We met up with Dumo, Stefano, and Rick from The Roastery Department and this time we brought along our favourite piece of coffee equipment—the ROK Espresso Maker. The guys were full of great tips for getting the most out of the ROK, and in the few weeks since we've implemented their advice we've been making our best espressos to date.
Watch the video to see what tips the guys had for us:
In summary, here's how to get the best from your ROK.
1. Be consistent, use the same amount of coffee every time
One of the easiest ways to improve your brew is to find the amount of coffee for your perfect cup and stick to it. For the ROK, we use between 17–18g of coffee, freshly ground every morning. (This is approximately one Aeropress scoop of beans if you have one of those lying around!)
2. Grind ultra-fine for maximum results
There are different points of view over the best grind for the ROK, and it will depend on your beans. However going ultra fine, bordering on Turkish coffee grind, will draw out all of the interesting compounds, and get a richer flavour with superb mouth-feel and viscosity. Just bear in mind tip no.5!
3. An Aeropress funnel works great for loading the grinds
The Aeropress funnel just so happens to fit perfectly inside the portafilter, and works well to reduce the mess on your kitchen side. After loading the portafilter, tap on the side to make sure the grinds are distributed evenly.
4. Raise the cup from the base for a better crema
This reduces the disturbance on the surface of the coffee as the drips have less distance to fall and reduces the spread.
5. Be careful, it’s hot water under pressure.
The ROK has great build quality, but if you've ground the coffee too fine, or tamped it too vigorously, it can be dangerous. Stop if there’s too much resistance!
6. Aim for a single shot (~30g)
This reduces the amount of re-extraction, as most of the unique flavours will be in the first part of the brew. If you prefer your espresso long, just add hot water afterwards.
And most importantly, make sure the coffee is good quality, freshly roasted, and freshly ground!
You can buy our favourite coffee machine, the ROK Espresso Maker for £119 here at BrewTool.co.uk (that's £30 off RRP!)