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Espresso recipes allow you to extract coffees optimally and evenly. Just like in cooking or baking, having a recipe to follow allows you to isolate the variables to get the desired result every time. These variables are as follows:

• Dose of ground coffee
• Espresso Shot in Cup
• Extraction time

Step 1: Choose your dose

The dose is the anchor point of your recipe. This is the amount of ground coffee in the basket of your portafilter. It is constrained by the capacity of the basket of your portafilter and is determined according to the size of the espresso you want to make (which in turn is often determined by the size of the cup used 😉)

As a rule of thumb, 15g to 22g is enough to make a double espresso.

Just remember that if the coffee touches the scatter shower, there is too much coffee. On the other hand, if after extraction, the coffee grounds are saturated with water, you can add a little more.

Step 2 : Choose your ratio.

The ratio is the ratio of the dose of ground coffee to the amount of coffee in the cup. Crucially, it determines the strength of your espresso. Its choice is justified by several criteria such as your personal preferences, the type of beans used, the level of roasting and even the type of drink made.

Here are some common ratios:

Ristretto: This one has approximately a 1:1 ratio of ground coffee to cup coffee. This ratio favours texture and aromatic intensity. However, ristrettos can sometimes lack clarity and are therefore not suitable for all types of coffee.

Espresso: This one has a ratio of 1:2 to 1:3 – that's one gram of coffee to two to three grams of liquid. Espresso allows the water passing through the coffee to extract more flavors. The result is a coffee that is balanced between clarity and texture.

Elongated: The elongated has a higher ratio of about 1:4 to 1:5 between coffee and liquid. With this ratio, the coffee is more diluted, thus decreasing its intensity. However, you'll find that the individual flavor notes are more distinct. We recommend lengthening the ratios to optimally extract coffees with delicate aromatic profiles.

Step 3: Deduct your volume in cups

Your dose and ratio determines the amount in the cup. This step is used to determine the amount of water that passes through the coffee and thus the degree of flavor exaction. Choose your side between texture, clarity and balance!

Step 4: Extraction time

The extraction time corresponds to the balance of your espresso. A shorter extraction time can often lead to under-extraction, giving your coffee an acidic and salty taste, while a longer extraction time can make your coffee bitter, astringent, and hollow. Somewhere in between is your sweet spot. Taste the coffee and record the time. In general, around 25 to 30 seconds is a good place to start. You can achieve a slower extraction time by refining your grind and a faster extraction time by making it coarser.

Lighter than espresso, filter coffee nevertheless responds to the same variables as the latter, namely the dose, the quantity in the cup and the time. The approach is different, however, due to the lack of pressure and the use of a considerably higher coffee-to-water ratio.

We recommend a ratio of 60g of freshly ground coffee to 1 litre of water. This ratio usually results in a complex and balanced cup, but feel free to adjust to your personal preference.

Rinse your filters! Filters can be a source of undesirable taste in filter coffee. To avoid this, remember to rinse your paper filter with clean water to get rid of any residue that could contaminate your cup.

Use freshly ground coffee to make the most of its aromatic potential and place it on the filter evenly and levelly.

Heat your filtered water (preferably) to a temperature of 96° if you have a kettle that allows you to control this setting. If you don't have one, don't panic! Boil your water and wait 15 to 20 seconds before you start pouring.

Pour in a little water and let it sit for 30 seconds to let the coffee degass. Resume pouring steadily and steadily, keeping the water level high to ensure an even flow of water through the coffee.

Once the water has been poured, and when the water level allows, make a circular motion with the portafilter to level the coffee bed and promote even extraction.

Coffee beans should ideally be stored at room temperature in an airtight container, dry and away from light. Storing the coffee beans in the original bag and weighing the necessary amount as you go is also fine (just make sure to close the bag tightly after each use).

