The Perfect Cup of Cappuccino

With your routine order of cappuccino every time you go to Starbucks, have you ever stopped and wonder the different coffee drinks that are available in that coffee shop? Why not do something different this time and try to break the habit by preparing and making the drink yourself. Not only that you’re going to save yourself a trip to go there and save some cash, you’re going to learn something new and you’ll be proud of yourself because you’re finally drinking and enjoying your own self-made cappuccino at last.

The first thing you need to know in order for you make any spectacular coffee drink, you have to make sure that you are going to use fresh aromatic coffee with flavorful taste. To ensure the freshness of your coffee you either have to buy it straight from the roaster or you have to roast it yourself.

There are few important things that you have to know about your favorite cappuccino. In the United States, there are misconceptions when it comes to the preparation of cappuccino. So far this coffee drink is the most difficult to prepare properly. A lot of Americans think that a cappuccino is an espresso prepared with dry, tasteless foam that has been spooned on top of it or a huge bubbled meringue that floatingly sits on top of an espresso. Close but not that close, the correct description of a well-prepared cappuccino is this; it’s a shot of espresso made with velvety smooth, wet, creamy foam that blends with the pour or simply like this, a coffee drink with a shot of espresso and a properly steamed milk poured into it without the foam being hold back like what you see in latte drinks. That is the way a cappuccino should be, the steamed milk blending with the espresso and creating a beautiful harmony of flavors.

Now that you are reacquainted with cappuccino and the ways that it has to be done, the information and the misconceptions have given the cappuccino a whole new meaning for you.

That is settled then; the next step is for you to know the elements of a perfect shot. To extract the perfect espresso shot it will take a lot of practice but the necessity of a good equipment to do the job is also very essential. An Espresso machine is much more complex compared to a drip brewing coffee machines. These machines are available from manual and semi automatic to automatic to super automatic espresso machines.

Next to the equipment, the second most important thing is the freshness of the coffee that is to be brewed. Remember, if you want it to be fresh buy it directly from the roasters or buy them yourself. Probably the most important element of a perfect shot is the grinding process. The grinded coffee needs to be very fine with almost the same consistency of a powder that is slightly gritty.

The contact time of the water and the ground is also very critical. The time and temperature of the brewing process is also very essential to making a perfect espresso shot. When the shot was brewed too fast, it will be under-extracted making the espresso weak with no aroma in it. Brew it too slow and it will be over-extracted, the espresso will be bitter and a little bit nasty . . . in a way.