You’re in line at the coffee shop, getting ready to order that mandatory morning shot of caffeine on the way to work, and you hear it: “I’d like a double shot of expresso … .” If you’re like me, it’s like a broken record screeching to a halt every time I hear it. My inner monologue can’t help but scream, It’s espresso! Not expresso!
Coffee beans start their journey as seeds on a coffee tree, and the coffee bean is the seed inside of the coffee cherry. Much like other cherries, coffee stems from the stone fruit. The bean is extracted from the cherry and is green in color — that’s what we refer to as green beans.
After you harvest the green beans, they head over to the drying area. Beans need to be thoroughly dried — and sometimes washed and dried — before roasting. The roasting process is where the flavor profiles of the coffee beans are created. The intense heat interacts with the beans over a predetermined period of time. This is where the magic happens!
Espresso is a smaller, concentrated version of brewed coffee. It’s used in drinks like lattes, cappuccinos, and macchiato to add flavor to the steamed milk. Before roasting your beans for either brewed coffee or espresso, you can technically choose the same origin of bean. But roasting time and temperature separates them post-heat. The longer the beans are being roasted, the larger and more plump they grow, causing the beans to be smoother in surface thus creating a lighter-roasted coffee bean.
Roasting for espresso is a very particular process because you’re extracting the coffee for about 20 to 40 seconds, yet still expecting the same full body of a brewed coffee (this ranges from 3 to 6 minutes).
Espresso can be daunting to someone new to coffee. When people say they don’t enjoy coffee, they are often referring to the acidity they taste. A great espresso has a balance between its full-bodied flavor and the acidity that hits your tongue. Black Rifle Coffee Company roasts their AK-47 beans in the middle range for espresso. If you’re new to espresso, you will love the AK-47’s rich flavor and the full-mouth feel. But if you are a coffee aficionado, you will still love this roast! Even better, it’s a middle-ground espresso roast that you can use for both espresso extraction and brewing coffee in a pot — the AK-47 can fill all your coffee needs!
Coffee is meant to be shared and enjoyed, not to scare people off when you are new to the world! BRCC is a true coffee drinker’s coffee. We have roasts for drinkers of all experience levels— whether you’re new to the world of coffee, or an expert brewer and espresso lover!
Paige Billings is a staff writer for Coffee or Die Magazine. She believes that cupcakes and a cup of coffee can solve most any problem. Although she got her start at Williams-Sonoma as a merchandising analyst, she has since combined her passion for coffee, recipe development, design, and photography into her career as a coffee and food writer, recipe developer, and food photographer. Her delicious and beautiful recipes can be found on her blog, Instagram, and in the secret pages of her ongoing cookbook. Paige has lived everywhere from California, where she grew up, to Montana, where she graduated from Montana State University. She now works out of her Florida home with the help of her eager taste testers — her husband, Drew, and her dog, Moose.
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