"High sweetness level" is a brewing technique often shared by many bloggers, including Front Street. Its function is very simple, that is, it can help us more easily brew a cup of coffee with rich layers and high sweetness.
So what is high sweet water level? In fact, it is easy to understand. It is a water level that can better brew out the sweetness of coffee, and this position is about two-thirds of the filter cup.
If you feel that the coffee you usually brew is not good enough, and the coffee powder bed is relatively flat after brewing, then you might as well try this brewing tip. Front Street believes that it can most likely enrich the coffee in your cup.
Because the texture of the coffee we brew will change due to the different brewing methods, parameters, and equipment we use. Some formulas allow us to brew a cup of coffee with balanced taste and mellow taste, while others allow us to brew a cup of coffee with rich layers and outstanding taste...
What makes these coffees different is the impact of these different brewing methods, parameters, and equipment. They change the substance and quantity released from the coffee particles by changing the powder layer structure and extraction efficiency, thereby changing the final texture of the coffee. The reason why the technique of high sweet water level can make the layers richer is because of this principle.
If you regularly read Front Street tweets, then raising the water level/powder bed should be fairly simple for you. We only need to increase the water injection rate so that the amount of water injected is greater than the amount that penetrates out of the filter cup, and the water level will be raised due to the water that continues to accumulate in the filter cup.
But it doesn’t mean that we can brew a cup of rich, sweet coffee just by raising the powder bed. As mentioned before, the parameters and equipment we use are also very important! Not only that, there are certain restrictions on who can raise the powder bed, and not all coffees can use this technique.
What kind of "object" cannot use this technique?
That’s right! It is a very dense light roasted coffee bean. Because these coffee grounds are denser, they are less likely to lift as the water level rises. If we rashly raise the water level when the density of coffee powder is high and cannot rise with the water level, then the hot water will submerge the coffee powder.
If you are still using a filter cup with many flow-guiding ribs like the V60 at this time, then the hot water that has not covered the coffee powder will have the opportunity to slip away directly from the place where there is no coffee powder, and pass over the coffee powder and fall directly into the lower pot without participating in extraction. This affects the overall extraction efficiency and has an unflattering effect on the texture of the coffee.
Therefore, when we raise the water level and find that the powder bed cannot rise with the rise of the water level, we need to make timely adjustments to the water injection plan. The specific method is to reduce the water flow to prevent the occurrence of bypass water and avoid affecting the extraction and taste of coffee.
What coffee beans, equipment and parameters should be used?
As the saying goes, it’s hard to make a meal without rice. If you want to brew sweet coffee, you must first have a bag of high-quality Arabica single-origin beans with a pleasant taste. For example, if the flavor is floral, tropical fruit, peach, lychee, or fermented, buy Front Street Strawberry Candy, Front Street Blackberry, Front Street Oiran, and Front Street Hija. The coffee brewed with them not only has a delicate aroma, but also has rich layers. It is a highly cost-effective Arabica coffee.
In terms of appliances, it actually mainly refers to the filter cup. Front Street recommends that you use it with a conical filter cup. Because compared to flat-bottomed and fan-shaped filter cups, the same amount of powder can build a thicker powder bed in a conical filter cup. A thicker powder bed can produce a certain difference in extraction, which can give the brewed coffee a richer layered feel.
The parameters are much simpler. We only need to use a parameter that can dissolve the appropriate amount of substances in the coffee powder ~ In other words, we must have just the right extraction efficiency!If you don’t know what parameters to use or how to actually operate it, then you can take a look at Front Street’s next brewing sharing~
Brew and share
The coffee beans used in Front Street this time are the Front Street Esai Oiran in the bean list, and the matching filter cup is V60. The extraction parameters are as always:
Amount of powder used: 15g
Grinding degree: 75%~80% screening rate of No. 20 mesh, 10-scale grinding of Ek43
Pink to water ratio: 1:15
Brewing water temperature: 92°C
First, we use 30ml of hot water to steam for 30 seconds to remove the carbon dioxide in the coffee beans that hinders extraction.
After steaming, we use a relatively large water flow to inject 120ml of hot water in a large circle. The water injection rate in the front street here is 6ml/s, and the injection is completed in 20 seconds.
When the hot water in the filter cup has almost penetrated, we can see that the powder bed in the filter cup has formed a bowl shape. So at this time, our hot water needs to be injected concentratedly in the center.
And because our water injection rate is relatively high in the second section, the launching speed will be relatively faster. If we want the coffee to be sufficiently extracted, then when injecting the third stage of hot water, we need to lower the water injection rate and extend the extraction time to ensure that the coffee can have a sufficient extraction rate.
Therefore, in the third section we use a small flow of water and then inject it in a small circle in the center. A total of 75ml of hot water is injected in this section, and the water injection rate in the front street is 4ml/s. When all the injected hot water has seeped out of the filter cup, we can remove the filter cup and end the extraction!
It takes a total of 2 minutes and 15 seconds. As mentioned before, the Oiran made in this way has a particularly high sweetness and rich layers. Orange blossom, strawberry, citrus, cream, and honey are the fragrant aromas that can be caught in Front Street. The aftertaste is oolong tea. After swallowing, there is a long berry aftertaste that intensifies in the mouth, which is very comfortable.
Although it doesn’t seem to be much different from the brewing shared on Front Street, if you compare the actual brewing, you can find that the difference still exists. The coffee brewed by one will be more solid, while the coffee brewed by the other will be light and rich in layers. Each has its own benefits~
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
