Espresso is the basis of almost all coffees. Espresso is a very strong, intense, small coffee which comes in single or double (dopio). An espresso should be strong but smooth, not tongue-crampingly bitter and should come complete with a thick, smooth, sweet créma (head).

I learnt to make espresso using both a bar (full-sized coffee shop machine), a home bar and a semi-automatic home machine. My personal preferance for coffee machines are Gaggia. I have had 4 Gaggias and loved each of them, the previous model was also most expensive was imported from Italy, it cost £729 in this country but I saved £250 by importing mine from Italy directly.

I've had the following models of Gaggia machine:

• Cubika (I've had 2) - ideal for a first time coffee machine, they retail for around £110 and are still being produced so that says something.
• Titanium - fantastic, well-built, all-metal semi-automatic bean-to-cup machine. These are fantastic machines but unfortunately have been discontinued now since Saeco took over Gaggia
• Platinum - a range of machines to superceed the Titanium. I personally own the Gaggia Swing Up. This is the 2nd model from the top of the range of 6 machines. They retail around £600-800 depending on the model and the shop where buy the unit from. It's packed full of features, seems pretty good overall. The only thing that lets it down is the fact that the body is ABS plastic.

To make an espresso manually:

1. Warm an espresso cup with hot water
2. Grind the coffee beans freshly until just before the coffee turns to dust
3. Allow the espresso machine to heat its boilers (should never reach boiling)
4. Add a tablespoon of coffee to the bar handle and tamp (approx 20kg of pressure -this takes practice)
5. Start the water flowing and stop it with 1 cm left from the rim (this should allow draining time)
   • If you got the pressure right, the coffee should form a stream about 2mm wide and not rush through and not drip through. The tamp pressure is vital, too fast and your coffee will be like dirty water, too slow and the coffee will be scorched and over extracted