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First of all, there is no such thing as the best espresso. There is the one you like best, and hopefully the same one that is made properly. Providing proper manufacturing standards, which include the science of blending, roasting, grinding and packaging, all of which are worlds of their own, each espresso can have the diversity and complexity of good wines.
Different areas of Italy have their traditional profiles ranging from the smoother pours in Northern Italy due to the traditional nature of more expensive and lighter roasted and complex blends and harsher pours in Southern Italy due in part to less expensive and simpler blends with a tendency of over roasting to enhance the flavor. These profiles have evolved over the years and have stuck to their regions.
The Espresso is unfortunately not a registered process (it should have been) but in technical terms, its a high pressure coffee infusion at 9 atm, of 7 Grams of finely ground coffees, delivering 35 cc of elixir within 25-30 seconds. The "standard reference" shot in a commercial machine is really a double (13 Grams of coffees) poured in 25-30 seconds , yielding two 35cc pours. Easy Serving Espresso pods, which were originally designed for home use, are single shots only. Anything else is not E.S.E. Double pods (55mm) exist and if brewed in a properly adapted delivery system are quite good.
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