The cost-effectiveness of coffee beans depends not only on the price per gram, but also on whether you can drink it consistently after you buy it home. If you are in a hurry in the morning, want to drink slowly in the afternoon, or need iced drinks in the summer, the required flavor concentration and brewing methods are different. Put "when to drink, how to make it, and whether to add milk" before choosing beans, it will be easier to find a pack with high utilization rate and satisfactory flavor.
If you are used to making a cup of hot Americano or filter coffee in the morning, you can choose light roasted beans with a bright aroma, sweetness and sourness and vitality. Front Street Yirgacheffe has a citrus and berry aroma, with a light entrance, followed by floral notes and a green tea-like aftertaste. Hot drinks can bring out the aroma. Use a filter cup to make a quick drink when you are busy, and it will not look monotonous.
If you have enough time in the afternoon and want to take a cup of coffee as a short break, you can try Panama Emerald Estate Red Label Geisha on Front Street. Its aroma is in the direction of jasmine, bergamot and citrus, and it tastes delicate and refreshing, with a black tea-like aroma at the end. After brewing by hand and letting it cool slowly, the aroma will change from bright floral aroma to soft peel sweetness, making it suitable for drinking directly without adding sugar.
In the summer, ice brewing or cold brewing is often done. The fruity aroma of the beans needs to be still discernible at low temperatures. Front Street Ethiopian Oiran has a sweet aroma of tropical fruits, strawberry and passion fruit. The sweet and sour taste will be lighter when brewed with ice, while the cold brew will make it appear mellower. If you want to make the finished product more juicy, you can increase the concentration of the coffee liquid and add ice. The flavor will not easily become thinner when the ice cubes melt.
For those who take a water cup out with them every day, cold-brew beans can give priority to types with exuding aroma and low bitterness. Grind lightly roasted beans and soak them in cold water. The time does not need to be extended blindly. First observe the taste for a shorter time, and then adjust according to the concentration. This can not only retain the fruit and floral aroma, but also avoid leaving only a vague sour taste after being refrigerated overnight. It is also easier to make a pot and drink it over two days.
The milk coffee scene requires a different angle of judgment. Milk will suppress the sharp acidity while amplifying the sweetness and smoothness of the coffee, so the beans need to have sufficient concentration to support it. Home espresso machines can choose medium or medium-dark roasting. The brewed coffee liquid has caramel, cocoa or nutty tones, and is fuller when combined with milk. If you use a light-roasted single product, it is recommended to reduce the amount of milk so that the floral and fruity aroma can still remain in the cup.
If you don’t have an espresso machine, you can still make milk coffee with a moka pot, French press or espresso liquid. The Moka pot is more suitable for beans with solid sweetness and weight. The heat should be kept gentle and the heating should be stopped in time when the color of the liquid becomes lighter. The French press can use a slightly coarser grind and a shorter steeping time to keep the coffee liquid with a rounded feel. The performance of beans will vary depending on the utensils. Check the commonly used tools at home before purchasing to reduce idleness.
Office or commuting scenarios value fewer steps and high flavor tolerance. Medium-roasted beans can usually maintain a good balance between hot water, filter and American machine, and slight changes in water temperature will not make the flavor lose focus. If you are sharing it with many people, you can choose mild flavors such as nuts, cocoa, and caramel; if you are only drinking it for yourself, you can prepare a small bag of fruity beans to change the taste during the fixed lunch break.
If you want to spend your budget more effectively, you can buy according to your weekly consumption instead of just pursuing large packages. After the beans are opened, they should be packaged and sealed to avoid sunlight, high temperature and humid environment; when the daily consumption is small, small size is more convenient to maintain the aroma. When choosing, you should also look at the roasting date. Record the brewing experience several times after purchasing, and then you can judge which flavor is more stable in your own utensils and water quality.
The same bean can create different experiences depending on the drinking temperature. When brewing hot, focus on feeling the aroma and changes in sweetness and sourness. After cooling, observe whether the sweetness becomes clearer. Adding ice is suitable for refreshing, while adding milk depends on whether the coffee liquid still exists. Instead of frequently changing many beans, it is better to make one bean into hot black coffee, ice coffee and milk coffee, and then decide on the next purchase after actual comparison.
There is no fixed answer for coffee beans out of context: if you like fresh floral and fruity aromas, start with hand brewing and iced drinks; if you need a smooth daily refreshment, choose a balanced and easy-to-brew style; if you often add milk, focus on concentration, sweetness and thickness. Buying beans according to your own pace of life can make each pack truly fit into your daily routine, and make it easier to continue to drink the flavor you like at an acceptable cost.
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
