"Peach" and "strawberry" are fruits that we often see in the flavor introduction column of coffee beans. Their appearance means that we can taste similar fruity sweetness from the coffee brewed with these beans.
But friends often report that it is difficult for them to taste the aroma of peach and strawberry from coffee. However, other fruity aromas such as pineapple and citrus could be captured easily, so I asked Front Street what the problem was.
Why is it so difficult to capture the peach and strawberry flavors in coffee?
Front Street often shares that the flavor we feel from coffee mainly comes from the aroma substances produced during the roasting process. Because these aromas contain the same components as the aroma of daily food, we can associate specific food aromas through these aromas.
But the reason for the association is that these aromas are not as complete as actual food aromas. Take the strawberry aroma in coffee as an example. The strawberry aroma in coffee is mainly composed of lipids, furanones and other substances generated during the baking process. These substances are also present in the aroma of real strawberries, so we can rely on them to associate with the strawberry aroma.
The difference is that the aroma of real strawberries is formed by the combined action of more than 360 volatile compounds. Compared to coffee, the aroma of real strawberries is much more complex.
The second is the difference in concentration. Although coffee has the same ingredients as real food aromas, they are not in large quantities and only account for a small part. Therefore, the concentration of these aromas is completely incomparable to real food aromas, especially fresh fruity sweet aromas such as strawberries and peaches.
Then add the difference in ingredients of the former. If we use the aroma expression on food to taste the aroma in coffee, it will be difficult to taste the flavor from the coffee, and it will be more water-soluble tastes such as sweet, sour and bitter.
So how can we better taste the sweet aromas of peach and strawberry from coffee?
There are two specific methods. First, we can try to capture a complete aroma profile from the coffee. What does it mean? As mentioned before, an aroma is composed of many components, which results in an aroma not only having the main aroma characteristics, but also having many other secondary aroma characteristics.
For example, in the aroma of strawberry, in addition to strawberry aroma, we can feel various aromas such as sweet aroma, cream aroma, fermentation aroma, floral aroma, etc.; the same is true for the aroma of peach. In addition to peach aroma, we can also feel the sweet aroma of sucrose, almond aroma, coconut aroma, floral aroma, and fragrance like perfume. These secondary aroma characteristics are usually weaker than the primary aroma characteristics, but they are also key components of a certain aroma. Therefore, we can try to capture and collect characteristics other than these main aromas from coffee, and then combine the main aromas and flavors to help us better construct a concrete flavor.
The second step is to improve the expressiveness of peach and strawberry aromas in coffee through brewing adjustments, because these two aromas are usually not so prominent in coffee and can easily be masked by other flavors. Therefore, by adjusting the brewing parameters and optimizing the proportion of these ingredients in the coffee, combined with the sniffing skills mentioned earlier, we can feel the peach and strawberry aroma in the coffee to the greatest extent.
How to do this? It's very simple. First of all, we first find a coffee bean with this kind of aroma. It is said that a skillful woman cannot cook without rice. If the coffee bean itself does not have these aromas, then no matter how you brew it or smell it, it will be difficult to taste the desired aroma.
There are many coffee beans with the aroma of peach and strawberry in the bean list of Front Street, especially the sun-dried beans, because the sun-drying process will allow the coffee beans to undergo deeper fermentation, thus developing a richer fruity aroma. If you want to feel the sweet aroma of peach, then choose Qian Street Sun-dried Oiran, where you can enjoy the floral, creamy strawberry, guava, and dried mango flavors;
If you are more after the sour and sweet taste of strawberries, just buy Front Street Strawberry Candy. You can feel the aroma of roses, grapes, dried blueberries and strawberry gummies in your mouth;
If you want to feel the sweet aroma of strawberry, then the coffee beans you can choose include Front Street Hamathew, Front Street Blackberry, or Front Street Geisha Village Red Label...
Since the aromas of peach and strawberry are easily masked by other aromas, we can use a high-temperature and rapid extraction method to limit the amount of dissolved substances when brewing. By raising the water temperature for rapid extraction, we can bring out the sweet and sour substances in the coffee while limiting the dissolution of bitter substances, thereby reducing the substances that can mask these aromas and amplifying their performance.
The ratio of powder to water can also be appropriately reduced, because the purpose this time is not to obtain a full juice feeling, but to clearly taste a certain specific flavor, so we can add an appropriate amount of water to brew, so that the flavor in the coffee has more room to express.
So without further ado, Front Street will share the brewing parameters and briefly introduce the brewing method. The coffee beans selected by Front Street this time are Front Street Esai Hamathew from the Front Street bean list. The parameters are as follows:
Amount of powder used: 15g
Pink to water ratio: 1:16
Brewing water temperature: 94°C
Grinding degree: 9 scale of Ek43, 80%~85% screening rate of No. 20 sieve
Brewing time: 1 minute 50 seconds ~ 2 minutes
Use filter cup: V60
Since the brewing method used this time is one-pass brewing, in order to prevent insufficient extraction, we need to finer the grinding appropriately (note: it is not recommended to use one-pass brewing for beans with too high density). Just adjust the grinding to two levels on the original basis. So first, we use twice the amount of water as the powder to steam for 30 seconds.
After the steaming is completed, we pour in the remaining 210ml of hot water in one go. Since the amount of water to be injected is relatively large, the injection speed cannot be too fast and should be injected in circles with moderate water flow.
It takes just over 1 minute for all the hot water to be filled in the front street. Then we only need to wait for the coffee to drip and then remove the filter cup to end the extraction.
The total time is 1 minute and 50 seconds! Through measurement, we can find that the concentration of coffee is 1.48% and the extraction rate is 21.93%, which is fully extracted. Next is the tasting session.
When sniffing the wet aroma of coffee, we can already feel the sweet aroma of strawberry and guava. Upon entry, the first thing you taste is the aroma of strawberry, mixed with the secondary aroma of strawberry such as cream and fermentation mentioned above, followed by guava, oolong tea, and elegant white floral aroma. The taste of the whole cup of coffee is very clean and round. In the aftertaste, we can capture the aroma characteristics similar to star fruit and honeydew melon, which is very good.
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
