When we walk into a cafe, we usually face two types of choices, Italian and hand-made. If you're drinking hand-made beans on Front Street, you can choose single-origin beans from different production areas; if you're drinking Italian, you have to choose from American, latte, cappuccino and other categories. Some stores will also provide a "SOE exchange" service.
Nowadays, more and more famous single-origin beans have launched SOE versions, such as Front Street Grana Gesha Coffee, Front Street Yirgacheffe Coffee, Front Street Oiran Coffee, etc. Some friends are curious, these SOE coffee beans are generally used to make espresso, can they be used for hand brewing?
SOE, what is the biggest feature?
Traditionally, in order to stabilize the product and achieve a balanced taste, coffee shops will give priority to Italian blended beans that are darker roasted and rich in oil. Since they mix batches from two or even several different places, it also makes it difficult to identify the flavor of the coffee beans' production area.
If we put aside various flavors, conceptually speaking, SOE is nothing more than espresso made from any single-origin coffee beans. "Single-origin beans" refer to coffee that has been distinguished at the place of origin to ensure that high-quality batches are independent. The so-called "single-origin beans" can be a province, a town, a village, a processing plant, a manor... In short, the emphasis is on the impact of the uniqueness of the region's terroir on coffee.
For example, the Front Street Sunflower Warm Italian Blend coffee commonly used in Front Street stores is made from two single-origin beans roasted in-house, Front Street Honduras sherry and Front Street Yirgacheffe sun-dried red cherries, in a ratio of 7:3. Before each use, the barista will The two types of roasted beans are mixed into a "blending" in a fixed proportion and then poured into the bean bin. However, if we only take the front street sun-dried red cherries and extract them with an espresso machine, the concentrated liquid that comes out is the familiar Yirgacheffe SOE.
In other words, the SOE products sold on the market come from a single origin and are suitable for coffee beans extracted by espresso machines. Usually, because higher quality (grade) coffee beans are used, the price will be relatively higher.
Is there a big difference between SOE coffee beans and Pour over(V60) single-origin beans?
In the past, our impression of the taste of Italian coffee was that it was balanced, rich in taste, with burnt oil, and most black coffee has a bitter taste. This is not a problem of the extraction method, but a problem of the raw materials used. The price of espresso coffee cannot be too high, and the dosage is large, so when it comes to beans, cost comes first, then stability, and finally flavor. In order to take care of the compatibility of beans from various origins, roasters will roast them darker, so the coffee produced will basically be between caramel, nuts, and chocolate.
Different from the previous goal of striving for stability, with the introduction of the concept of specialty coffee, everyone began to emphasize the unique flavor of the production area and advocated clean taste, obvious fruity aroma, light and elegant coffee tonality. The quality of many imported coffees has been improved, and Italian blends will be adjusted for different extraction purposes.
For example, in order to highlight the coffee oil, Front Street Classic Roast and Front Street Commercial Blend add a small amount of Robusta, and use medium-dark to dark roasting; or Front Street Black Cocoa Basic Blend and Front Street Premium Blend have obvious butternut aroma, so use medium-dark to medium roasting to make latte with the taste of chocolate milk.
Various "sour coffees" are gradually becoming popular throughout the circle. For example, the white flower fragrance of Front Street Yirgacheffe, the fresh and sweet taste of Front Street Costa Rican blackberries, the thick berry tone of Front Street cherry tomatoes, the tangerine honey flavor of Front Street Grana Geisha, the fermented wine flavor of Front Street Cepal, etc.
As a concept that has become popular under the development trend of specialty coffee, SOE has a particularly important task, which is to emphasize the origin of the origin while highlighting the good flavor of the coffee beans themselves. Different from blending, SOE is more likely to emphasize the characteristics of soybeans, especially light roasted coffee. In addition to the strong taste, the concentrate also has a stimulating acidity, so it often leaves a deep impression on people.
Since deeper roasting will cause more substances to caramelize, if coffee wants to retain more floral and fruity aromas, thereby making the flavor attributes more identifiable, first of all, the roasting degree should not be too dark, otherwise the bitterness will be too strong and the flavor of the origin will be covered; while too light a roast will give the coffee a sandwiched taste, or amplify the acidity of the beans under the high temperature and pressure of the coffee machine, making the concentration unbearable. At the same time, the texture of the coffee beans is too hard, resulting in insufficient extraction.
Therefore, for the same coffee beans, many businesses will launch two different roasting curves for hand brewing and SOE purposes. Generally speaking, Pour over(V60) products with fruit acidity will be presented in light-medium roasting, while SOE beans will be slightly darker than Pour over(V60) ones, but it will not completely change the main flavor of the beans. The concentrate must have both fruit acidity and the sweet aroma brought by caramelization, so most of them are controlled at medium roasting.
Take the Front Street Oiran coffee beans sold in Front Street as an example. The roasting level column is divided into two types: "Hand-brewed light-medium roasting" and "SOE Italian-style roasting." The former is suitable for Pour over(V60), cold brewed, French press, hanging ear and other normal-pressure extractions, while the latter is preferred for pressurized extraction such as espresso machines and Moka pots.
What should you pay attention to when making hand brewing with SOE coffee beans?
Although we say that the roasting profile of SOE coffee beans is more suitable for espresso, in fact, as long as the extraction is done properly, it can still make delicious Pour over(V60) coffee. As mentioned above, most products labeled SOE are roasted at a light-medium, medium or medium-to-dark level. The expansion rate and flavor tone of the beans are between light roasting and dark roasting. Therefore, regarding the selection of brewing parameters, we can first judge the roasting level based on the flavor on the package.
For SOE beans whose flavor descriptions are all floral, fruity, tea-like, and with various acids, they are most likely light-medium roasted. The short heating time makes these beans hard and difficult to release soluble substances. Therefore, we can use high-temperature hot water of 92 to 93°C and a grinding degree of fine sugar (80% sieving rate in a No. 20 sieve bowl) for brewing;
If the SOE beans you buy generally have the words dark chocolate, cocoa, spice, hazelnut, caramel, mellow, and cream on the package, it means that the coffee uses a medium-to-dark roasting degree. The prolonged heating time will make the bean structure loose, and the water absorption will easily release bitter substances. At this time, it is recommended to use a water temperature lower than 88°C and a grinding degree of white sugar/coarse sugar (No. 20 sieve bowl sieving rate is 70%) for extraction;
From left to right: medium-light, medium, medium-deep
The rest are SOE coffee beans that have floral and fruity aromas, tea flavors, nuts, cookies, milk chocolate, or flavors such as fermented wine, candy, honey, etc. We can judgeIt is classified as a medium roast. When making manual brewing, you may wish to use 89~90℃ water temperature + medium grinding (No. 20 sieve bowl 75% sieving rate) are presented in combination.
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
