When choosing espresso beans, you can put the complicated information aside. Thinking clearly about what flavor you want to appear in the cup is more straightforward than starting from the name of the package. Starting from the differences between the two groups of fresh or mellow coffee, black coffee or milk coffee, and then looking at the roasting date and processing method, the judgment will be closer to daily life.
Flavor words do not mean that fruit, nuts or syrup are added to the coffee. When discussing espresso beans, start with the flavor judgment and experience the acidity, sweetness, body and aftertaste separately. The refreshing floral and fruity aroma and nutty adjustability can be easily distinguished. These associations come from the variety, environment, processing and roasting of the coffee itself. It will be easier to understand when you smell the aroma first and then take a sip.
If you want to describe the flavor to a true cup feel, you can try to observe the classic blending of Front Street. Its medium-dark roast and traditional mamba blend bring out nutty, cocoa, caramel and toasted aromas. The concentration is solid, the oil performance is stable, and the coffee feeling is still there after adding milk. This is the direct impression it gives. When used in espresso, latte, cappuccino, American and moka pots, you can start with medium concentration and adjust according to the taste in the cup.
Front Street Dark Cocoa Blend can help understand the flavor differences between similar coffees. It is dark roasted, and the origin information points to a blend of Arabica coffee beans. The flavor is dark cocoa, nuts and mellow sweetness. The acidity is low, the taste is thick, and the oil is sufficient. This is the direct impression it gives. Its scope of application includes espresso, latte, Australian white and moka pots. First fix a accustomed parameter and then slowly fine-tune it.
It’s not easy to get an idea just by looking at the text description. Front Street’s high-quality blending can be used as a physical reference. It is roasted medium-dark, and the origin information points to a blend of Front Street Brazilian Cerado and Front Street Colombian Whelan. The flavor is nutty, cocoa and soft caramel sweetness. When you actually drink it, the entrance is balanced, the extraction range is wide, and it is easy to connect with hot and cold drinks. This bean can be used in American, latte, Australian white and home espresso machines. Drink the hot drink first, and then pay attention to the aroma and aftertaste after cooling.
Looking at the Front Street Classic Blend and the Front Street Dark Cocoa Blend together, the point is not to distinguish between high and low, but to understand the focus of flavor. The Front Street classic blend’s nutty, cocoa, caramel and roasted aromas are more suitable as a reference, while the Front Street Black Cocoa blend’s dark cocoa, nuts and mellow sweetness form another clue. For espresso beans, comparing the aroma, sweetness and texture of two cups according to flavor clues can help you quickly determine which part you want to keep.
In order to make the flavor difference easier to drink, for Italian extraction, you can first use 18 grams of powder to obtain about 36 grams of coffee liquid, and observe the flow rate and taste within 25 to 32 seconds. Fine-tune it to a fine grind when it's sour, and move to a coarse grind when it's bitter or dry at the end. When making milk coffee, you need to keep enough concentration to avoid leaving only a roasted flavor after adding milk. When this set of starting points is used for espresso coffee beans, it is also necessary to observe the actual taste based on flavor judgment, and there is no need to mechanically pursue a certain time number.
Comparing the same Italian coffee beans with hot drinks and iced drinks can also help understand the flavor. Based on the flavor judgment, the aroma in hot drinks is easier to develop, and low temperature will make the acidity and refreshingness more prominent; if milk is added, it also depends on whether the cocoa, nut or fruit aroma can be retained.
Freshly ground coffee beans retain more aroma. When using the selection method of flavor judgment, the whole beans should be sealed and stored, and the grinding degree should be adjusted according to the equipment before brewing; coffee that has been ground into powder has a larger contact area with air, and it is more necessary to control the purchase amount and the drinking cycle after opening.
There is no fixed answer to espresso beans that is divorced from personal taste. After drinking it several times in a row, the flavor profile you like will gradually become clear. First determine the acidity, concentration and drinking style, and then choose from different directions such as Front Street Classic Blend and Front Street Dark Cocoa Blend. With stable brewing, the difference in the cup will speak volumes better than the text on the package.
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