Ground coffee is more difficult to store than coffee beans because it loses its aromas much more quickly due to its greater exposure to oxygen. Ideally, the coffee should be stored in the form of beans and ground on demand with a coffee grinder. If you don't have a coffee grinder, you can keep ground coffee in an airtight storage box in a cupboard, at room temperature and away from light. You must then consume your coffee quickly to enjoy all its aromas.

We recommend consuming roasted coffee beans within 4-6 weeks of the roast date. If you don't drink a lot of coffee, we advise you to choose smaller packets to always consume freshly roasted coffee. This will also allow you to try different coffees, and to test our seasonal coffees.

However, there may be times when you can't consume your entire pack of coffee before the end of the best-before date. In this case, you can freeze your coffee beans in an airtight container and take it out as you go without changing your brewing routine.

Coffee beans are the pits of the fruits of the coffee plant. These raw, green grains are not soluble in water and are almost devoid of smell and taste.

Roasting is the cooking process that involves cooking coffee beans to bring out the aromas we know. Our goal is to highlight the unique characteristics of each coffee while making the beans fragile enough to be ground and porous enough to allow water to extract their soluble compounds.

Roasting usually lasts between 9 and 12 minutes, during which the beans will change from green, to yellow, then to different shades of brown, thus losing most of their initial moisture (between 9 and 12%). When heated, the sugars and amino acids combine resulting in a non-enzymatic browning of the coffee, this is the Maillard reaction. At around 200°C, coffee enters a dynamic phase of expansion during which you can hear the cracking sounds caused by the sudden evaporation of water vapour: this is the first crack. This crucial step determines the degree to which the bean is roasted.

We've all asked ourselves the same question at some point, and finding yourself alone in front of a display of coffees, each with a more implausible name than the last, can quickly become disarming. The information on the packaging can help you make your choice:

Choose freshly roasted coffee beans with the roasting date shown on the packet. In fact, once roasted, coffee retains its organoleptic qualities (taste and smell) for only 4 to 6 weeks if stored in the right conditions (dry and away from light).

Choose a coffee with good traceability, grown with care on a specific terroir. You'll be able to take full advantage of its typicality and extract a full-flavored coffee.

Often proudly indicated on labels, the type of process can be a decisive argument in the selection of your coffee. If you're looking for clarity and lightness, then you should consider washed coffees. In comparison, natural coffees often have more body and a sweeter flavor. Opt for "honey" coffees for something in between.

Depending on the final cup you want to obtain, choose a more or less advanced roast: a gentle roast (with light brown coffee beans) is particularly suitable for slow extractions with filters (gentle methods, or slow coffee). The finer roasting allows it to preserve the typicity of the beans by developing fresher and more acidic notes. For espresso, on the other hand, prefer a darker roast for a richer and more balanced coffee.

Each coffee has its own organoleptic characteristics, which depend on the variety, its terroir of origin, the process used, the roasting, the extraction method, etc. While they all taste and smell like coffee, there are about 800 different aromas that characterize coffee, which is more than wine! To help you choose your coffee, we describe coffees according to certain criteria such as acidity, bitterness, body, sweetness and aromas. If you have any doubts, write to us at contact@minifundi.coffeeor come and enjoy a coffee with us!

The answer to this question depends above all on your preferences and it is therefore by tasting different coffees that you will find your favorite coffee!

Arabica, grown at high altitudes between the tropics of Capricorn and Cancer, is the species of choice because of its sweetness and aromatic complexity. Its organoleptic characteristics differ depending on where the grain is grown and how it is processed.

Then it's up to you to choose the aromas that suit you best, cocoa or citrus, floral or fruity? Do not hesitate to contact us for advice on your choice of coffee beans or even to visit us in our roasting workshop in Toulouse...

We strive to offer you fresh, seasonal coffees, which we roast in small quantities until the batches are exhausted. Once they run out, these batches are replaced by new harvests and you may not find your coffee in our new selection. In this case, we will be able to introduce you to another drink that corresponds to your taste and perhaps introduce you to a new origin. For advice, send us an e-mail at contact@minifundi.coffee!