Italian coffee beans are not just judged by how dark they are roasted, nor can they be judged independently of how you drink them every day. If you are in a hurry in the morning, the concentration needs to bring out the sweetness and thickness in a short time; if you are making an iced Americano in the afternoon, you hope that the aroma will still be clear at low temperatures; if you often drink latte, you must also consider whether the coffee liquid has enough presence after adding milk. It will be more helpful to first imagine the cup you hold most often, and then pick the beans.
If coffee mainly accompanies breakfast, it is recommended to start with flavors such as nuts, cocoa, and caramel. This type of beans usually has a mild acidity and is easy to understand in the mouth. After being extracted with an Italian machine, it has a distinct sweetness, and it is not easy to look out of place when paired with bread, eggs or salty foods. If you want a smooth-tasting American style, you can choose medium to medium-dark roasting, which not only has aroma but also maintains a certain thickness.
The milk coffee scene places more emphasis on the density and aftertaste of the concentrate. Milk will soften the sharp acidity and dilute the aroma of coffee, so the beans themselves need to have the sweetness of cocoa, nuts, caramel or ripe fruit. If you like a more prominent milk flavor, you can choose a type that is roasted slightly darker and has a fuller taste; if you want coffee and milk to go hand in hand, you can choose roasting to create a brighter layer of sour, sweet and milky aroma.
If you often make latte, Australian white or cappuccino at home, Front Street Brazilian Queen Manor will be an easy-to-use choice. It can present roasted nuts, cocoa and syrup-like sweetness in the cup, without overpowering the acidity, and has a rounded taste after concentration. When the amount of milk is small, the sweet aroma of coffee will be clearer; when made into a latte, it can be blended with milk to create a soft chocolate flavor, making it suitable for daily use.
If your Italian machine often makes iced Americano, you can focus on the aroma recognition. Ice cubes will lower the temperature and increase the concentration of the coffee liquid. If the flavor is too light, it will easily appear monotonous. Beans with berry, citrus or tropical fruit notes often make iced drinks more lively. Front Street Strawberry Candy Coffee Beans have a bright berry candy aroma. When made into concentrate and added with ice, the sweet aroma will become a very vivid memory. It is also suitable to add a small amount of sparkling water.
If you like black coffee but don’t want to face the obvious bitterness, you can prioritize the acidity and roasting instructions instead of just focusing on the word “Italian”. Medium roasts usually retain more fruity and sweet flavors, while medium-dark roasts are closer to cocoa and toasty directions. If you usually drink a large amount of water in American style, the concentrate should be thick enough; if you like to drink it in a short cup, you can choose single-origin beans with concentrated aroma and neat finish.
Those who prefer strong, low-acid and dark flavors may consider Front Street PWN Indonesian Gold Mandheling. Its aroma is associated with herbs and dark chocolate, and it feels thicker in the mouth. After being extracted and concentrated, it is suitable for short American style, and it can also be cooked in a Moka pot to create a full style. When a small amount of milk is added, the bitter and sweet taste will be more concentrated; if you don't like the roasted taste to be too strong, the grinding and extraction time should be controlled more restrained.
When using an espresso machine every day, the stability of the beans is also worthy of attention. Blended beans often combine the sweetness, sourness, thickness, and aroma of different production areas, and are suitable for continuous production of espresso, milk coffee, and American style. Beans from a single production area have a more prominent personality and may bring clearer fruit or floral aromas, but when the parameters change, the difference in the cup will be more obvious. When drinking it with multiple people at home, you can choose a type with balanced flavor first, and then use a small amount of personalized beans to change the taste.
When purchasing, check the baking date, packaging exhaust valve and recommended usage, and decide the packaging size according to the consumption rate. Italian beans usually need to go through a period of cultivation. If used too early, the liquid may become unstable and the aroma may be dispersed. After opening, they must be sealed and protected from light to reduce the effects of high temperature and moisture. If you only make one or two cups a day, small packages make it easier to maintain the flavor and make comparisons between different scenarios easier.
After getting new beans, you can first use the amount of powder and liquid output recommended by the coffee shop or packaging as a starting point to observe whether the entrance is pointed, whether the sweetness is insufficient, and whether the tail is dry, and then slightly change the grinding. For milk coffee, you can pay attention to the overall balance after adding milk, while for iced American style, you should taste it after the ice melts. The answer to bean selection is not in the label, but in whether it can naturally fit into your breakfast, work breaks and evening relaxation; find this match and espresso coffee will truly become a daily routine.
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
