Whenever buffalo milk is mentioned, the ones we always blurt out are double-skinned milk, ginger milk, fried milk, almond fried milk, peach gum stewed milk, phoenix milk paste... wait! Wait! If I continue, tears will really fall from the corners of my mouth.
Buffalo milk, as a major feature of Guangdong and Guangxi, has been often used in the production of new drinks in recent years. In our coffee circle, it has collided with espresso to create many new flavors, such as buffalo milk latte and buffalo milk dirty. Taking advantage of the geographical advantage, Front Street will try pairing buffalo milk with espresso coffee today to see how it tastes and whether it tastes better than ordinary fresh milk.
Buffalo milk, what is it?
The milk we often drink comes from the black-and-white Holstein cow, and buffalo milk, as the name suggests, refers to the milk produced by milk buffaloes.
Compared with conventional milk, buffalo milk has higher protein, fat, sugar, and calcium content, which means that the water content in it will be lower. In addition, the mineral content and vitamin content of buffalo milk are much higher than that of ordinary fresh milk, so it tastes smoother and sweeter, has a more fragrant aftertaste, and does not have the fishy smell of ordinary milk, but accordingly, the calories are higher.
Putting aside the nutritional content, when the two were put together in a blind test, the milky aroma of buffalo milk was more obvious. Especially when heated to 45-50°C, the sweetness was indeed better than that of ordinary fresh milk, but the latter was slightly weaker in terms of mellowness.
How many types of buffalo milk are there?
Looking at the buffalo milk products on the market, we can divide them into two categories: fresh buffalo milk that needs to be refrigerated and ultra-high temperature sterilized milk that can be stored at room temperature. The material components in the milk will change with the sterilization temperature, so the taste will also be different.
Front Street used refrigerated fresh buffalo milk from Foshan’s local brand Baifulu for this experiment. It bought three different types of milk: glass bottles, cartons, and bags. The net content is about 200ml, which is just enough for a cup of latte. Since pasteurization is used, that is, a lower temperature (usually 60-82°C) is used for sterilization, so the taste of the milk itself is retained. However, due to the shorter sterilization time, the shelf life in the refrigerated environment is shorter than that of normal temperature milk, about 5 to 7 days.
In order to explore the potential of buffalo milk coffee, Front Street will use this pile of milk to make three mainstream drinks: Australian white, iced latte, and dirty. The coffee beans are selected from the best-selling Front Street classic blend. As for the extraction parameters, dosage, and ratio, they are consistent with the store's daily products.
Considering that buffalo milk has its own sweetness and is suitable for pairing with rich-tasting coffee beans, it is recommended to buy Nut Pie - Front Street Boutique Blend, a must-have for opening a store - Front Street Commercial Blend, and the god of cost-effectiveness - Front Street Black Cocoa Basic Blend.
Buffalo milk Australian white
In the first step, first pour a 180ml box of refrigerated buffalo milk into a milk vat for later use, then use 20g of coffee powder to extract a double portion of Ristretto (28g), which takes 23 seconds, and pour it into a medium ceramic cup (today's espresso extraction parameters are: 20g of coffee powder, time of 31 seconds, and 38g of coffee liquid).
Then, whip the freshly prepared buffalo milk to a warm range of 50-55℃, control the thickness of the milk foam to a moderate range of about 0.3cm, and finally blend the two evenly, draw flowers, and a cup of buffalo milk Australian white coffee is ready.
During the heating process, Front Street could smell a refreshing and rich milk fragrance coming from the milk tank, but he also felt that the milk foam made from buffalo milk was not as delicate as ordinary fresh milk. Through the reflection, he could see that the surface was slightly rough. When combined with espresso, the patterns produced are not as stable as when using bright and fresh pasture milk to draw flowers on the street.
In terms of taste, the Australian white made with fresh buffalo milk has a soft toffee sweet aroma. When paired with coffee butter, it tastes like vanilla, white chocolate, and cookies, but the aftertaste is not strong and the body is low.
Buffalo milk ice latte
Compared with hot milk coffee, the operation of iced latte is much simpler, that is, there is no need to froth milk, and there is no need to worry about latte art. First, we prepare a nice-looking glass, then throw 3 ice cubes (90g) into it, take out a glass bottle of buffalo milk from the refrigerator and pour 180ml into the glass, and finally extract two portions of espresso (38g) and pour it on the surface, and the buffalo milk ice latte is ready!
After stirring it on the street and tasting it, the coffee aroma in this buffalo milk iced latte was unexpectedly weak. Against the background of ice cubes, I couldn't feel the mellowness of the milk. Compared with the regular iced latte, it was like a cup of iced milk with a little coffee flavor.
Buffalo milk Dirty
In addition to the exciting hot and cold taste, the reason why everyone likes to drink Dirty is to enjoy the collision of bitter coffee and sweet milk. So as the base, buffalo milk with its own sweetness is within the barista's consideration.
First prepare an ice cup of about 200ml, pour 150ml of fresh buffalo milk, and then pour double espresso directly on the surface of the milk. You can use the diverter handle during extraction to shorten the distance between the coffee liquid and the milk as much as possible. This can retain the oil more completely and form a stable layering effect.
By comparing three cups of coffee, Front Street believes that buffalo milk Dirty has the best taste. Because there is no influence of ice cubes, the coffee tastes like vanilla, cocoa, and fermented wine. Along with the sweetness brought by the lower layer of ice milk, plus the aftertaste of roasted nuts, the whole layering is richer.
In general, the overall taste of the milk coffee produced in this round is a bit bland, that is, it does not highlight the aroma of coffee and the sweetness of buffalo milk, nor does it achieve the effect of 1+1>2. Front Street speculates that this coffee bean is not roasted too deeply, so it fails to highlight the characteristics of the combination of the two.
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
