Dualit brings coffee shop style coffee into your home. Let's start with a quick training session and turn you, the coffee drinker, into a barista...
You are looking for an espresso with a 2-3mm crema and a rich, dark brown colour underneath (the exact colour will depend on the bean you have chosen).
Different cup filters require different volumes of ground coffee and have different extraction volumes.
There are 8 components to making a great cup of hot coffee. Get all these right and you'll have the perfect coffee, whether it's a straight shot of espresso or a 'combo' like a latté or cappuccino.
There are two main types of bean; within each type there are numerous varieties that are usually identified by their geographical region:
Other factors that may affect the flavour of coffee include:
Different coffee machines require a different grind as this can
affect the rate of extraction. machines need You'll know when
you've got it right because you'll have a dense 2-3mm crema on the
surface of your coffee.
Too coarse: This will under-extract, giving you
brown water but no flavour.
Too fine: This will over-extract, giving you a
bitter flavour.
We recommend either our Handheld Grinder or our Burr Coffee Grinder for quick and easy grinding!
The perfect temperature for brewing coffee is just below boiling point. Boiling water will burn the ground beans and the coffee will taste bitter. A lower temperature won't extract the oils or flavour from the bean.
Your Dualit coffee machine will heat the water to the perfect temperature every time you make an espresso.
Compacting the coffee firmly and uniformly (but not too tightly) forces the water through the coffee grounds in a way that extracts the best flavour. Tamping too hard, will stop water flowing through the ground coffee. A good barista will tamper by pressing the grounds gently without tapping the filter holder, then twisting slightly to 'polish' the surface of the compacted coffee.
We recommend the Dualit Tamper as it controls the tamp pressure and has a levelling guide to ensure an even and level tamp every time.
Headroom is the distance between the top of the tamped coffee and the bottom of the Brewhead/Showerhead. This distance can differ depending on your coffee machine.
Too little headroom: The water may not penetrate
the puck fully or you will not be able to fit the Filter Holder to
the Grouphead due to the volume of coffee grounds. Try decreasing
the coffee grind size and tamping with more force. If there is
still too little headroom, try reducing the amount of ground coffee
used.
Too much headroom: The puck will be too wet,
resulting in a poorly extracted coffee and can make it difficult to
clean the Cup Filter.
Try increasing the coffee grind size and tamping with less force. Check the weight of the coffee to ensure that it is suitable for your coffee machine. If there is still too much headroom, try adding coffee one gram at a time.
Coffee machines use either a thermoblock or a boiler to heat water for coffee/hot water and create steam.
A thermoblock system heats water in pipes that are
coiled around the heating element, warming the water as required to
the optimum temperature for either coffee or steam. Thermoblock
systems heat water quickly and can switch between steam and coffee
temperatures. However, water temperature is less consistent and
thus coffee may be too hot if you have just used the Steam
Function.
A boiler system heats the water in a boiler - a
tank of water with an element inside. The water within the tank is
heated to the required temperature depending on the function
selected. Boiler systems give a consistent water temperature but
can take a little longer to reach the optimum temperature for the
Steam Function. Also, a higher temperature is maintained during
Steam Functions meaning the boiler does not refill. As a result,
there is only a limited amount of steam before the appliance runs
out.
WHAT IS STEAMING?
WHAT IS FROTHING?
WHAT IS TEXTURING?
GENERAL TIPS
Coffee should always be served in a warm cup, this will keep the coffee hotter for longer and enhance the aroma.
An espresso shot, in particular, will get cold very quickly if
poured into a cold cup. For this reason, your cups must be
pre-warmed before EACH use.