Well, it’s not possible to come to a conclusion directly as to which one is better because of both of them having their own pros and cons. But, one thing is pretty straightforward. And that is…espresso is a better choice for milky coffee drinks. When taken black, regular brewed coffee as well as an espresso, both have a strong following. Tell us one thing before moving forward, do people really know the difference between regular coffee and espresso? For some reason, a lot of people are confused between understanding regular brewed coffee and espresso. It’s very simple and straight if you know it correct. Or else it leads to confusion. Let’s analyze both the types of coffees and spread the knowledge to coffee drinkers who don’t know what’s actually happening in these brewing methods.
(Here regular coffee refers to coffee made using French press, moka pot, aeropress, drip bags or any type of filter)
- Regular coffee has a 1:12 to 1:17 ratio of ground coffee to water, with 1:16 ratio being most prevalent. Thereby, it’s thin, diluted, has more water and gives a very nice, not so strong coffee flavor. On the other hand, espresso has a 1:2 ratio of finely ground coffee and water. So it’s thick and concentrated, giving a very very strong coffee flavor.
- For brewing regular coffee, water is poured onto coffee grounds placed on a filter, and coffee is extracted by gravity (in case of drip coffee), or full immersion (in case of French press) or very light pressure (in case of moka pot) and time required is between 2.5 to 5 mins approximately. Whereas, an espresso is brewed by passing hot water through coffee grounds, under immense pressure, for 25-30 secs. In some cases, time for brewing is shortened to 22 secs and extended to 35 secs as well, but it is not ideal. Espresso initially became a hit in Italy for another reason too, and that was that the workers could order and quickly (in around 30 secs) get their espresso prepared during breaks.
- Roasting level for regular coffee can be light, medium, or dark. Depends on preference. Even for an espresso, roasting level can be any of the 3, but it’s the medium-dark or dark that’s mostly preferred.
- Any grind can be used for regular coffee depending on your brewing equipment. But for espresso, one and only fine grind has to be used.
- With milk, regular coffee can be really good (choose medium to dark roasts). That’s how millions of people enjoy their coffee everyday. One reason for this might be buying espresso machines for home is too costly. So people prepare coffee with whatever equipment they have at home and just add milk to it. And the milky coffee prepared in this way comes out to be quite good. On the other hand if espresso machine or even nespresso is used, then the espresso just blends so nicely with milk and takes it to a completely different level. Espresso with milk (choose medium to dark roasts), this is what’s served in your favorite coffee shops as cappuccino, latte, macchiato, americano, flat white, affogato, cortado etc and the demand for this is just massive.
- In the case of regular coffee, there’s no crema formed on the top of the liquid, as it’s not extracted under immense pressure. Espresso, since it’s extracted under high pressure…is known for having crema, which gives it a completely different look than other coffees, and also a different mouthfeel when blended with the liquid down under.
- Regular coffee has 12 mg of caffeine approx per ounce, however, espresso has 65 mg of caffeine approx per ounce. Wait, it’s not all black and white. With regular coffee, normally people consume one cup which comes out to be 8 ounces. So caffeine intake is gonna be 96 mg per cup. Regarding espresso, people may typically drink a shot of espresso (that’ll have 65 mg caffeine) or a double shot (that’ll have 130 mg of caffeine). So, caffeine intake depends on which style and quantity of coffee you are consuming, as explained above.
- If you’re making regular brewed coffee at home using a Moka pot or French Press or even Aeropress…all of these are quite reasonably priced. Whereas to make a proper cafe styled espresso at home using an espresso machine is gonna be very expensive. That’s why it’s coffee shops serving a large number of customers that mostly use this. However, Nespresso is very widely used for home consumption, and can be used at the office too