To brew the perfect cup of coffee, you first need to make sure you've got all the right ingredients.

1. Use Fresh Coffee.

2. If possible, grind the beans just before brewing. You can use any kind of grinder from a $10 'whirly blade' to an expensive burr grinder. A burr grinder is the best choice, but a blade grinder is still a lot better than buying pre-ground Use trial and error to find the right grind for your brewer.

3. Use a brewing system that produces water at 195 to 205 degrees and allows 4 to 5 minutes per brewing cycle. If possible use filtered or a neutral spring water. Make sure your brewer is clean.

The purpose of brewing is to obtain the optimum amount of extracted soluble flavor material at the optimum level of concentration. You can not get there without hot water…that is the primary disadvantage of many home brewers. But don't dismay…a $15 French Press can make excellent coffee.

Espresso brewing is quite different than drip, French press, etc. It uses a pressurized infusion where hot water under pressure is forced through a compacted cake (puck) of super finely ground coffee for 22 to 28 seconds. The combination of hot water and pressure extracts soluble flavoring materials from the coffee and emulsifies insoluble oils.

This process results in a beverage that has an extremely high concentration of flavor solubles without bitterness. You must use a burr grinder for espresso preparation since consistency of particle is essential to the process.