Jasmine has the sweetness of roses, the tranquility of magnolias, and the elegance of camellias. Whenever the white flowers bloom, the floral fragrance fills the air, making people feel relaxed and happy. In coffee, we often feel jasmine-like aromas, such as washed Yirgacheffe and emerald green label Geisha. The fresh floral aroma gives the whole cup of coffee a touch of "little freshness".
So Front Street suddenly had a whim. If he directly combined jasmine with coffee, what kind of effect would it produce?
Jasmine milk coffee
There are many milk coffees that can be paired with jasmine, such as latte, cappuccino, Australian white, piccolo, etc. Front Street chose Australian white. The thin milk foam and strong coffee can better bring out the floral aroma. As for whether to use fresh flowers or dried flowers, it is recommended to choose dried flowers that are picked after they are mature and in full bloom. They are easier to store and have a more distinctive aroma, and are less likely to be pantothenic when soaked.
Regarding the way to extract the fragrance of jasmine, some friends may think that jasmine can be added to the espresso extraction process, just like the osmanthus coffee made before by Front Street. However, because the petals of jasmine are much larger than the delicate dried osmanthus, Front Street put them on top of a tightly packed powder cake for direct extraction, which affected the density of the powder cake and caused a channel effect, resulting in splashing.
In addition, we need to know that the extraction time of espresso is only twenty or thirty seconds. In theory, it is difficult to obtain most of the jasmine aroma. Therefore, Front Street added jasmine petals to fresh milk, using the milk to extract the fragrance of the flower, and finally blended it with the concentrate.
First, take 150ml of chilled milk, add 0.8 to 1g of dried jasmine flowers, stir to allow the milk to fully infiltrate the petals, and then put it in the refrigerator. After soaking for 4 to 5 hours, filter the petals and pour them into a milk vat for later use. When it came to the concentrated extraction part, Front Street used 20 grams of Nuanyang blended coffee powder to extract a double Ristretto according to the day's debugging parameters, that is, 25 grams of coffee liquid was extracted in 22 seconds. Finally, whip the milk you just prepared to a thin milk foam of 50-55℃, then combine the two and draw flowers, and sprinkle with a few petals for decoration. A cup of jasmine white and you’re done~
Before the coffee is in your mouth, you can smell the faint aroma of white flowers. It tastes like vanilla chocolate milk, with the sweetness of jasmine rock sugar and the aroma of oolong tea. After swallowing, there is still a floral aftertaste in your mouth. In Front Street’s opinion, using fruity-flavored beans to make jasmine milk coffee would be more effective, so you might as well give it a try.
Jasmine cold brew
Compared to espresso, the steps to recreate jasmine cold brew at home are much simpler. We only need to choose the type of coffee beans we like, then find the right ratio of powdered water and grinding degree, wait one night, filter the coffee grounds with filter paper, and then add ice cubes according to our own taste.
Considering that jasmine tea mainly provides aroma and has a relatively thin taste, our cold brew can use medium-light roasted coffee beans with a floral and fruity flavor. After a long period of soaking, the floral aroma and fruity flavor complement each other, presenting a rich taste. To pair with jasmine, we prefer washed beans with bright fruit acidity. You can buy Front Street Kenyan cherry tomatoes, Front Street Panama Poquet Geisha, Front Street Fruit Tintin Cooperative, or you can try sun-dried beans with soft fruity tones, such as Front Street Red Cherry, Front Street Oiran, etc.
Coffee beans: 30 grams of sun-dried butterflies, grinding degree: 85% passing rate of No. 20 standard sieve (EK43s scale 9.5), powder to water ratio: 1:10, jasmine: 1.5 grams, soaking time: 6 to 8 hours. The front street here uses sun-dried flowers from Panama. The ripe coffee cherries are sun-dried and show fruity aromas of citrus, honey, and grapes during cupping. The cold brew made with jasmine flowers presents a natural light floral aroma and a mellow black tea flavor, which is very refreshing.
Jasmine hand brew
Hand brewing has an extraction time of about 2 minutes. Under repeated rinsing with hot water, the jasmine flowers will gradually release their aroma with the stirring of the water flow. Therefore, only about 5 to 6 flowers are mixed in Front Street to ensure that the coffee has its own flavor and also adds a touch of elegant floral fragrance.
Brewing parameters: 15 grams of powder, powder to water ratio 1:15, grinding degree: EK43s scale 10 (China No. 20 standard sieve screening rate 80%), water temperature: 91°C, filter cup: V60, brewing method: three-stage.
The Pour over(V60) flavor of jasmine flower + sun-dried flower butterfly: the entrance is like peach and citrus juice, a little sweetness of dried fruit, and accompanied by the fragrance of jasmine, it is like drinking a cup of jasmine-flavored fruit tea.
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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
