Perfect Espresso

The perfect espresso can be easy to achieve if you know how. Many modern coffee houses have in-house training programs for all of their staff - these coffee servers are known as a Barista, which roughly translates as "bar person", or more specifically someone who is trained in the art of making great coffee.
The espresso forms an integral part of most drinks on a coffee house menu, and therefore it is imperative that the espresso be perfectly poured.
The perfect espresso starts with sourcing the best flavour beans. Italian beans are recognised as being the best, with a mix of Arabica and Robusta beans. Coffee is grown in many different regions of the world and various flavours can be achieved by different beans. Once the desired beans have been located the following factors are important in creating the best tasting espresso.

The grind
The coffee should be ground to a consistency that is neither too fine nor too coarse. Grinds that are too fine will cause the coffee to be over extracted when poured and result in a bitter/ burnt taste. Coffee beans that are grind too coarse will make the coffee weak tasting.

The coffee weight
The weight of the ground coffee for a single espresso should be 7 grams with a margin of usually 1 gram either way. A commercial grinder can be adjusted to ensure that the correct measure of coffee is dispensed with each pull. Even if the grinds are correct, an inaccurate measure of coffee will result in an incorrect pour.

The pour time
Having achieved correct coffee grind consistency and measure of 7 grams, the coffee should be extracted for 20 seconds from an espresso machine. This pour time in some coffee houses has a margin of between 20 seconds to 30 seconds, however 20 seconds is the ideal pour time for correct tasting espresso. Similarly to the grind consistency, a long pour can result in the coffee being burnt and bitter tasting. A quick pour is under extracting the coffee taste. The pour of the coffee to 20 seconds should achieve a 30ml pour of espresso.