No sensations can be compared against the feeling of having a dark, rich, mouth-filled espresso shot in the early morning for an instant lift and recharge from the awful sleepiness!
But can you make espresso with regular coffee beans? Indeed, you can get it done using the regular coffee beans you have at home. It’s not mandatory to get the fanciest beans from the supermarket for an espresso shot. In fact, you can make quality Espresso with regular beans if all the brew mechanisms are practiced to a certain degree.
Can You Make Espresso with Regular Coffee Beans?
Yes, you can use the regular coffee beans for espresso anytime. Regular coffee beans work fine, and if you don’t have sufficient storage of specially designed espresso beans, there are no hard and fast rules that say you can’t use the regular coffee beans instead.
To quickly amaze the guests or to instantly recharge yourself in the sleepy mornings, you can quickly brew espresso by putting both water and finely ground regular beans in a pot.
Set the pot on your stovetop and heat it until it reaches close to the boiling point.
While you’re boiling coffee, always keep the stove at minimum heat. Otherwise, the coffee can stick on the pan floor.
When you see the dark brown color coming out, and the subtle smell of the flavors is released, that’s when you turn the heat down. Use a strainer and then pour the coffee so no ground is poured in the mug alongside the coffee.
Things get even simpler when you have an Espresso machine at home. Just add 20 grams of regular grind on the portafilter, tamp it up and pull the shots right away.
Remember, the taste can vary a little bit as you’re not using the special espresso blend, yet it should still give you a decent knock in the morning to change things up to a certain degree.
As you have seen, getting a quality espresso shot doesn’t require much. Here we’d like to show you demonstrate the entire process in the most detailed manner possible!
When to Use Regular Beans?
There are no hard and fast rules in terms of choosing the beans for espresso. You can literally choose any beans to get your espresso!
Well, first, we’d like to look at why there is a distinction between regular and non-regular espresso beans. This difference arose when new specially designed espresso beans started populating the market.
You’d find tons and tons of different “espresso blend” or mainly designed “espresso beans,” making sure you get the best Espresso taste.
But here is the main issue. But having a unique espresso blend may offer a better taste, but that would also depend on several elements like how good it was made and whether proper guidelines were followed during the preparation.
However, if you don’t have any of those unique blends at home, you can quickly go with the regular ones without any worries.
Can You Make Espresso Without a Machine?
Yes. Espresso can also be made without a machine. Here’s a brief set of instructions and tricks you can use to get a quality espresso shot.
Grind Type
Now, most people confuse themselves in the first segment of the espresso, that is, the grind. If you cannot grind the beans correctly, it’d be difficult for you to get the shots pulled with the desired taste.
Usually, you should make espresso using a finer grind. Whoever you ask would recommend a finer grid no matter what. But, you can also use coarse ground if you want a bit more texture.
Making Espresso with Regular Coffee Using a Moka Pot
If you don’t have a specially designed device at home to get you the espresso with the touch of a button, you can still get it done using a Moka pot. Let’s see how it can be done in the following ways.
- Get four tablespoons of finely ground coffee
- Pour water until it reaches the fill line.
- Now, drop the coffee on the filter basket.
- Tie the top lid up
- When all these are done, heat the Moka pot on the stovetop and medium heat.
- Wait for the hissing noise.
- When you notice a brown color forming above the coffee, lower the hit and gradually remove it from the stovetop
- If you want to add sugar, then do to your desired quantity
- Stir the coffee using a spoon for the final touch
Well, this is how you can quickly get a fine cup of espresso without even using any high-end coffee machines. Moreover, the process is convenient and less time-consuming, so you can pull this off even while serving a guest within a couple of minutes!
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How to Make Espresso with a French Press?
Pour boiled water while keeping the ground coffee on the French press. Finally, get the plunger down for quality extraction.
Here’s the easy method in detail; let’s quickly have a look at this!
- Here too, just like the previous one, you’d have to have a fine ground fresh coffee.
