How much milk can be added to ​Pour over​(V60) coffee? Which coffee beans are best for drinking with fresh milk? Is it okay to add milk to Golden Mandheling drip black coffee?

"Boss!! Let's have a cup of ​Pour over​(V60) coffee with some milk!"

Just imagine, what would you do when you encountered the above situation~

Hand-brewed coffee with milk?

Today’s traditional milk coffee usually refers to espresso with milk added. This is because Italian coffee such as latte and cappuccino has been deeply ingrained in people’s hearts. When talking about milk coffee, of course they are the first ones that come to mind. Whenever a friend mentions ​Pour over​(V60) coffee with milk, such a novel proposal always makes friends around him wonder: Can ​Pour over​(V60) coffee diluted with milk still be drinkable? In fact, this way of drinking appeared before the birth of Italian coffee.

Let's go back in time to the 17th century. There was a coffee called "Café Au Lait" that became popular in the streets of France. It directly translates to "coffee and milk". In French family life, a cup of coffee is an indispensable part of daily breakfast. However, since drinking it directly tastes more pungent, milk was added to neutralize it, and then it became popular.

This popular French milk coffee is translated as "Au Lait Coffee" in China, which means the transliteration of the second half of "Au Lait" is used as the name of this coffee. The coffee base of au lait coffee is similar to ​Pour over​(V60) coffee, and the coffee liquid is extracted by filtering or immersion.

Both extraction methods use flannel filter cloth as a filtering device. The brewing method is to pour the coffee powder into the flannel and rinse it repeatedly with hot water; while the immersion method is to soak the coffee powder first and then use flannel to filter out the coffee grounds. After extracting the coffee liquid, pour it into the cup with milk in a ratio of 1:1, and the au lait coffee is complete.

Subsequently, this way of drinking "French milk coffee" was brought to Japan. After a series of research and experiments by the Japanese, Japanese-style au lait coffee evolved. That is, the hand brewing method of flannel slow extraction is used to increase the concentration of the extracted coffee, and then this high-concentration coffee is used as the base, and an equal proportion of milk is added to create a "Japanese version" of au lait coffee.

To sum up, we can see that the practice of adding milk by hand actually has a historical basis and is not a strange behavior. But some friends will think: ​Pour over​(V60) coffee is the original flavor of coffee. Doesn’t adding milk destroy this concept?

Not really! Front Street would like to share this concept with all my friends: the purpose of pursuing the original flavor of coffee lies in the coffee beans. What does this mean? That is, the flavor concept depends on the coffee beans, not ​Pour over​(V60) coffee. Hand-brewed coffee is only an extraction method that reflects the flavor characteristics of coffee beans. French press pots and siphon pots can extract the "original flavor of coffee", so this is not a patent for ​Pour over​(V60) coffee. Hand-brewed coffee must be distinguished from coffee beans.

However, everyone has different preferences. We cannot require everyone to have the same preferences, nor should we. Therefore, what we want to discuss should not be whether hand brewing can be added with milk, but how to add milk to make hand brewing delicious. ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

In the final analysis, it is actually a matter of roasting degree. For example, medium-dark roasted coffee itself has a strong "bitter" taste. Adding milk can reduce the bitterness and achieve a balance, so that coffee and milk will not mask each other. Therefore, when making ​Pour over​(V60) coffee with milk, be sure to buy medium-dark roasted Front Street PWN Golden Mandheling, Front Street Colombian Cymbidium, Front Street Queen's Manor and Front Street Italian Blend Series. These beans have rich nutty and caramel aromas, and a mellow and rich taste. When paired with milk, they will have the flavor of butter and chocolate.

However, according to the current mainstream of ​Pour over​(V60) coffee, the sour notes of medium-light roasting are the main ones. They are not as bitter as medium-dark roasted coffee. The taste cannot be neutralized by adding milk. It is easily overshadowed by milk and becomes a cup of diluted milk with a slightly sour taste. The degree of matching is naturally very low.

So, Front Street will try it today to see what kind of different experience this cup of "Oulet Coffee" made with dark roasted coffee will bring us.

Experiment preparation

Coffee beans: 15g Front Street PWN Gold Mandheling

Grinding degree: Front Street uses EK43 with a grinding degree of 10.5 and a No. 20 sieve with a screening rate of 75%.

Powder to water ratio: 1:9 (we need to brew stronger coffee liquid, so we need to reduce its powder to water ratio)

Water temperature: 90°

Filter: Flannel filter cloth‍‍‍‍

Brewing method: Japanese volcano brewing (less water, you need to extend the extraction time and increase the extraction)‍‍‍

Milk: 80°C, 100ml

Experiment begins

1. Preheat the milk to 65~70°C and set aside.

2. Place the flannel filter cloth on the container and pour in the coffee powder.

2. Pour in 30ml hot water and steam for 30 seconds.

3. Draw a small circle in the center and add a small amount of water. When the water level drops, draw a small circle again and add water. Repeat until the target amount of water is injected.

4. Pour the extracted coffee into any container. ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

5. Pour the same amount of milk into the cup. (1:1)‍‍

6. The au lait coffee is finished. ‍‍‍

Tasting time: After one sip, you can taste the sweetness of milk and the toffee sweetness evolved from the chocolate aroma of Mandheling. It exudes a soft aroma. The taste will be more mellow than ​Pour over​(V60) coffee because of the addition of milk. The flavor is not masked by the milk, but is just weaker. For people who are used to the concentration of ​Pour over​(V60) coffee and espresso, it will be relatively light, so it will be more suitable for people who cannot drink strong coffee.