Is single-origin coffee bad because it’s a little sour? Why does single-origin coffee taste sour? Where does the sourness of this item come from?
1. The source of sourness: coffee cherry (coffee cherry)
I think many people have no idea that coffee originally looked like this, like cherries, shiny and delicious.
The seeds inside the red pulp are processed and become green coffee beans. At this time, the green beans are green, like the seeds of ordinary plants. They need to be roasted to turn into brown or black, and become the cooked coffee beans sold on the market. If you have studied basic biology, you will know that the purpose of the pulp itself is to provide seed nutrients. Therefore, during the planting process, the original flavor of the pulp will naturally affect the flavor of the green coffee beans.
So at least first understand that it is reasonable and reasonable for coffee to have fruit acid. In fact, this is the truly natural state, and it is definitely not rancid or sour. Now that we understand that sourness is not a sin in itself, let's try to let go of the stereotypes about sourness. (Stereotypes are the biggest bottleneck that hinders learning new things)
2. Possibility of sourness: pleasant sourness and unpleasant sourness
Although sourness is normal, it is not just sourness. It is caused by many factors such as the coffee beans themselves, processing methods, transportation, warehousing, roasting, and brewing. Sourness can also be divided into delicious sourness, pleasant sourness, unpleasant sourness, and unpleasant sourness.
When drinking coffee, calmly tasting, imagining, and comparing the acidity in the coffee is an important process in learning about specialty coffee.
Comfortable acids include: malic acid, citric acid, grapefruit acid, passion fruit acid, red wine acid, berry acid, cherry acid, citrus acid, peach acid, pineapple acid, black vinegar, red vinegar... For example, the front street cherry tomatoes with obvious juice, the front street fruit diced with outstanding floral aroma, and the sweet and sour front street strawberry candy.
Imagine that the sour taste of the fruit appears naturally and distinctively in your mouth, enriching the coffee itself, yet being soft and not overly stimulating.
Why is coffee sour?
Disliked acids include: too strong acetic acid, smelly acid (expired), over-fermented acid, stuffy acid, lactic acid (sweating acid), humic acid...
Just imagining these sour flavors in coffee will make you feel uncomfortable. Moreover, generally unpleasant acids are highly recognizable, and a little bit can spoil the entire cup of coffee. This is probably the main reason why most people have a bad impression of sour flavors. But pay special attention: There are basically no unpleasant acids in truly boutique-grade coffee. These acids seriously affect the taste and cannot enter the threshold of specialty coffee.
So if you drink bad acid when drinking bad coffee, please don’t attribute the original sin to specialty coffee. After all, there are too many unscrupulous businessmen doing it now. To ensure that the purity of your mouth is not tarnished, you should look for guaranteed specialty coffee.
3. Choose a production area with medium acidity and roasting degree
When you are not used to drinking sour coffee at the beginning, it is recommended not to completely avoid fruit acids. You can choose beans with medium or low acidity to let your mouth gradually get used to the changing acidity.
In terms of production areas: beans in Africa generally have higher acidity, Central and South America have moderate acidity, and Asia has lower acidity.
But the above is only a preliminary classification, because the terroir conditions of specialty coffee are very different now. Even the sourness of different production areas and different estates in the same country is different, so it is most direct to ask clearly when buying or ordering single-origin coffee.
In terms of roasting degree, as the degree of roasting increases, the sourness becomes less obvious, so it is relatively safe to choose medium roast or above. It is a good choice for beginners to first try the production areas above medium roast that are not particularly sour.
For example, Front Street Sumatra Golden Mandheling and Front Street Brazilian Queen's Estate are beans with low acidity. Front Street Colombian Cymbidium and Front Street Jamaica Blue Mountain are beans with low acidity and have complex roasting and caramel aromas, making them suitable for beginners who are not used to sourness.
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
