Although many light roasted coffee beans are now on sale, there is a group of people who are deeply in love with dark roasted beans, because they prefer rich and mellow coffee with a sour taste, so they often buy Front Street Queen’s Manor with buttery peanut flavor, Front Street Bird of Paradise with toasty aroma, Front Street Blue Mountain No. 1 with a balance of sour, sweet and bitter, and Front Street PWN Golden Mandheling with its own sandalwood and herbal aroma.
If we want to make a delicious cup of dark roast coffee, then we have to bring out all its characteristics: the aroma of caramel chocolate, a mellow and smooth taste, a rich dark roast flavor, and a long, high-sweet aftertaste. These are the unique characteristics of dark roast coffee. So today Front Street will share how to brew these "soul" characteristics of dark roasted coffee!
Extraction parameters
First of all, we need to know that the tissue structure of dark roasted coffee beans has been in a very loose state after being roasted for a long time. If we follow the brewing parameters of light roasted beans for extraction, it will be very easy to obtain a cup of real bitter coffee. Therefore, whether it is water temperature or grinding, we need to adjust these parameters that will affect the extraction efficiency.
Lower the water temperature: The reason why light roasted beans are brewed with high water temperature is because their texture is hard and requires a high extraction efficiency to "violently" bring out the aroma substances! But dark roasted coffee beans obviously do not require too strong "means".
The loose structure can easily wash out the negative taste of over-extraction under high water temperature extraction. Therefore, Front Street recommends that when brewing dark roasted beans, it is most appropriate to lower the water temperature to the range of 86~88°C, which should be adjusted according to the grinding degree of the coffee beans. The finer the grind, the lower the water temperature!
Coarse grinding: In terms of grinding, the grinding scale used for dark roasted beans needs to be coarser than that of light roasted beans. The reason for coarsening is not only because the looseness makes extraction easier, but also because dark-roasted beans are more crispy and the particles they grind will be finer than light-roasted beans of the same scale. Therefore, it is necessary to correct the deviation created by these two aspects by adjusting the coarseness. Taking Golden Mandheling as an example, the general front street will use the 11 scale of Ek43 to obtain a coarse sugar particle, which is a 70% screening rate of the No. 20 sieve.
Filter cup selection
The mellow taste of dark-roasted coffee requires sufficient extraction. If you use a filter cup with a fast drain speed such as V60, the taste will obviously be unsatisfactory. After all, the overall extraction efficiency is low, and a too fast flow rate cannot guarantee that enough bitter substances can be extracted to support the richness.
Therefore, if you are brewing medium-dark roasted coffee beans, Front Street will recommend that you use a filter cup with a slower flow rate, such as Kono, fan-shaped filter cup, etc. A slower flow rate can extend the extraction time and make it easier to obtain a cup of coffee with a full-bodied taste.
Pink to water ratio
The ratio of powder to water can be decided according to your own taste. For example, the ratio of powder to water used in Front Street is 1:15. The dark roast coffee brewed with this ratio has just the right concentration and a good flavor.
But if some friends like the flavor to be more expressive, then they can increase the ratio of powder to water to 1:16 to dilute the coffee concentration so that the flavor can be better displayed; if they like a stronger drink, then they can lower the ratio of powder to water to about 1:14. But be careful not to pull it down too much, because the concentration will be too concentrated and the flavor will not be displayed, making you feel uncomfortable when you drink it~
Brewing recommendations
Front Street recommends using a three-stage water injection method. Firstly, it can extend the extraction time, and secondly, it can better extract the flavor we want, and it can give us a higher fault tolerance rate. This is what Front Street particularly likes. If the ratio of 1:15 is chosen, then we can divide the water volume into 30/100/95ml.
Dark roasted coffees don’t require too much stirring to extract the substances in the coffee, and as we mentioned before, they extract well. Therefore, when brewing, we can appropriately slow down the speed of the circle, reduce the excessive tumbling of coffee powder due to excessive water flow, and reduce the generation of negative flavors.
The specific operation is: first use twice the amount of water of the powder to moisten the entire powder bed and steam for 30 seconds (the end time of dark roasted beans can be judged based on the humidity of the powder bed, not necessarily 30 seconds); after the steaming is completed, we use a smaller water flow (5ml/s), slowly Slowly inject the second section of 100ml of hot water in a large circle; when the water level is about to bottom out, use the same small flow of water in the center, and slowly inject the remaining 95ml of hot water in a small circle (the size of a coin); when the coffee liquid is completely filtered, you can remove the filter cup and enjoy your coffee!
Generally speaking, if brewing is completed in about 2 minutes, there is a high probability that this cup of dark roasted coffee will have all the characteristics mentioned at the beginning. However, if the extraction time deviates too much from 2 minutes, for example, it is shorter by more than 10 seconds, then although the whole cup of coffee will have a better taste, the taste and sweetness will be weaker. It's best to adjust the grinding or brewing techniques. The specific degree of adjustment depends on how you feel when drinking. The same goes for if it’s too much for more than 2 minutes~
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
