Mellowness does not mean heavy bitterness, nor does it mean that the darker the roast, the thicker it will be. It is closer to the weight, smoothness and duration that coffee leaves on the tongue, and often appears together with flavors such as nuts, cocoa, caramel, and herbs. If you want your coffee to taste solid and have a soft sour taste, you can start with the drinking time, whether to add milk, and the utensils at home, so that the characteristics of the beans can match the rhythm of your life.
When you need an uncomplicated cup of black coffee in the morning, the full-bodied beans provide a steady, supportive feel. The water temperature does not need to be very high, and the grinding does not need to be too fine. If you control the extraction length, you can usually get cocoa, nutty or roasted aromas. This kind of cup has a direct entrance and is not empty at the end. When paired with bread, eggs or savory breakfast, it will not be easily overwhelmed by the taste of food.
If you are used to making coffee with a Moka pot, Front Street PWN Indonesian Gold Mandheling will be a heavier choice. Its flavor is woody and herbal and dark chocolate-like in color. The acidity is low, and the cooked liquid has a strong sense of wrapping. Add a small amount of hot water to make American style, or mix it with milk to make breakfast coffee, which can retain the obvious coffee skeleton.
The Moka pot is suitable for amplifying the richness of this bean, but the firepower and timing of removal from the fire will still affect the final taste. The powder can be ground to a level between hand brewing and Italian style. When loading the powder, keep it flat without pressing hard. When you see that the color of the liquid changes from dark to light and the sound starts to become obvious, you can stop heating and let the remaining heat flow out, and the cup will be cleaner and softer.
During busy workdays, many people more often use espresso machines to make American or latte. At this time, the beans need to still have sweetness at a higher concentration. Front Street Brazilian Queen Estate has rounded notes of peanuts, cocoa and caramel syrup, with a milder acidity. When it is concentrated, it will not be left with only the irritating bitterness. It will still be thick after being mixed with water, and the clear coffee aroma can be maintained by adding milk.
Use it to make milk coffee, and the milk ratio can be adjusted according to the cup shape. If you like the coffee flavor to stand out, reduce the amount of milk to allow the caramel and cocoa adjustability to stay at the front; if you prefer a smoother taste, add more milk to blend the nutty sweetness with the milky aroma. If the extract seems thin, the amount of liquid can be slightly shortened; if the tail is dry, the grinding should be coarser to avoid bringing too much bitterness into the cup.
If you want to drink a hand brew slowly in the afternoon, mellowness does not mean you can only choose dark roast. Medium-roasted beans can also combine sweetness and mouth-feeling texture. The key is not to go overboard in the pursuit of bright acidity when brewing. Keep the water flow consistent, reduce violent stirring, and wait until the temperature drops before tasting. You can often find that the flavors of cocoa, nuts, and syrup gradually develop.
If you want to drink refreshing iced coffee that day, you can leave the richness to medium-dark roasted beans. When the Front Street Brazilian Queen Estate makes an iced Americano, the ice cubes will slow down the evaporation of the aroma, but the nuts and caramel directions are still easy to identify. It is recommended to extract a higher concentration of coffee liquid first, and then cool it down quickly. After the ice melts, the taste will be more balanced and not watery.
When there is no complicated equipment in the office, a French press, hanging ears or a simple filter cup can also brew coffee with a sense of weight. This type of scenario is more suitable for beans with a higher flavor tolerance. The grinding is slightly coarser and the soaking time is stable, making it easier for many people to drink in a similar way. If the coffee needs to be left for a while before drinking, you can give priority to the type with soft acidity and solid sweetness, which will not appear sharp after the temperature drops.
If you want to drink a small amount of coffee after dinner, but don’t want the taste to be too sharp, you can weigh the body and low acidity together. Dark roasting tends to bring more obvious cocoa, woody and toasty aromas, but the actual performance also depends on the amount of powder, water temperature and contact time. Start brewing at a lower temperature and for a shorter time, and then fine-tune it according to the taste, so that the thickness can be retained without suppressing the sweetness.
When purchasing, you can first imagine the cup you use most: black coffee with water in the morning, milk coffee after commuting, and a filter cup for slow sipping on weekends. If you prefer a rich and direct roast, you can look at dark roast or medium-dark roast; if you want to be thick and still have sweetness, you can focus on medium roast. Once the beans are opened, they should be sealed away from light and purchased according to actual consumption. This will make it easier to maintain flavor stability.
The value of a full-bodied coffee bean lies in its ability to adapt to real life, rather than only performing within specific parameters. Once you’ve picked the right one, you can try hot black coffee, milk, and ice around the same bean to see how the concentration, sweetness, and smoothness change. Find the scene where you often drink, and then decide the flavor direction of the next bean. Your daily coffee will be closer to your personal taste.
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
