What is “Crema”? How does it happen? How important is it to coffee drinkers?

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What is “Crema”? How does it happen? How important is it to coffee drinkers? Crema is the distinctive brown foam that floats on top of a freshly brewed espresso. While crema may seem like an added bonus to a good cup of coffee, it’s actually much more complicated than that. Oddly enough, this often sparks debate and differing opinions. Some consider crema to be the sign of a perfectly brewed espresso, while others consider it to be just a nice-looking foam, but if it’s missing, it’s no big deal.

Crema

What is Crema?

Crema is the aromatic, flavorful, reddish-brown foam that floats on top of a shot of espresso. Crema is formed when air bubbles combine with oils from finely ground coffee. It looks similar to the foam of Guinness, hence it is sometimes called the “Guinness effect”. A dense crema in an espresso indicates that the coffee is of good quality, has been ground finely, and that the barista (professional coffee maker) is skilled. Crema helps to intensify the flavor of the espresso and helps it linger longer in the mouth than drip brewed coffee.

What is the perfect crema?

Every barista has a different opinion on the perfect crema. The main goal is to make a shot of espresso with a crema that is not too thick or too thin and that lasts for about 2 minutes.

Solving a crema problem may seem complicated, but there are some key factors to consider.

  • If there is too much crema in the cup, you will get less espresso. Many baristas will try to make the crema about one-tenth of the total espresso.
  • Over-extraction, under-extraction, and coarseness of the coffee grind all affect the crema.
  • If the crema “disappears” (dissipates) in less than a minute, this means that the coffee was extracted too quickly or the coffee beans were roasted to a level that was too weak.
  • Extracting coffee from a good quality espresso machine should take about 15-30 seconds, but this can vary from machine to machine.
  • Be sure to preheat the machine before brewing coffee every time, and clean it regularly to keep it working efficiently. A dirty machine will make your espresso taste bitter.

Factors Affecting Crema Even if you have mastered your espresso brewing technique, there are still many other factors that affect crema.

  • Freshly roasted coffee beans will produce a greater crema on your espresso, as the oils in the coffee beans are still evaporating from the roasting process. If your local coffee shop roasts its own coffee beans, you’ll notice that the crema will be thicker and more consistent than at shops that don’t roast their coffee.
  • In general, dark roast coffee beans will produce less crema than light roast coffee beans. As the oils in the coffee beans are lost during handling, packaging, and grinding. Conversely, very light roast coffee beans will not produce the perfect crema either. You will notice that many coffee companies have coffees specifically roasted for espresso. which will have the right amount of oils.
  • Naturally processed coffee beans tend to produce the best crema, as the oils in the coffee beans are more intact.
  • Most home espresso machines have automatic controls, which, while convenient, limit the amount of crema produced compared to manual brewing. Some automatic machines attempt to solve this problem by creating artificial crema.

Does Crema Really Matter? While it may seem like a good แทงบอล UFABET ราคาดีที่สุด ไม่มีขั้นต่ำ crema is the definition of a perfect espresso. It’s actually not as important as many people think. Crema adds flavor to an espresso and is something to be desired. But the truth is, you can get a great espresso without perfect crema.

Espresso is all about taste. If you like the taste of your cup of coffee, that’s the most important thing. Don’t worry or think that you have failed to make a good espresso. Remember that the coffee beans, the roast, and the machine play a big role. And these factors can affect the taste of the coffee.