Crema, what is it ?

When you're choosing your coffee, this is one of the criteria that comes up most when you ask us. You want a good coffee, that tastes like coffee, and that makes a nice "foam" on top. This famous "foam" is called crema—the term mousse is reserved for beer. The word “crema” is Italian and refers to the natural caramel-colored layer that forms on top of your coffee during the extraction of an espresso.

Yes, but what exactly is it? How is it formed? Can you get it with all coffees and all machines?

This article is here to answer your questions!

Crema is made up of tiny bubbles that appear as a dense, creamy, caramel-colored foam. The phenomenon that triggers its appearance is simple. For espresso preparation, water flows under very high pressure. This allows more carbon dioxide to dissolve—the same gas produced during coffee roasting. When the brewed coffee flows into your cup, it returns to normal atmospheric pressure. No longer able to cling to the CO₂, it turns into micro-bubbles. These tiny air bubbles combine with the soluble oils of the finely ground coffee beans to create an emulsion—crema.

"Yes, but how come we can’t guarantee a nice crema with every espresso," you might ask us. Well, you have to respect a few factors to achieve it—three, to be exact—which we detail below:

It may seem obvious to some, but you don’t get a nice crema with all types of machines or brew methods. The best crema is obtained with a manual machine, even though some automatic machines like Jura can yield good results. The extraction process of a manual machine is more suitable because you control the brew pressure. Higher pressure, as explained earlier, will generally create more crema on your coffee.

You therefore won’t get a nice crema with a Bialetti moka pot or a Chemex, which are manual infusion systems.

We’ve mentioned it many times already, so you know it—but we’ll say it again :D
A freshly roasted coffee is the guarantee of a good cup. It’s also a factor to ensure a nice crema. The reason is simple: the longer you wait between the roast date and the brew date, the less carbon dioxide (CO₂) remains in the beans—the gas produced by roasting, as explained above—since it dissipates over time (hence the valves on coffee bags that let CO₂ escape from the beans). You’ll therefore get much less crema.


Conversely, if your coffee is too freshly roasted, it will still contain too much CO₂. The ideal is to wait at least a week after roasting before you start brewing.

1. Your bean’s roast plays a major role in your espresso extraction—and therefore in getting a nice crema.

   Light roasts, for example, are not recommended for espresso due to the very short extraction time. The bean does not have time to develop its full body and aromas. You’ll end up with an espresso that’s really not pleasant to drink.

   The oilier a coffee is, the easier it will be to obtain a nice crema. Dark roasts are therefore easier to work with.

   As for the grind, it obviously has to be perfectly matched to your machine to ensure the best extraction and thus encourage crema formation.

A “good” crema is recognizable by its aesthetics. It should be smooth, with a good balance of colors, and last over time. Ideally, crema should stay for at least 2 minutes before fading into your coffee. It should represent about one-tenth of your coffee, be neither too thick nor too thin, and not feel grainy in the mouth. In terms of color, the darker the crema, the stronger the coffee will be.

Note that a good coffee can produce poor crema, just as a poor-quality coffee can produce beautiful crema—so it doesn’t only depend on the quality of your coffee.

Our advice: focus solely on preparing a good espresso; the crema will follow naturally.