Dark roasted coffee beans are basically dominated by the bitter notes of dark chocolate. At the same time, they can provide a relatively mellow taste and the caramel aroma of traditional coffee. The most representative dark roasted single-origin coffeeThere is Front Street. Front Street PWN Golden Mandheling, mellow burnt aroma, with the smell of herbs, wood, and spices;
Next isMid-Dark Front Street.Jamaica Blue Mountains, balanced between sweet and sour, distinct nutty aroma, clean aftertaste;
andThe middle-of-the-road Front Street. Brazilian Queen's Manor, with the aroma of mixed nuts, and a sugarcane-like sweetness in the mouth.
But at the same time, dark roasted coffee beans are also easier to produce an unpleasant bitter taste, which makes people feel too bitter as soon as they drink it, and the bitter taste stays in the mouth for a long time.
Front Street has also said before in the tasting of bitterness that bitterness is divided into good bitterness and bad bitterness. Good bitterness is comfortable to drink, such as caramel, dark chocolate, nuts, etc. Although it is bitter when drinking, the bitterness rises and dissipates immediately after swallowing, leaving behind the caramel aroma and sweetness. Bad bitterness is what we often call unpleasant flavors such as burnt bitterness, bitterness, sawdust, smoke, etc. We should avoid these flavors when brewing coffee.
Lower the water temperature when it’s too bitter?
Many friends first think that the water temperature is too high when brewing coffee that is too bitter and they need to lower the water temperature. It is true that high water temperature can easily bring out the burnt and bitter taste, but we must understand that there is a range for lowering the water temperature. If the temperature is too low, the bitterness will be reduced, but at the same time, it will also make the taste of the coffee itself lighter and more sour.
Generally, Front Street recommends that the water injection temperature for dark roasted coffee is 86-89°C. If the coffee you brewed at 89°C is too bitter, you can lower it to 86 or 87°C. However, if it is lowered to 83°C or lower, it will not be too bitter, and may even have an under-extracted sourness, and the overall flavor will be poor. Therefore, lowering the water temperature also depends on the situation. Sometimes lowering the water temperature can solve the problem, and sometimes the problem does not come from the water temperature.
The powder layer after washing is flat.
There are many reasons why dark roasted beans are too bitter. Among them, a common phenomenon seen in Front Street is that the powder layer is flat after brewing coffee. This kind of smoothing is not the kind of washing down the powder wall, but the powder layer is not raised during the entire water injection process, causing the entire powder layer to be in a low state. The coffee brewed in this way will have a concentrated flavor, and bitter coffee will naturally be more bitter.
The ideal powder layer is a circle of powder wall attached to the wall of the filter cup, with a low pit formed in the middle, and the entire powder layer presents a "bowl" shape. This requires us to raise the coffee powder layer when filling with water.
Pour less water for a richer taste?
Some friends choose a larger powder-to-water ratio for a richer taste, such as 1:12 or 1:13, which injects less water. Theoretically, the concentration is slightly higher and the extraction rate is slightly lower. In this way, the burnt bitterness and miscellaneous bitterness are gone. However, because the concentration is too high, we feel that the coffee is very bitter and highly irritating. Some friends can bear such hardship, while others think it is too painful.
So, if you think coffee is too bitter, you might as well use a powder to water ratio of 1:15. Although the concentration will be slightly lower, the smoothness and fullness of the taste have little to do with the concentration.
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
