Coffee vs. Espresso

I want to preface this section by saying that it is not necessary to know any of this to be a patron of our shop. We do not care how much the customer knows about coffee, that’s our job not yours. My goal is to make the perfect cup for every person who walks in, and to make them feel welcome and safe. This section is purely me being a coffee nerd, the last thing I want is to become a pretentious barista or shop.

In the US, drip brew is the most common form of coffee you’d find in a café/diner or coffee shop. This involves a larger amount of hot water slowly dripping through a larger basket of ground coffee beans. A usual pot of coffee is between 8 and 12 cups. The amount of water you put in is the amount that is going to come out, so for 8 cups of coffee, 8 cups of water go in. This is a slower process as the water drips through, letting gravity do the work. Because of the larger water and coffee amounts, and the time to drip, the flavour is different to espresso.

Espresso is when a small amount of hot water is pressurised through a small basket of ground coffee beans. Most espresso drinks (latte, cappuccino, americano, flat white, etc) have a base of 2 espresso shots plus milk or water, where drip brew is a full cup of coffee (which milk can be added to).

The iced coffees that are available in Ireland now are iced americanos or iced lattes. They are great, but it’s not the only way that iced coffee can be made. In the US, iced coffee is double strength drip coffee brewed over ice. The ice melts, watering and cooling down the coffee (hence double strength). The cold coffee is then stored in the fridge and when ordered, poured into a glass with more ice to keep it cool. Similar to hot coffee vs. espresso, the difference with cold coffee vs. iced americano is the flavour.