans do not have roasted beans’ quality. With roasting, there will be chemical changes that will make the beans smell like coffee. Roasting makes coffee ready for brewing.
Pressure
It is one of the most crucial aspects of making espresso. However, it is hard to achieve the correct pressure without using a machine. Sometimes, the right pressure cannot even be achieved to reach an espresso level based on Italian standards.
You need the ideal pressure for that great-tasting espresso. It is why many people who love this coffee buy their coffee machine that should be calibrated to get nine bars of pressure. Machines also come with a manual on how to calibrate for proper pressure.
But if you are not yet ready to invest on a machine, you can follow the basics outlined earlier regarding how to make an espresso in three ways.
Temperature
The water temperature is also important to achieve great-tasting espresso. For this coffee, it must be 96 degrees Celsius. However, a variance about three degrees will not affect the coffee flavor negatively, so you don’t have to worry.
There you have the factors of making an excellent espresso without a machine at home. However, there is no guarantee to achieve the right consistency and taste you desire especially in the first few tries.
In time, you will master the art and science, though. You just have to be patient and persistent. Again, the most important factors for that perfect shot are coffee beans, pressure and temperature.
III. Conclusion
Making your espresso without a coffee machine can be artistic and creative. You can prepare it with an AeroPress, Moka pot and French press, to name some. The process can be just about anything in our lives. At first, it may seem hard. But soon enough, you can become an artist and a master of brewing espresso without a machine, too.
All you have to do is select the right coffee beans, desired level of the roast, fine grinding, and then let the work begin of creating your espresso begin.
Mastering the process, you’ll achieve the perfect taste of espresso that has the qualities like acidity. It is the brightness and sparkle in the coffee. This characteristic can be reminding you of citrus or any other fruit-forward quality.
Then, there is the sweetness that you can make you think about flavors such as molasses, brown sugar, caramel, malt and honey. This sweetness in coffee can be presented in any of the ways presented earlier.
Finally, there is bitterness in espresso. It completes the shot’s profile. However, bitterness can be a negative quality for some people. But if it works together in sweetness and acidity, bitterness can help in making that perfect shot. All these are what make an espresso special, but then, they don’t need to be equal.
If you want to achieve all these without a machine, you can! All it takes is some practice and time and of course patience. Don’t worry because you will be able to create that perfect shot of espresso soon.
Are you ready to learn how to make espresso without a machine? Prepare your equipment, coffee beans and water, and see art unfold! Enjoy your perfect cup of coffee. Finally, don’t keep the info to yourself. Share this post to friends who also love a good shot of espresso on social media today!
