"Red wine", "champagne", "whiskey"... In the flavor introduction column of coffee, we can often see various kinds of wine. After seeing this, many good law-abiding citizens will ask Front Street whether the coffee contains alcohol or not, and whether they can drive after drinking it.
After getting the affirmative answer that it is non-alcoholic and can drive, most friends will immediately ask the standard question "Why does the coffee smell of alcohol?" So today Front Street will share with you how the alcohol flavor appears in coffee~
The origin of coffee aroma
As mentioned in a tweet shared by Front Street some time ago, the various flavors we feel in coffee mainly come from the aroma of coffee. For example, the reason why we can feel flavors such as strawberry and citrus from coffee is because coffee has the same aroma molecules as strawberry and citrus. Although it is not complete, we can associate strawberries and citrus with some aroma molecules.
The same is true for floral and wine aromas such as jasmine, chamomile, red wine, whiskey, etc. Because coffee has the same aroma components, we can associate various floral aromas and wine aromas from coffee.
The interesting thing about coffee is that we can taste different aromas from different coffees. Some coffees will have a distinct floral aroma, some coffees will have prominent fruity notes, and some coffees will have a fascinating wine aroma. There are many factors that differentiate them: variety, origin, processing, roasting, and extraction methods. That's right! It’s another series of steps from seed to cup.
For wine aroma, the link that has the greatest impact can be said to be the processing of coffee. Regardless of the processing, coffee will ferment during processing. During the fermentation process, coffee will produce aroma components such as lipids and alcohols that are the same as the aroma components of wine. The deeper the degree of fermentation, the easier it is for the coffee to have a wine aroma, or the more obvious and rich the wine aroma will be.
Friends who are more involved in coffee will have discovered that it is easier to capture the aroma of wine in sun-dried and anaerobically processed coffee than in water-washed coffee. The reason is that sunlight and anaerobic treatment will cause the coffee to ferment longer and deeper, so the coffee beans that have undergone these treatments will be more likely to have a wine aroma. For example, the beans in the Front Street Bean List, such as Front Street Hamathew, Front Street Blackberry, and Front Street Xija, are all processed in this way, and all have a certain fruit wine aroma.
But not all sun-dried, anaerobically processed coffee will have a wine aroma. Because the processing techniques, types of coffee beans used, and the growing environment of coffee beans are different in different places, they will affect the aroma and corresponding concentration generated after coffee processing. So that's why they're all sun-dried. Some coffee beans will have a distinct aroma of wine and some won't.
In addition to processing, the degree of roasting can also affect the aroma of coffee, but roasting affects more the tonality of the aroma. For example, Front Street 90+ Manor Juliette Gesha in the Front Street Bean List uses different curves to roast several different roasting degrees before selling it, in order to select the roasting degree that is most suitable for this bean.
Then, through cup testing, we found that the lightly roasted 90+ Juliet Geisha will have a fresher aroma, similar to a lighter tone like champagne; while the slightly darker roasted 90+ Juliet Geisha will have a heavier aroma, closer to wine.
Even if the coffee beans themselves do not have an obvious wine aroma, after a relatively special extraction method, the coffee produced can still have an obvious wine aroma! Cold brew is a special extraction method that can add a wine aroma to coffee.
Ice drip, cold brew, and other methods of extraction with cold water are called cold brew coffee. If you have tried it, it should be easy to find that this type of coffee has a very strong aroma of wine. But this aroma is not entirely inherent in the coffee beans themselves, but is fermented in a special part of the production process.
In the production process of cold brew coffee, in addition to extraction, there will also be a period of refrigeration and resting time. The coffee cannot be drunk immediately after the extraction is completed, because the coffee taste is not complete at this time! Only after a period of refrigeration and resting can the flavor of coffee be perfected.
This refrigeration and resting step is a fermentation process. During this period, cold brew coffee will transform into richer aromas and flavors, including the aroma of wine. So this is why cold brew coffee and iced drip coffee cannot be drunk immediately after being extracted, because they still need to be refrigerated and fermented to develop various flavors.
To sum up, I believe everyone can understand why coffee has the aroma of wine~ But what everyone needs to know is that the Front Street article refers to black coffee with nothing added, and special/blended coffee is not included. If you find the aroma of wine in the description of the special/blended coffee, then it is really possible that wine has been added to it. Be sure to ask clearly before drinking to prevent drunk driving~~~
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
