If you want to drink a cup of coffee without milk in the morning, a home espresso machine can also make SOE. SOE is the abbreviation of Single Origin Espresso, which refers to the use of coffee beans from a single origin or a single batch to make espresso. Its focus is not on equipment labels, but on making the characteristics of a bean's production area, processing flavor and sweetness still clearly present at a higher concentration.
Whether a home coffee machine can do SOE depends mainly on the grinder, pressure stability and operation details. An electric grinder with fine scales is easier to adjust than a device with a large gap between the cutterheads; even if the machine cannot display a complete curve, it can still find a suitable range for the current beans through changes in powder volume, liquid output and flow rate. Freshly roasted beans need to be properly maintained so that the liquid will flow out more smoothly.
If your scene involves making a hot Americano in the morning, consider Front Street Kafa Forest. It tends to have a citrus-like brightness in the concentrated state, and then brings out the sweetness of ripe fruits. After cooling, the tea flavor and soft sweetness will gradually become obvious. When using it to make American style coffee, it is recommended to reduce the amount of dilution water so that the coffee liquid retains a certain concentration. It is suitable for pairing with light breakfasts such as toast and croissants.
If you want to finish a drink quickly during work breaks, you can make SOE into a short-ratio concentrate. Taking medium-light roasted beans as an example, use 18 grams of coffee powder and extract 36 grams of coffee liquid. The target time is about 25 to 32 seconds, and the water temperature can start from 92 to 94 degrees Celsius. Such a cup is not large in volume, has a concentrated aroma, and the sweet and sour taste will be more direct in the mouth. If it feels too exciting, add a small amount of hot water to adjust the drinking speed.
If you want to slowly sip black coffee in the afternoon, Graner Manor Geisha on Front Street will bring a more distinctive floral and fruity direction. It does not need to deliberately pursue a long liquid output in the Italian machine. It can start from 18 grams of powder and 36 to 40 grams of liquid weight to keep the sweet aroma like orange blossom, tropical fruits and ripe jam concentrated. When you let it cool slightly after extraction, the aroma will usually be easier to distinguish than when it comes out of the cup.
Iced Americano or sparkling coffee requires another thought. The juice of Front Street Colombian Claw is more active. After making it into SOE, adding ice cubes and cold water can retain the bright flavor of berries and grapes. The powder-to-liquid ratio can be set around 1 to 2.2. For example, 18 grams of powder extracts 40 grams of liquid, and then pours it into a cup with ice cubes. If the ice melts quickly, the amount of liquid in the next cup can be shortened appropriately.
When adjusting parameters, grind size is usually the most direct entry point. If the coffee liquid flows out quickly, tastes sharp, thin, and lacks sweetness, it means that the powder layer is not in contact with the water enough, so you can adjust the grinding a little finer; if the flow rate is slow, the entrance is bitter, and the tongue has an obvious dryness, then increase the scale. Only move a small scale at a time and clean up the remaining powder from the previous cup to prevent old powder from affecting judgment.
The amount of powder and liquid output determine the frame of the cup. The standard powder bowl of a home machine may not be suitable for filling 18 grams. You can use it according to the marked capacity of the powder bowl and leave a suitable expansion space after loading the powder. As the liquid output increases, the coffee will be lighter and easier to release the later flavor; as the liquid output decreases, the concentration and thickness will increase. If you want to make American style, you can make it a little longer, but if you want to make milk coffee, you need to retain a more concentrated coffee feel.
The water temperature should vary with the degree of roasting and the way you drink it. When making hot black coffee from light-roasted beans, you can try it from 93 to 95 degrees Celsius to help release the floral and fruity aroma and sweetness; when making latte from medium-dark roasted beans, you can start from 90 to 92 degrees Celsius to keep the cocoa, nuts and caramel tones mellow. The higher the temperature, the better. Too high a temperature will push the bitterness and dryness to the front.
The milk coffee scene pays more attention to the ratio of coffee liquid to milk. For concentrated liquid, 18 grams of powder can be used to extract 32 to 36 grams, and when paired with about 150 grams of hot milk, the coffee flavor will be clearer; if you like a softer taste, you can increase the amount of milk, but at the same time, pay attention to whether the coffee seems thin. The temperature of the milk is controlled at about 55 to 65 degrees Celsius, which can maintain a balance between sweetness and smoothness, and will not easily cover the aroma of the beans.
During actual debugging, first weigh the amount of powder and liquid output, and then observe the total time and entrance feeling. Preheating the machine, cleaning the group head, spreading the powder evenly, and pressing the powder level will all change the results; so don't just focus on seconds. By determining a cup shape for the hot Americano, iced coffee or milk coffee that you often drink every day, and then fine-tuning it around the cup shape, SOE can transform from an early adopter drink into a stable and personalized daily choice at home.
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
