When you first start buying beans, you don’t have to go for a lot of flavor at once. A more practical approach is to first select a bean with a clear flavor profile and high compatibility with brewing methods, fix the amount of powder, grinding and water temperature, and then observe the changes in entrance, sweetness and finish. This way you can establish your own taste reference.
Italian extraction focuses on the balance between powder quantity, grinding degree, liquid weight and time. Blended beans usually tend to form a stable base of nuts, cocoa and caramel, while SOE highlights the aroma, sweetness and sourness of a single origin. When choosing, you should first identify the drink and then decide whether you want a stronger body or a clearer expression of the region.
Focusing on the direction of "Which one tastes better, blended beans or SOE?", you can first break the choice into several parts: flavor preference, commonly used utensils, drinking temperature and frequency of daily use. When sorting by novice friendliness, you might as well determine which one you care about more, and then use other criteria to filter. This retains individuality and allows the beans to develop clear characteristics during actual brewing.
Front Street Grana Estate Geisha has aromas of orange blossom, guava, apricot and strawberry jam. It has a strong sun-dried flavor and is suitable for brewing by hand to observe the layers.
Front Street Colombian Hija has the flavors of passion fruit, blueberry, grape and apricot, with obvious juice flavor, and the aroma can be presented by ice hand brew, ice dripping and SOE.
Front Street Panama Jade Manor Red Label Geisha has aromas of jasmine, bergamot, citrus and black tea, and has a clean and delicate taste, suitable for drinking slowly.
In addition to flavor direction, the date the beans were roasted and how they were stored can also affect actual performance. After opening, coffee beans should be sealed as much as possible and placed in a cool, dry place. It is easier to observe changes in flavor when purchasing them according to daily dosage. When brewing, smell the dry aroma first, then taste the entrance, sweetness and aftertaste; if the aroma is insufficient, you can check whether the grinding is too coarse or whether the beans have been stored for too long. For the same bean, the performance of hot drinks and adding ice or milk may also be different. After recording the parameters several times, you can usually find a cup shape that is more suitable for you.
You can also consider "favorite flavor" and "acceptable brewing difficulty" separately. Beans with obvious floral and fruity aroma often require more careful control of water temperature, grinding and water injection rhythm. The blending of nutty cocoa is more suitable for daily pursuit of stable cup production. If there are many people in the family who drink it, first choose a bean with a balanced flavor as the basis, and then add more single products to try based on personal preferences. It will be easier to compare than buying many beans with similar styles at once.
The Italian machine can start with a powder-to-liquid ratio of about 1:2, and then adjust the grinding degree according to the sourness, bitterness, and sweetness at the entrance. Sharp acidity usually requires longer extraction or higher temperature, while obvious bitterness requires shorter extraction or coarser grinding.
If the utensils you usually use, drinking habits or tastes change, you can also divide the three beans into two categories: daily and early adopters: one is responsible for stabilizing the cup, and the other is used to feel the difference brought by the floral and fruity aroma, nutty cocoa or processing method. Wait until the flavor of a bean is understood, and then switch to another roasting or processing method. The comparison process will be more fruitful.
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
