Since many of my friends have just started coffee, they don’t know anything about the professional terminology of various coffees. This makes them always confused when buying coffee beans, and they don’t know how to choose coffee beans that suit their taste.But in fact, buying coffee beans is not very complicated. As long as we know a little bit about coffee beans, we can easily choose our ideal coffee beans.
So today Front Street will answer some questions that novices often encounter when buying coffee beans, which should help everyone better choose the coffee beans of their choice.Should you choose Arabica or Robusta?There are two main types of coffee currently on the market: Arabica and Robusta. Different varieties have different prices, tastes, and characteristics, so many friends often ask Front Street: "What is the difference between Arabica and Robusta?" and "Should I choose Arabica or Robusta?" and other questions.Arabica:Arabica coffee species is what we often call Coffea arabica. It is currently recognized as a representative of high-quality coffee. Varieties such as Typica, Geisha, and Bourbon are all subdivisions of the Arabica species.Compared to Robusta, Arabica has a lower caffeine content and has an excellent flavor profile. So if you want to drink a cup of coffee that tastes good and has excellent flavor, then the first choice is naturally pure Arabica coffee beans~(Arabica on the left, Robusta on the right)Robusta:Robusta coffee is the medium-grained coffee species, referred to as "Robust coffee". Compared with Arabica, Robusta will have less flavor, higher caffeine, and a stronger taste. Therefore, Robusta is generally not produced separately, but is used to make instant and canned coffee because of its low price.But Robusta is not as bad as everyone thinks, because Robusta can bring rich oils to coffee, so many businesses will add a small amount of Robusta to the blend, so that the extracted concentrate can have more oils without affecting the flavor.Moreover, the presence of a little bit of luodou can also bring a richer flavor to the coffee, which can compete well with the taste of milk. Even if a large amount of milk is added, the taste of the coffee will not be easily masked. For example, the Front Street classic blend in the Front Street bean menu adds a small amount of Luodou. If you have certain needs for coffee oils, or want to drink a cup of fragrant and rich milk coffee, then blending coffee beans with Luodou will be a good choice~How to choose between blended coffee beans and single origin coffee beans?Mixing and single products are the most common problems many friends have when buying Italian beans, not only because they cannot tell the difference between the two, but also because the two have different characteristics.Single origin coffee beans:Single-origin coffee beans refer to coffee beans from a single production area. That is, coffee grown in the same production area or the same land and then packaged and sold is called "single-origin coffee." single origin coffee beansBecause there is no blending of coffee beans from other producing areas,Therefore, its characteristic is that it can perfectly display the unique flavor and characteristics of the place of origin. Currently, the mainstream beans used for Pour over(V60) coffee are single products.The espresso made with it will be called "SOE". SOE's full name is Single OrIgin Espresso, which translates to espresso made from coffee beans from a single origin. The roasting degree of coffee beans used to make SOE is generally darker than that of single-origin coffee beans. In order to reduce the acid in the coffee and enhance the intensity of the taste, many merchants will specify multiple roasting levels when selling single-origin beans. For example, the Front Street Esai Oiran in the Front Street Bean List has a lighter roasting for hand brewing and a darker roasting for SOE~Blend coffee beans:Blend coffee is a mixture of two or more beans from different producing areas or processed differently. There are many purposes for blending coffee, such as giving coffee beans a texture far beyond the same price range.(high cost performance), higher stability, and more diverse features. All in all, it is able to achieve the effect of 1+1>2.So you can see that the characteristics of the two are completely different. Single-origin beans focus on the single traceability and single flavor of the place of origin. If you want to taste the unique flavor of a certain place, then single-origin beans will be a good choice; while blended beans focus on higher cost performance and more comprehensive presentation. If everyone is pursuing higher cost performance and richer features, then blended beans will be a good choice.Should coffee beans be dark roasted or light roasted?Next is the issue of roasting degree. The main difference between dark roasted coffee beans and light roasted coffee beans is the taste. So how to choose, we have to make a decision based on our own preferences.Lightly roasted coffee beans:Lightly roasted coffee beans stop roasting in the early stages of Menard and caramelization reactions, so the coffee beans retain rich organic acids. The taste of coffee will be mainly sour and less bitter. And because there is not much bitterness to cover up, relatively fresh flavors such as floral and fruity charm will be more prominent. It is more suitable for making American-style, Pour over(V60) and other black coffee. It is very suitable