Hand-brewed coffee does not necessarily have to go the bright acid route. If you prefer a smooth, thick cup with a nutty and cocoa flavor, you can start with beans that are medium to medium-dark roasted, and then choose according to the scene such as morning, work break, weekend slow drinking or adding milk. The coffee selected in this way will have a flavor closer to daily life and will be easier to get used to.
When you need a quiet, non-irritating cup of black coffee in the morning, Front Street Papua New Guinea Bird of Paradise is the place to go. Its acidity is restrained, the entrance is rounded, with soft sweetness and clean texture. When you drink it, the sharp fruit acid will not steal your attention. Use a filter cup to make a hot drink. After the temperature drops slightly, the taste will become softer, making it suitable for a simple breakfast.
If your breakfast is more substantial, with toast, eggs or cream pastries and you need a supportive cup of coffee, Front Street's Brazilian Queen Estate will be more in tune. You can feel the sweet aroma of roasted nuts, cocoa and caramel in the cup, the acidity is not high, and the taste is also thick. When brewing by hand, you don’t need to pursue an overly clear flavor. Let the coffee retain its roundness and get along more naturally with food.
If you need to make a quick cup before work and want a distinct dark flavor in your black coffee, consider the Front Street Dark Cocoa Blend. The aroma of dark chocolate, roasted nuts and caramel will make the cup appear calm, and the low acidity is also suitable for people who don't like the taste of juice. When brewing by hand, you can use a higher ratio of powder to water to make the concentration more sufficient; if you also drink Italian style, it is also convenient to combine concentrated and American style.
Coffee between work sessions doesn’t need to be too light, nor does it need to be overly complicated. At this time, you can choose beans with clear flavor lines and easy to understand in the mouth, brew them in a smaller capacity, and drink them in about ten minutes. The nut adjustability of Brazilian Queen's Manor is relatively stable in the hot drink state. Even without repeated tasting, you can still feel the sweetness and smoothness. It is suitable for use in the office as a common bean.
If you want to drink it slowly in the afternoon, but are worried that the sourness will become obvious as the temperature changes, you can make the Bird of Paradise a little stronger and wait a while to drink it. Its flavor does not just stop at the sweet and sour taste, it still retains its soft sweetness and rounded taste even after the temperature drops. Using medium-to-coarse grinding and gentle water injection can release the aroma more calmly, making it suitable for tasting slowly while reading or chatting.
When the weather is hot, low-acid beans can also be made into iced hand brews, but the brewing idea must take into account both the concentration and the dilution of ice cubes. The nutty, cocoa and caramel aromas of Brazil's Queen's Manor will become more refreshing after being chilled, and the acidity will not pop out suddenly. You can reduce the amount of brewing water, put the coffee directly on the ice cubes, and then gently shake it after the ice cubes melt, the taste will be more complete.
If you are used to adding a small amount of milk to Pour over(V60) coffee, the dark cocoa blend will perform better. The dark cocoa and roasted nut flavors of the coffee itself can pass through the soft texture of the milk, and it tastes like a fusion of cocoa, nuts and coffee. It is recommended to make the coffee liquid stronger first, and then add warm milk; the milk should be controlled in an appropriate amount, and the coffee flavor will be clearer.
When serving multiple people at home, choosing medium-roasted beans with a balanced flavor is often easier to accommodate for different tastes. Some people prefer the clean feeling of black coffee, while others like to add sugar or milk. Papua New Guinea's Bird of Paradise and Brazil's Queen's Manor can both be considered for such scenarios. The former is softer and cleaner, while the latter has more prominent sweetness and thickness. It can be decided according to the family's preference for taste.
Low acidity does not mean the coffee needs to be brewed very dark or very bitter. When brewing by hand, you can first use milder water and moderate grinding to allow the powder layer to absorb water evenly and observe whether there is sweetness and thickness in the mouth. If there is obvious dryness in the cup, you should usually reduce excessive stirring and shorten the contact at the end; if the taste seems thin, gradually fine-tune the grinding to allow for more complete extraction.
After you buy the beans home, the frequency of drinking them will also affect your choice. Those who drink it every day can choose beans with high flavor recognition and broad scene adaptability, such as Black Cocoa Blend or Brazilian Queen's Estate; those who drink it only on weekends can choose Bird of Paradise to allow time to feel the layers brought about by temperature changes. Keep it sealed, away from high temperature and moisture when storing, and grind it freshly before brewing. The sweetness and aroma in the cup will be clearer.
The key to choosing Pour over(V60) beans that are not sour is not to completely eliminate the sourness, but to find the sourness range that you are comfortable with and the flavor weight that can accompany your life. Soft and round is suitable in the morning, stable and thick when working, mild and durable in the afternoon, and refreshing in hot weather. Filtering according to these actual scenarios, coffee beans will transform from a string of flavor words into a cup of coffee that you are willing to brew every day.
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
