Espresso The soul of coffee?

Espresso coffee is not a roast style or color, as many companies would have you believe, nor is it a particular blend. An espresso is ANY COFFEE that is made using the method described above. It can be made with any kind of coffee.

Espresso is a way to brew coffee. The exact definition, according to Dr. Andrea Illy (from his book Espresso Coffee, chapter 2 "Definition of Espresso") is:

"Italian espresso is a small cup of concentrated brew prepared on request by extraction of ground roasted coffee beans with hot water under pressure for a defined short time. The range of parameters is:

Ground coffee portion 6.5±1.5g Water temperature 90± 50C Inlet water pressure 9 ±2 bar Production time 30±5 seconds"