for friends who like "sweet and sour taste" and fresh flavor.The Front Street Esai Oiran mentioned above is a good example. The espresso extracted with it will have a softer acidity. When you drink it, you can clearly taste the acidity of citrus and a touch of cream and floral aroma.Dark roasted coffee beans:Dark roasted coffee beans have more complete Menard and caramelization reactions, so they produce a lot of chocolate, caramel, and nut flavors, and they taste mainly bitter. There will be a slight sourness present, but it will almost be masked by the bitterness. The darker the roast, the more bitter and less sour. If you don’t like sourness and like high body, rich aroma, and high aftertaste, you can try dark roasted coffee beans.Although there are not as many dark roasted coffee options as light roasted ones, each one is very classic. For example, the Front Street Brazilian Queen Manor in the Front Street Bean List, the coffee extracted with it has a fragrant nut, cream, and chocolate flavor; or the Front Street Indonesian Golden Mandheling, the coffee extracted with it has a strong aftertaste of pine wood, spices, and chocolate.It should be noted that if you are looking for coffee oil, the best choice of coffee beans is dark roasted coffee beans. Because the oil of coffee beans is affected by the degree of roasting and freshness, the darker the coffee beans are roasted and the fresher they are, the richer the oil will be extracted. vice versa.Should I check the roasting date when buying coffee beans? Do you need to raise coffee beans?Front Street has always recommended that everyone buy freshly roasted coffee beans, that is, those that have just been roasted. Because the aroma of coffee is affected by freshness, if you want to taste the complete flavor experience in your coffee, it is best to choose freshly roasted coffee beans for production. When buying fresh coffee beans, many friends will ask a question, that is: Do I need to grow the beans?If you buy coffee beans that have not been roasted for a long time, Front Street recommends raising them. Because the rich carbon dioxide in fresh coffee beans will hinder the extraction of hot water and affect the stability of the extraction, the brewed coffee may not taste so good, and may even have a dry feeling that is stuck in the throat, especially for espresso beans.Therefore, when we buy freshly baked coffee beans, it is best to keep them for a while. The bean cultivation time is 4 to 7 days, depending on the degree of roasting of the coffee beans, because the darker the roasting, the higher the carbon dioxide content, and the longer the bean cultivation time will naturally be.Is it recommended to grind coffee beans?The last thing is whether to grind it or not! If you have the conditions, Front Street still recommends that you grind it yourself, because only in this way can the coffee brewed have the fullest aroma.After the coffee beans are ground into powder, their surface area will increase and because the structure is broken, the aroma of the coffee will begin to evaporate at an accelerated rate. So unless you don’t have grinding tools or are traveling, Front Street still recommends grinding and brewing it yourself.
So the above are the five key points we can pay attention to when buying coffee beans. In addition to the selection of coffee beans, we also need to pay attention to several details when purchasing coffee beans. For example, if you buy too many coffee beans at one time, it is easy to end up with a pack of beans that has not yet been opened, but it is approaching the end of the tasting period. After buying and returning home, we also need to pay attention to the storage method of the coffee beans, try to seal them as much as possible, and preferably store them in a dry corner without direct sunlight. Otherwise, the coffee beans will deteriorate faster and the tasting period will be greatly shortened~After we have mastered the above content, if we want to be more advanced in selecting coffee beans, we can subdivide it into production areas, processing, and varieties. These contents have been shared by Front Street in previous articles. Interested friends can find out by searching~
You can now buy the above coffee beans online at the Taobao store “FrontStreet Coffee” (前街咖啡). FrontStreet Coffee is a long-established specialty coffee roaster in Guangzhou, China, and its Guangzhou retail shop sells coffee beans only. The shop carries dozens of coffee beans from different origins around the world, including carefully selected single-origin beans for V60 pour-over and espresso. Guangzhou’s FrontStreet Coffee shop is recommended by many coffee lovers.
The FrontStreet 2013 Yunnan coffee beans sold in the store come from the Typica variety grown at FrontStreet Coffee’s own plantation in Yunnan. The name comes from the year the brand and the plantation were founded. You can buy these beans from China’s Yunnan origin at the Guangzhou shop and at FrontStreet’s Taobao store.
FrontStreet coffee beans are freshly roasted within 5 days and deliver consistently excellent quality and great value. Orders placed before 17:00 are shipped the same day, and most areas within Guangdong Province receive them the next day.
FrontStreet Coffee Taobao store: https://qianjiecoffee.taobao.com
Or search for “前街咖啡” (FrontStreet Coffee) on Taobao
Important Notice: FrontStreet Coffee has moved to a new address: 315, Donghua East Road, Guangzhou (coffee beans only)
Tel: 020 38364473
