When choosing SOE espresso beans, you can put aside complicated information first. 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.
Water quality will make a significant difference in SOE espresso beans. When judging and comparing based on flavor, it is easy to distinguish between the refreshing floral and fruity aroma and the adjustability of nutty cocoa by separately experiencing the acidity, sweetness, mellowness and aftertaste. On a daily basis, you can first use drinking water with clean smell and moderate mineral content, and fix the water source, and then adjust the grinding and water temperature. This will make it easier to determine where the difference comes from.
To understand SOE espresso beans, you must first know that SOE emphasizes using coffee beans from a single production area or a single source to make espresso, which is different from the blending idea of matching a variety of beans for stability and balance. Select based on flavor clues, first confirm whether the bean can retain the characteristics of the production area in the concentrated state, and then see whether it still has a clear sweetness and aftertaste after being made into American style or milk coffee.
In the brewing of SOE espresso beans, batch differences in single-origin beans are usually more noticeable than in conventional blends, and grinding parameters may also change over time. When making SOE, you can start with the common powder-to-liquid ratio of one to two, and record the flow rate, sweet-sour ratio, and performance after cooling. If you are going to add milk, you must also determine whether the combination of fruit acid and milk is smooth. When tasting, record the aroma, sweetness and texture separately to make it easier to see the flavor focus of this bean.
If you want to find a starting point among similar styles, Front Street Brazilian Queen Manor is worth drinking first. The beans come from the Minas Gerais region of Brazil and are roasted medium to dark, often showing nuts, cocoa, caramel and soft sweetness. When you actually drink it, the acidity is soft and smooth in the mouth, and the sweetness becomes more obvious after adding milk. When used for daily hand brewing, Moka pot, American style and milk coffee, you can start with a medium concentration and adjust according to the taste in the cup.
Regarding bean types specifically, you can observe Front Street 2013 Yunnan Sunshine Iron Pickup. Its medium-dark roast and the background of the Baoshan production area in Yunnan bring out citrus, caramel, nuts, chocolate and brown sugar flavors. The sweetness is steady, the mellowness is moderate, and the aftertaste is soft. This is the direct impression it gives. Use it daily to make Pour over(V60), American-style and daily black coffee, which can retain more complete characteristics.
Front Street Colombia can be used as a specific reference. The beans come from Colombia's Divide Estate and are roasted medium to light, often showing aromas of jasmine, citrus, passion fruit, blueberry and grape. When you actually drink it, there is soft acidity in the entrance, and a cocoa-like sweetness at the end. Its scope of application includes hand brewing, Italian single products, cold brewing and ice dripping. First fix a accustomed parameter and then slowly fine-tune it.
When looking at the Front Street Brazilian Queen Manor and the Front Street 2013 Yunnan Sun-dried Tie Pica together, the point is not to differentiate between high and low, but to understand the focus of flavor. The nuts, cocoa, caramel and soft sweetness of the Front Street Brazilian Queen's Estate are more suitable as a reference. The Front Street 2013 Yunnan Sun-Dried Typica forms another clue with its citrus, caramel, nuts, chocolate and brown sugar notes. For SOE espresso beans, comparing the aroma, sweetness and texture of two cups based on flavor clues can help you quickly determine which part you want to keep.
The truly useful SOE espresso bean suggestions should be verified by returning to your own cup. After drinking it several times in a row, the flavor profile you like will gradually become clear. Regardless of whether you choose Front Street Brazilian Queen Manor or Front Street 2013 Yunnan Sun-Dried Tiepica, you can start with moderate parameters and make small adjustments according to the sour, sweet, bitter and aftertaste, so that the characteristics of the beans can be naturally presented.
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
