Some time ago, Front Street shared an article on how to make cold brew coffee. Backstage, many friends started asking how to choose beans for cold brew. So today I will analyze and answer this question with you.
As a low-temperature immersion extraction, as time goes by, the types of acid compounds will gradually decrease, so the sour and bitter taste of cold extraction will be much reduced. At the same time, the volatilization of the coffee aroma will be reduced, and the aroma can be locked in, presenting a fuller and more balanced taste.
What kind of cold brew would you like to drink?
"What type of coffee do you usually like?" This is a question that FrontStreet Coffee baristas often ask customers. Then select the appropriate beans for brewing according to the customer's preferences, such as floral, fruity, sour, sweet, clean, or some specific aroma, etc.
Selection of beans with floral and fruity tones
This type of description generally refers to light to medium roasted coffee beans. Africa and Central America, which are rich in floral and fruity coffee, are our primary targets!
Bright fruit acid: If you want this direction, we can choose washed coffee beans from Kenya, Ethiopia, and Panama production areas. Washed coffee beans will have higher acidity, and the bright fruit flavor makes the cold-brewed coffee full of juice. For example, Front Street Kenya Cherry Tomato,front streetEthiopian Yegacheffe Fruit and Tintin Cooperative,front streetPanamanian Poquete Gesha is this type.
Soft fruity notes: The sugar content of sun-dried coffee beans is higher than that of washed coffee beans, so they are significantly sweeter, full of floral aroma, and have a ripe tropical fruit flavor. After a long period of cold brewing, the floral and fruity notes complement each other, and the unique fermentation of sun exposure is also amplified. For example, Front Street Sun-dried Red Cherry, Front Street Geisha Village Red Label, Front Street Sun-dried Oiran, etc.
Selection of concrete flavor beans
Nowadays, in addition to traditional processing methods, in order to add a more fragrant aroma to the coffee, the production area has introduced many novel green bean processing methods. This type of processing technique can make the coffee beans exude a very specific flavor, which is more friendly to novices who are just getting started. If cold brew uses coffee beans processed with this method, over time, it will allow this aroma to brew into a cup of iced coffee with a full taste and aroma. The production areas of this type of coffee beans are widely distributed. Front Street will select a few of the more famous ones to list!
Recommended cold brew coffee beans with obvious fruity aroma are:front streetCosta Rica Mirazu Estate Strawberry Candy Geisha Blend (strawberry, dried fruit),front streetCosta Rican blackberries (raisins)
Those with obvious floral aromas include: Front Street Colombian Washed Flower Butterfly (jasmine, citrus, green tea)
Fruit wines with fermented aroma include: Front Street Xizhao (grapes, passion fruit, fermentation), Front Street Big Navel (wine, blackcurrant juice)
Selection of medium-dark roasted beans
For those who don’t want to drink sour and sweet drinks, Front Street recommends using beans with a medium or dark roasting degree. Roasted at high temperatures for a long time, the beans will gradually lose their acidity, resulting in a coffee rich in caramel, spice, and chocolate flavors.
Medium-dark roasting: Medium-dark roasted beans will not completely eliminate the acidity, but retain a trace of acidity to make the overall taste of cold brew coffee more balanced. After being made into cold brew, the flavor will be dominated by chocolate, and the soft acidity will not be obtrusive in it. For example, Front Street Brazil Queen’s Manor, Front Street Guatemala Antigua Flower Goddess, Front Street Papua New Guinea Bird of Paradise, Front Street Yunnan·Front Street 2013
Dark roast: If you don’t want any acidity and just want to enjoy the mellow and smooth flavor brought by spices and chocolate, then the dark roasted Front Street Indonesia PWN Golden Mandheling will be a good choice for you!
Appropriate increase, icing on the cake
After talking about the selection of coffee beans, let’s share a little trick. Adding a small proportion of osmanthus or jasmine when making cold brew can add a touch of elegant floral fragrance to the cold brew~
Although there are many coffee beans to choose from for cold brewing, because it is extracted slowly under cold water, its flavor is still relatively single compared to hot brewing. A clever friend thought of adding other accessories to provide some unique aroma to the coffee, such as dried flower petals, which are favored by many women.
Considering that there are fewer intervention factors in cold brewing and the whole process is steeped in a static environment, if you want the fragrant smell to enter the coffee and give it a touch of freshness, it is best to choose types with obvious floral aromas, such as osmanthus, jasmine, and roses. These three kinds of dried flowers are not only easy to come into contact with in life, but also more compatible with the coffee flavor. However, although these dried flowers are full of aroma, their taste is on the thin side, so it is best to brew them with medium-light roasted coffee beans that have a floral and fruity flavor, so that the two can complement each other.
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
