How To Make Espresso Coffee At Home Without Machine?

How To Make Espresso Coffee At Home Without Machine?

There’s no need for you to buy that expensive machine to make a good coffee. Even if you don’t have the espresso machine at home you can still manage to make an awesome espresso coffee.

Regular coffee vs. Espresso

Espresso is a strong coffee made by forcing pressurized hot water through finely-ground coffee beans while a regular doesn’t require any pressure and uses medium-to-coarse ground beans. And with espresso, you can make latte, cappuccinos, macchiato. Most of the time, espresso is made with a machine because the process requires pressure and surprisingly, you can make your espresso at home even without a machine. Yes, you can make it with an Aeropress, Moka pot, or a French press. And you may be wondering how to make espresso coffee at home without a machine. Don’t worry, here’s how to:

Aeropress

This is a device for making espresso and with this, there’s no need for you to use a stove. All you need are your grinds, Aeropress, and hot water.

1. Heat up the water. Heat the water to about 185-205 degrees, and let it sit for 30 seconds.
2. Set up your Aeropress. Put a filter in the drain cap and put it on your Aeropress. Put your Aeropress on top of whichever cup you want your espresso in and make sure you’ll be putting pressure on it.
3. Fill your Aeropress. Put 2 tablespoons of espresso ground coffee beans and pour half a cup of hot water into the Aeropress. Then, mix with a spoon and let it sit for 30 seconds.
4. Press the plunger. Slowly press down the plunger until you pushed out all of the espressos.

How to make espresso with a Moka pot?

A Moka pot is a European espresso maker where you won’t be needing stove but can still make a delicious coffee in just minutes. This is the mother of espresso so strong that it will knock right off your feet. This type of pot is good for those who love an intense cup of coffee. This is more advanced than a French press and takes more time to brew because Moka pot can generate a kind of pressure that a Fench press cannot do. It can make about four shots of espresso.

1. Grind your coffee. You must grind your beans as fine as possible. Fill the bottom chamber up with water until the notch. The pressure generated by the lower chamber of the container will pass the water through, and giving you a strong, well-extracted espresso.
2. Put this tube and basket inside the bottom chamber and add it to the top chamber. Place on the stove at medium to high heat. Fill the lower chamber with water. In Moka pot, you can pre-heat the water before putting it. Then, when you place it on the stove, it will heat rapidly. If pressure builds-up, your Moka pot can explode, so you have to get your espresso from the walls.
3. Fill its tube and basket with your espresso grinds. If it’s your first time to make espresso with a Moka pot, don’t overfill it. Water won’t pass through them properly, resulting in a weak espresso.
4. Screw your pot together. You have clean your grounds that could possibly make the pot screw incorrectly.
5. Put your pot on low heat. If you put your Moka pot on high heat, the pressure will build-up too quickly and your espresso won’t be in the collection chamber. Again, you have to put it in low or medium heat. It is easy to identify if the heat is too low or too high when it’s too low, your coffee will flow through the sprout, and when it’s too high, it will flow too quickly. So increase or decrease the heat accordingly.
6. Then, wait for the espresso to brew into the top chamber and you’ll know when it’s done when you hear a bubbling sounds because there’s no more water to boil.

If you don’t want to get a bitter espresso, remove your pot from the stove before your coffee rises. Once the brewing process stops, pour your espresso in a cup or cups. Don’t forget to clean your pot. You can easily clean your Moka pot with hot water. You should not use the dishwasher because it can cause unpleasant patina in the long run.

How to make espresso with a French press?

French press would be the least effective because it doesn’t give the necessary pressure to make a good shot of espresso. One of the cheapest alternatives when it comes to coffee brewing machines. Technically, it is like a thermos container with a piston that runs through the lid and the middle of the pot. And French presses are meant to be used with coffee that’s coarse ground rather than fine. So, if you want espresso, French press still works for you.

1. Grind your coffee. Make sure your coffee beans are in coarse grounds because if not your coffee will be muddy. The French press’s piston goes to the bottom of the press will not be able to hold fine grounds. To make an espresso, you need to put 2 tablespoons of your coffee grinds into your French press.
2. Heat up a cup of water to 185-205 degrees or hotter than this. Boiling water is the most important step not only when brewing with a French press. If your water is not hot enough, your espresso will have a bad taste. Make sure the water boils then, let it cool off for 20-25 seconds.
3. Add your coffee grounds into the press and pour a little bit of your boiled water into the French press and stir it for a few seconds. You will notice the as the water hits the ground, it smells nice and your coffee starts to look like a geyser. This is the step when these grounds release all the substances and essential oil they contain. If you missed this step, your espresso won’t have the rich taste you expect to have.
4. Fill the press with the remaining water and stir. Gently stir the grounds until it mixed with the water. But don’t put too much pressure in stirring, you just have to stir it a little bit so the water can start the extraction process.
5. Let your coffee steep. This step is also important, as for the perfect espresso, the grounds have to steep precisely for 4 minutes and if it steeps longer it will be bitter. Do not press the plunger as the coffee grounds are steeping.
6. Wait for about four minutes and slowly press down on the plunger. Do not do it in one motion and do it gently. It’ll be a little harder to press down with coarse ground coffee since the French press is meant for these grinds.  So, it helps if you lift its plunger a little then press down again.

There’s no need to spend extra for a machine to make espresso because you can do it by yourself at home with the easy and simple steps above.

Above all, it’s not really the brewing machine you’re using that will give you the best espresso but these:

Beans.

Yes, it’s all in the beans. If you don’t have the fresh-roasted beans, you can buy espresso beans from any stores, however, you won’t get the same taste because it doesn’t have the freshness when you brew an espresso with beans you’ve ground 5-10 minutes before.

Pressure.

This is the main element to a proper espresso. Anything less than 9 bars of the espresso is not really an espresso but a plain coffee. So far, Moka pot is the most recommended alternative machine since it can generate a huge pressure and gives you the authentic espresso.

Water temperature.

This is the most crucial consideration when making an espresso. If it’s warm, your grounds will not be extracted properly and you’ll get warm, coffee-colored water. The water must be hot so that all the oils and substances on the grounds are released and gives you the amazing taste. But if your water is too hot, your grounds will be burned.

Roast.

The roast of the beans can also affect the taste of your espresso. If you want a weak espresso, you have to make sure you use the lighter roast and if you want a strong one then choose the darker roast. It all depends on your preference. There are many things to take into consideration if you want a perfect espresso. The beans, roast, pressure, and water temperature. But there’s no need for you to worry to spend too much for an espresso machine because these three devices- French Press, Moka pot, and Aeropress are a lot cheaper can help you on how to make espresso coffee at home without a machine.