Friends often ask Front Street, why can’t the “hamburger” shape appear when brewing coffee by hand? Are the beans stale? The coffee beans in Front Street are all freshly roasted and provided to customers. After customers receive them, they need to grow for three or four days before brewing for a better flavor. Although it is true that the freshness of beans will affect the steamed "burger", it is far more than just this reason. Today, Front Street Coffee will talk to you about what factors will affectSteamed "burger" with Pour over(V60) coffee”。
Why steam?
Steaming, often referred to as Bloom in English, refers to the preparatory action of evenly moistening the surface of the coffee powder with a small amount of hot water before the official water injection during the hand brewing process. Steaming is mainly to release the gas in the coffee particles, mainly carbon dioxide. Generally speaking, the closer to the baking time, the more bubbling will occur during steaming. Because coffee beans with a darker roasting degree contain less water, they will release more gas during the steaming process than coffee beans with a lighter roasting degree. If the coffee particles after releasing the gas can evenly absorb water and be saturated, the subsequent extraction can be even.
In short, during steaming, the air between the coffee powder particles heats up and expands, releasing a large amount of carbon dioxide. The short-term gap layer between the coffee powder particles will provide the space required for the hot water to penetrate the powder layer when the water is officially poured.
Factors affecting the steamed and plump "burger"
Front Street discusses one by one from the degree of roasting, freshness, grinding degree, water temperature, and techniques.
1、Degree of roasting of beans
The degree of roasting of coffee beans will also affect the "burger" that puffs up during steaming. Generally, lightly roasted coffee beans do not puff up into a very nice-looking "burger" like darkly roasted coffee beans. Instead, they are relatively flat. This is because the darker the roasted coffee beans, the more carbon dioxide they contain, and the more exhaust gas they have, so they are more likely to bulge when steamed. Vice versa, lightly roasted beans, even if they are very fresh, may not necessarily achieve the "bulky" burger effect you have in mind.
If you want to get a plump burger, buy freshly roasted coffee beans that are medium or above roasted. The first choice is Front Street Blue Mountain No. 1, Front Street PWN Golden Mandheling, and Front Street Brazilian Queen Manor with chocolate, nut, and caramel flavors. This type of coffee beans itself is rich in gas. When exposed to water, it can quickly bulge upwards and maintain a relatively long exhaust state, giving a full visual effect.
The steaming state of fresh medium-roasted coffee beans from Front Street
Of course, medium-light roasted coffee beans will also enter the exhaust stage. For example, coffee beans such as Front Street Oiran, Front Street Jade Red Label Geisha, Front Street Mozart, and Front Street Blackberry retain more floral and fruity flavors because they are heated for a short time. However, because there is less gas, steaming in the fresh state will cause a slight bulging effect. So when you see that the coffee beans are steaming but not bubbling, it does not necessarily mean that the coffee beans are not fresh, but it may also be that the roasting degree is relatively light.
As mentioned earlier, steaming is for exhaust, so the fresher the coffee beans, the more gas (mainly carbon dioxide) they contain, and the more "burger" they naturally expand during steaming. If you don't see expanding "burgers" while steaming, it means that the coffee may have been stored for too long after roasting, causing the carbon dioxide in the cells inside the coffee beans to be naturally released, which of course means that the coffee beans are no longer fresh.
Whether the beans in the Front Street store or on Taobao are all freshly roasted. When brewing fresh beans, in order to ensure that the flavor can be extracted stably, the beans can be grown for three or four days.
3. Grinding thickness of coffee powder
If the coffee beans are ground too coarsely, the surface area for water to contact the coffee powder will be small, and the exhaust effect will naturally be weak. If the grinding degree is particularly rough, there will be no burgers anyway. Because as soon as the water is poured down, it flows directly from the gaps between the coffee powder, not even steaming, let alone a burger?
