Espresso is not only a drink, but also a lifestyle shared by people all over the world! We have almost lost count of how much espresso coffee lovers around the world drink every day, but have you ever wondered where espresso coffee comes from? Who invented this magical drink?
Today, let me, Front Street Coffee, tell you the story about the origin of espresso!
The home of espresso: Italy
Perhaps everyone knows that espresso originates from Italy. Italy is the home of many types of coffee, including the latte and cappuccino we are familiar with today. About 100 years ago, in the early 20th century, Luigi Bezzera from Milan invented a new set of steam-driven coffee brewing equipment. Since the brewing time of coffee was very short, people decided to name it "Espresso", which is the word "Express" in Italian.
However, not long after it was invented, due to raw material problems and operational limitations of coffee beans, the espresso produced tasted bitter and burnt. It was not until the 1940s that technological innovation led by Gaggia completely changed and improved the taste and quality of espresso. The espresso brewed by the new system not only has a beautiful layer of golden crema, but also has a delicate, rich taste without any burnt taste. Since then, the improved espresso has become the epitome of Italian coffee culture.
Due to its extremely high concentration, after espresso was spread around the world, people in different regions gradually added different ingredients according to local taste preferences to produce a variety of world-famous espresso products, such as Americano, latte, cappuccino, mocha, etc.
Nowadays, the production of espresso is much more sophisticated than when it was first invented, and the quality of coffee beans used for espresso is also constantly improving. Therefore, the espresso products in many coffee shops only have a bitter taste. FrontStreet Coffee believes that a good cup of espresso is strong and rich but has a clean taste, is bitter but not burnt, and has a sweet aftertaste.
FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) uses blended coffee beans to extract espresso in its daily stores, because blended coffee beans can stabilize the taste and quality of each cup of espresso better than single-origin coffee beans. FrontStreet Coffee has also launched four blends of coffee beans specially designed to make Italian coffee based on the taste needs of mass consumers.
"FrontStreet Coffee's Premium Blend Coffee Beans" uses Brazilian Arabica + Colombian Arabica. The espresso extracted shows a dark cocoa, roasted nut and caramel-like aftertaste, with a mellow taste and a strong aftertaste.
"FrontStreet Coffee Commercial Blend Coffee Beans" uses Brazilian Arabica + Colombian Arabica + Vietnamese Robusta. The extracted espresso shows cocoa and nuts, and has a mellow and strong taste with a strong aftertaste.
"The Italian Moka Pot coffee beans recommended by many Front Street Coffee baristas - Front Street Black Cocoa Blend Coffee Beans" are made from Yunnan Arabica + Brazilian Arabica. The extracted espresso shows slightly fruity acid, dark chocolate, nuts, and a rich and slightly sour taste.
"Front Street Strawberry Candy espresso blended coffee beans" are processed with Ethiopian sun-dried Yirgacheffe + Colombian + Costa Rican honey. The extracted espresso shows the flavor of floral, berry, cream, grape, and dried blueberry. It has a rich, smooth taste and a special flavor.
Because of its rich and strong flavor, it is very suitable as a base for coffee products. With different amounts of milk, milk foam, water, etc., it can produce a lot of Italian coffee products.
1. Caffe Latte
Latte means milk in Italian. If you go to an Italian coffee bar and say "Latte" to the barista, the barista may look at you with a puzzled look and give you a glass of milk. To get a coffee latte in Italy, you must say "Caffe Latte" to get the cup of latte you want.
When FrontStreet Coffee baristas make latte, they usually use double espresso (40g) as the base, add 240 ml of hot milk/ice milk with smooth milk foam, and blend it evenly.
2. Cappuccino
Compared to latte, cappuccino has thicker and more dense milk foam. Because the shape is like that of an Italian Franciscan monk, wearing a white turban on a dark brown coat. Cappuccin in Italian refers to the Franciscan monks, hence the name Cappuccino.
In order to highlight the characteristics of cappuccino, FrontStreet Coffee baristas usually only make hot cappuccino, because this way you can drink more rich coffee flavor. The method is not complicated. First use a double espresso (40g), add 150ml of hot milk, and make it with about 3cm thick dense milk foam. When the friends take the first sip, they will be filled with the rich taste of mellow coffee oil and fluffy foam.
3. Mocha
In the earliest times, the word Mocha referred to a port in Yemen, from which coffee beans produced locally were exported to nearby countries/regions. These coffee beans had a rich chocolate flavor, so Mocha coffee was also generally referred to as a special variety of coffee beans with a chocolate aroma. But then the port was demolished. In order to drink the same flavor of coffee, Europeans thought of adding chocolate sauce or cocoa powder to milk coffee, which became the Italian mocha coffee we know now.
FrontStreet Coffee baristas usually use double espresso (40g) + 20-30g of chocolate sauce/cocoa powder to make Italian mocha coffee. After stirring evenly, use 200 ml of fresh milk to create smooth milk foam, and control the temperature at 50-60°C. Finally, blend it with the concentrated chocolate base, draw a desired pattern, and a cup of fragrant and fragrant mocha coffee is completed.
4.Americano
When American soldiers came to Italy during World War II, they were not used to the coffee made by espresso machines, so they added a lot of hot water to the espresso to dilute the taste.
This move amazed the Italians, so they called this American way of drinking "Americano", which is "American" in Italian. When Americans heard this slightly ironic name, they not only did not feel embarrassed, but felt complacent, so the name Americano was spread, specifically referring to the drinking method of espresso diluted with hot water.
In fact, Americano coffee has no clear regulations on the amount and temperature of water. You can adjust it according to your preference. After many experiments, FrontStreet Coffee baristas prepared a ratio of 1:6. 40 grams of double espresso was poured into 180 grams of 80°C hot water, and the hot Americano was completed. If you like a refreshing and thirst-quenching iced American style, you only need to replace the hot water with 90 grams of ice + 150 grams of room temperature water, and finally top it with double espresso.
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