- Get two tablespoons of freshly ground coffee but don’t just add it to the French press yet
- Now, boil water using a pot or kettle and keep it ready
- Now, place the ground coffee on the french press. It’s always better to add more coffee than usual for a darker, thicker, and more authentic flavor
- Now, pour the boiled water for some time and wait so all necessary oils and elements are extracted to the fullest for an intense flavor
- Then again, pour the remainder of the water
- Close up the lid and give it some time for the entire solution to melt inside
- After waiting some time, start pressing the plunger
- When you’re done pressing it entirely, and all the flavors are extracted perfectly, it’s time to pour the coffee in a coffee mug or serving pot.
So, this is the easy and straightforward method to make espresso using the french press.
However, espresso made using french press comes with an intense taste and aromatic flavor. The reason is, it has an intricate filtering mechanism that strains out the most profound coffee flavors and subtle taste-enhancing oil elements from the grounds, without the grounds being present in the formulation. As a result, you get smooth and dense coffee for an instant recharge!
Let’s check this out! best espresso grinder and best coffee grinder for french press
How to Make Espresso in a Pan?
To make espresso in a pan, boil water and coffee together until it reaches a dark brownish color. Finally, use a strainer before pouring it into your coffee mug.
If you don’t have anything in the house except for a cooking pan, espresso can be made without much difficulty.
Let’s find out how it can be done.
- Add water to the pan and set it on the stovetop
- Add regular coffee ground in the water slowly
- Now, increase the heat and make it reach boiling temperature
- Make sure you don’t heat it to the point that the coffee gets burned on the pan floor
- Continue the boiling for a couple of more minutes
- Finally, use the ladle to get the brewed coffee out in the mug or use a quality filter while pouring the coffee and make sure no ground particles remain in the coffee
Well, this is how you can easily prepare a nice bit of espresso at home without any sort of complex instruments or so on.
How to Make Espresso with Regular Coffee Using a Machine
Fill up the portafilter and tamp it to level the surface, stick the portafilter in the machine and pull your espresso shot right away! Making an espresso using a machine is even easier from the various methods we mentioned early on. Here too, you can have regular ground coffee and may end up getting a standard taste as well. Well, so let’s check out how it’s done.
- The first thing you’d need to do is to turn the machine on. It’s best to keep it on as it helps to heat the device to workable conditions
- Now, it’s time to get the grounds measured. For an espresso shot with the machine, it’s best to go for 20-gram ground coffee on the portafilter
- Now it’s time to tamp. After adding it to the portafilter, start tamping till it leveled and reattach the portafilter
- Now, finally, pull the shot with 20-30 seconds each.
Well, this is as simple as getting a fine shot of espresso prepared using a regular coffee machine.
Is Espresso Stronger Than coffee?
Well, regular coffee is stronger than other beverages like tea. But espresso is meant to be stronger than the regular coffee we drink.
Regular coffee doesn’t use as much ground coffee as a cup of espresso would hold. As a result, the caffeine contents are much higher in espresso than regular coffee, making it far more potent.
On top of that, espresso is often pulled using a filtration mechanism that sucks out the pure flavors with a raw, dense, stronger taste.
Furthermore, regular coffee often uses coffee mate or milk to lighten up the flavor to some extent, which is not the case with espresso shots. They’re served without any added substances making it far more rechargeable and uplifting than the regular coffee.
Espresso Beans vs. Coffee Beans
Yes, a slight difference between the two. But they look and perform in the same manner. Usually, the regular beans can have both sorts of roast types. But the espresso beans often use a darker roast for an exceptional espresso experience.
Read more, Is There a Difference Between Espresso Beans and Coffee Beans?
Can You Make Espresso with Instant Coffee?
It depends on what sort of coffee you call an espresso. Usually, espressos are dark black with rich taste and subtle flavors. Using instant coffee for a longer boiling duration can offer a quality rich and darker flavor. It may not be like the typical espresso, but it should taste somewhere close to that.
To Sum Up
Finally, we have explained in detail whether you can make espresso with regular coffee beans or not.
On top of that, our exclusively comprehensive guide also included some critical questions regarding the matter. We also showed you some of the easiest methods to brew quality espresso shots with or without any complex devices or instruments.
At the end of the day, if you genuinely want to have a cup of deliciously recharging espresso shot, you can have it by hook or by crook.
So what are you waiting for? Whether you have the sophisticated machines or not, get your own cup of pure espresso for a soothingly smooth taste and hard knock in the sleepy morning!
