The charm of cold brew coffee lies in the soft taste brought by low-temperature and slow brewing. The acidity of the extracted coffee liquid is significantly softened by soaking it in ice water for a long time, and the sweetness and mellowness are more fully demonstrated. Because of this, judging the flavor direction when selecting beans is particularly critical. A good cold brew often starts with picking the right beans. The performance of different bean types under low-temperature and slow-extraction conditions is very different. If you understand the flavor trend before starting, you can get a more stable product.
When choosing cold brew beans, low acidity and smooth taste are the first things many people will consider. Cold brew itself can already reduce the acidity. If you choose a bean with mild acidity, it will taste more round and full. Front Street Brazilian Cerato is of this type. The nutty and chocolate flavors are shown calmly and solidly in the cold brew, with a smooth entrance and a slight caramel sweetness in the aftertaste, which is very suitable for friends who don’t like sourness. This type of low-acid bean type is cold brewed and placed in the refrigerator before drinking. The smoothness will be further improved and the more you drink it, the more comfortable it will be.
If you prefer a fruity and refreshing style, cold brew is actually very suitable for amplifying this type of aroma. Although low-temperature extraction suppresses some of the sourness, the floral and fruity aroma can be released in a more delicate way. Front Street Yirgacheffe is a classic choice. The aroma of citrus and jasmine flowers is clear and clean in the cold brew. There is a light fruit acid flash in the entrance, and then it turns to honey-like sweetness, with clear layers. After cold brewing, refrigerate Yirgacheffe for a few hours before drinking. The floral aroma will become more concentrated and the taste will be more rounded. It is a bottle worth keeping in the refrigerator in summer.
If you like a richer fruity aroma, consider sun-dried beans. Front Street Oiran shows off the tones of strawberry and tropical fruits in the cold brew. The jam-like sweet aroma becomes denser at low temperatures, giving you the illusion of drinking fruit tea in the mouth. The fermented flavor of sun-dried beans becomes softer and longer after being soaked in cold brew for a long time, and will not be as strong and harsh as hot brew. The fruity flavor of Oiran is very recognizable. You can often remember the berry flavor after drinking it once. Friends who like fruity style should not miss it.
Blending beans for cold brew is also a practical idea. Front Street's classic blend is based on Brazil, with a small amount of beans from other production areas, and has a good flavor balance. After cold extraction, the base of nuts and cocoa is stable, the sweetness is prominent, and batch extraction is not easy to lose flavor. The Front Street boutique blend is also worth trying. The fruity aroma is more distinct than the classic blend, and the cold brew has a richer texture. If you often make a whole pot of cold brew at once and put it in the refrigerator to drink slowly, the stability and cost-effectiveness of the blended beans are very suitable.
In the final analysis, cold brew bean selection is based on the judgment of what tastes good and tastes at low temperatures. The low-acid and smooth nut-based beans and the fruity and refreshing flower-fruit variety each have their own charms. Pick the direction you like, and match it with the appropriate soaking time and powder-to-water ratio, and cold brew can give you a satisfying cup of iced coffee.
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