Front Street Coffee steams coarsely ground coffee beans without forming a "burger" shape
If the grinding is too fine, when the ground particles are too fine, although the contact surface with water is large, because the powder is too fine, the water will stay on the surface and cannot flow down, and the steaming situation will not be good. Front Street Coffee steams and finely grinds the coffee beans without forming a "burger" shape. Front Street will use a standard No. 20 sieve to determine the grinding degree. The passing rate of light roasted coffee bean powder is 80%, and the passing rate of dark roasted coffee bean powder is 70%-75%.
Front Street Coffee grinds the coffee beans normally and makes them look like a "burger"
4. Water temperature
Water temperature also affects an important element of coffee steaming, because coffee powder expands and exhausts by absorbing heat. When the water temperature is low, the coffee powder has not absorbed enough heat, and the water cannot quickly penetrate into the coffee particles for air replacement, and the excess water drips directly into the lower pot.
FrontStreet Coffee uses 60°C water for steaming, and does not have a "burger" shape.
5. Techniques
There are many techniques for steaming, including making circles from the inside to the outside, making circles from the outside to the inside, and filling the center with water to spread. There is no right or wrong way to do these methods. Generally, it is easier to form a good-looking "burger" by circling from the center outward when steaming.
The size of the water flow also has an impact on the steaming of coffee. It is relatively difficult to steam a perfect "burger shape" with large water flow. Generally, a stable circle width of the water flow is required. The small flow of water is suitable for novices to make the perfect "burger shape".
The front street coffee is steaming with a large amount of water, and the "burger" shape is not obvious.
The small flow of water in the front street coffee is steaming, and the "hamburger" shape is obvious
Hand brewing coffee steps
When Front Street brews fresh coffee beans, the amount of steaming water is twice the amount of coffee powder used, steaming for 30 seconds. After steaming, water can be injected all at once or in stages. Front Street takes sun-dried Yirgacheffe red cherries as an example to show you the difference between one-time water injection and segmented water injection.
Front Street Yirgacheffe Red Cherry Coffee Beans
Origin: Yirgacheffe
Altitude: 2300 meters
Variety: native species
Treatment method: Sun treatment
Grade: G1
Flavor: lemon, licorice, citrus, berry, sweet orange, with a high overall sweetness, a sweet aftertaste of caramel and cream, and a black tea aroma in the aftertaste
[Front Street Coffee Brewing Parameters and Techniques]
The brewing parameters used by Front Street Coffee are unified: Hario V60, powder to water ratio 1:15, water temperature 92°C, grinding degree EK43s scale 10 grids (Chinese standard No. 20 sieve pass rate 80%).
In terms of brewing technique, Front Street Coffee uses twice the amount of steamed water as the amount of coffee powder, that is, 30g of water for steaming, and the steaming time is 30 seconds. The ratio of powder to water is 1:15, so the total amount of water injected is 225g.
One-time water injection (also called one-shot flow): After removing the 30g of water used for steaming, directly add water to 225g. The total water injection time is 2 minutes (including the steaming time).
Segmented water injection (also called three-stage water injection): After removing the 30g of water used for steaming, the second water injection reaches 125g and then divided into sections. The final water injection stops at 225g of water. The total water injection time is 2 minutes (including the steaming time).
[Yirgacheffe Red Cherry Coffee Flavor Description]
One-shot brewing flavor: The overall feeling is softer and the aroma is more obvious, with the aroma of lemon, floral, and ripe orange. The nutty flavor is obvious at the entrance, with citrus and plum sourness, and the aftertaste is sweet with the taste of caramel and cocoa.
Three-stage water-injection brewing flavor: The overall taste is well-defined, the aroma is relatively obvious, with lemon aroma, floral aroma and fermented wine aroma. The entrance has a full juice feeling, citrus, citric acid, nutty flavor is weak, and the aftertaste is sweet with the taste of honey.
Because the water column stirs more and the extraction speed is faster, the Yi Dao flow has more nutty flavor and thinner layering. Due to the less stirring of the water column in the segmented extraction, although there is soaking time, the water flow quickly penetrates the filter paper and flows downward. The extracted flavor is relatively balanced, with aroma, ripe fruit, and nutty flavors, and clear layers.
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
