Milk coffee is probably the most popular category in coffee shops. Those who are in a hurry in the morning will order a latte to take away, those who want a sense of ritual in the afternoon will order a cappuccino, and knowledgeable gourmets prefer Dirty’s layered texture of alternating hot and cold. But whether you make it at home or sell it in a store, whether milk coffee tastes good or not?The first step is always to choose the right beans。
Many people have a misunderstanding about milk coffee: as long as the milk is good and the latte art is beautiful, the taste will not be bad. In fact, milk is just an amplifier, and coffee concentration is the foundation. The base flavor is not mellow enough, not sweet enough, or the acidity is too high, and no matter how much milk is added, it cannot cover it up. Today we are going to talk about what kind of beans are more suitable for making milk coffee, and what you can choose when choosing beans on a daily basis.
When choosing beans for milk coffee, first look at these keywords
1. The body should be rich enough
Milk has a high proportion of milk in milk coffee. If the beans themselves are too "thin", it will taste like coffee-flavored milk and have no sense of existence. Dark roasted or medium-dark roasted beans usually have a better body and still have a solid taste after being blended with milk.
2. Oil performance affects fusion
The crema of espresso is not a mystery, it does affect the taste and appearance of milk coffee. The oil is rich and dense. When combined with steamed milk, it becomes smoother and the latte art is easier to shape. Traditional Italian blends generally perform more consistently in this regard.
3. Sweetness and bitterness should be balanced
To make milk coffee, the bean flavor does not need to be too sharp. Properly roasted dark roasted beans will bring out the sweeter bitter aroma of caramel, nuts, cocoa, and brown sugar, which goes well with the lactose sweetness of milk. If the acidity of the beans is too bright, it will easily "fight" with the milk, making it unpalatable to drink.
4. The flavor recognition does not need to be too high, but it must be
Milk coffee is not hand-made, and you don’t need to taste the floral and fruity aroma in every bite. But if there is no flavor memory at all, it will be boring to drink. Warm flavors such as nuts, chocolate, caramel, and roasted chestnuts are the most acceptable directions for milk coffee.
Types of beans suitable for milk coffee
Italian blended beansUsually the safest choice for milk coffee. The blended beans are prepared from a variety of beans in proportion, with balanced flavor and stable batches. Whether it is a household semi-automatic, commercial Italian machine or Moka pot, it can give a more consistent performance.
If you want to make milk coffee with a round taste and high public acceptance, you can choose from the following directions:
Classic Mamba/Italian style combination: Mellow and moist, good oil performance, can handle latte, cappuccino and dirty.
Dark cocoa/nut chocolate style blend: It has obvious bitter-sweet taste, suitable for those who like rich taste, especially comfortable for making hot latte.
Autumn chestnut/caramel sweet style blend: Prominent sweetness, low acidity, smooth and soft taste, suitable for drinkers who are afraid of bitterness but want flavor.
Fruity blend: If you want to make creative milk coffee with strawberry or fruit flavors, you can choose blended beans with floral and fruity flavors and medium roasting degree, which will be more recognizable.
Recommended specific beans
Front Street classic blend
This is a blended bean specially designed for Italian production. It adopts the traditional mamba blending formula and the overall style is mellow and warm. Home semi-automatic coffee machines can also extract dense oil, and can handle latte, cappuccino, and dirty dishes well. It is friendly to novices and is also suitable as a "safety sign" for daily use in stores.
Front Street Black Cocoa Blend
100% Arabica formula, the price is more affordable, but the taste is not thin. Its flavor is mellow cocoa and nutty, with plenty of oil and a prominent sweetness when blended with milk. For those who are just getting started, or want to control costs when opening a store, this combination has a good price/performance ratio.
Front Street Autumn Chestnut Blend
This blend is a combination of Honduran Caturra and Papua New Guinea Typica, and the overall taste is full and smooth. The entrance is nutty and sweet like roasted chestnuts, with a soft chocolate aroma in the middle and a clean finish. Suitable for milk coffee lovers who like low-acid, mellow, and obvious sweetness.
Front Street Boutique Blend
The Qian Street store has used a classic Italian blend for many years, the combination of Brazilian Cerato and Colombian Whelan. It tastes like the familiar Italian coffee taste that everyone remembers. Suitable for home and commercial use, suitable for stores or home coffee corners that want to make "popular taste" milk coffee.
Front Street Strawberry Candy Coffee Beans
If you want to make a different milk coffee, such as strawberry latte or fruity dirty, this fruity Italian blend will be a plus. Its strawberry gummy aroma is relatively bright, and it tastes sweeter when paired with milk, making it suitable for producing differentiated and creative milk coffee.
Tips: Adjust the grinding and powder volume according to the equipment
The performance of the same beans on different devices will be much different.
Household semi-automatic Italian machine: It is recommended to use fresh roasted beans, grow the beans for 7-10 days, and adjust the grinding speed to 25-30 seconds to produce a concentrated state of about 36g.
moka pot: The grinding degree is slightly coarser than Italian style. The water temperature should not be boiled before pouring. Fill the amount of powder but do not press it too hard.
Commercial Italian machine: Make a cup of test extraction after turning on the machine every day, and fine-tune the grinding according to the temperature and humidity of the day to ensure stable concentration.
A delicious cup of milk coffee does not require too complicated skills, but the beans and extraction must be online. Lay a solid foundation first, then play with latte art and creativity, and it will become better and better.
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
