Taste/flavor and texture are the two first things we evaluate when tasting a cup of coffee. For example: This cup of coffee tastes very fresh and has a prominent XX flavor; or, this cup of coffee tastes very mellow and smooth. But do you know that in addition to these two more specific focuses, coffee also has a relatively abstract focus. What is it? That's it - balance "Balance".
"This cup of coffee tastes very balanced" is a description Front Street uses when introducing some coffees. Maybe for many friends, this sentence is not so easy to understand, because as Front Street said, "balance" is not specific enough. If you understand it literally, it means that certain elements of coffee are evenly matched, without overly prominent advantages, giving people a very bland and unremarkable feeling.
But in fact, balance is not the same as plainness, nor does it refer to absolute equivalence. Balance refers more to the mutual coordination between different elements in coffee. No element is too prominent or weak, and the whole can reach a very harmonious state.
Balance can refer to many dimensions in coffee. The more common one in daily life refers to the balance of taste. Sour, sweet, and bitter are the three most important flavors in coffee. When they are in the right proportion and no one flavor is too prominent to cover up other flavors, we can call it a balance of taste.
And when one of the flavors is too prominent and masks other flavors, then the taste of the coffee will be unbalanced. For example, if a cup of coffee only tastes sharp and acidic, then its taste is unbalanced. Because there isn't enough sweetness or bitterness to balance out the sourness, it can be so sharp.
In addition to taste, coffee balance also refers to the harmony of the overall presentation of a cup of coffee. In coffee cupping, the mouthfeel, aftertaste, and flavor of the coffee are all indicators of whether the coffee is balanced. In addition, it is also necessary to test the balance of the coffee temperature from high to low over time.
To put it simply, it depends on whether there are any "shortcomings" in the coffee's aroma, mouthfeel, and taste at different temperatures. If so, points will need to be deducted in the balance column of the cupping test. In other words, balance is a deductible scoring item based on overall comfort.
Let’s take two simple chestnuts: the coffee has a prominent flavor and a mellow taste, but has no aftertaste; the coffee has a prominent flavor and a long aftertaste, but the taste is somewhat inferior. In both cases, the coffee as a whole is out of balance, so points will be deducted in the balance column of the cupping table.
Let’s take a look at which coffee beans have a good sense of balance: First of all, because the prerequisite for a balanced taste is to reach an average value of sourness, sweetness and bitterness, you cannot choose light roasted beans that are too sour or dark roasted beans that are too bitter, and then buy them according to your own taste preferences.
Balanced taste of medium-light roasted coffee beans→Front Street Strawberry Candy ·Gesha Blend
Front Street Strawberry Candy combines honey-processed single products from Costa Rica and washed Geisha from Panama. It has the flavor of white flowers, roses, grapes, dried blueberries, and fruit gummies. It has high sweetness, soft acidity, and the aftertaste of almonds, which together form a cup of black coffee with a balanced taste.
Balanced taste of medium-roasted coffee beans→Front Street 2013 Yunnan Xiaoli ·Sun-dried Typica
Front Street 2013 is an ancient Typica variety, so it has an orthodox flavor and is suitable for medium roasting, highlighting the sweet aroma of nuts and chocolate. It also retains the slightly sour taste of dried apricots and ripe plums, as well as the sweetness of brown sugar. The taste is neither sour nor bitter, and has an excellent balance. It is very suitable for novices to buy.
Balanced flavor of medium-dark roasted coffee beans→Front Street Queen Estate ·Brazil
For customers who don’t want sour coffee, baristas will strongly recommend Front Street Queen’s Manor, which is a medium-dark roasted product. Because it is grown in high-altitude production areas in Brazil, it not only has a complex nutty aroma, but also has a pleasant aftertaste, low acidity and mellow taste, and a round taste. It can be used in hand brewing, Moka pots, French press pots, and home espresso machines.
Front Street believes that after reading this, everyone should know what it means to drink a cup of coffee that is balanced. This means that the taste of the coffee is balanced, and it also means that the coffee has no shortcomings! It not only has a good taste performance, but also has no inferiority in taste, aftertaste, etc., and can achieve a good coordination with the taste~
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
