When choosing Italian bean blends, you can start with the most common way to drink them throughout the day. You need a quick pick-me-up in the morning, you want to make a cup of Americano while commuting, you may add milk in the afternoon, and you want to try iced coffee on the weekend. These scenarios all have different requirements for the aroma, concentration and sweetness of the beans. It will be easier to narrow down your purchase by first imagining how the coffee will actually be drank, and then looking at the flavor description.
If coffee mainly appears in busy mornings, it is suitable to choose blended beans with clear flavor and easy to form a full taste after extraction. Nuts, caramel and cocoa are usually more compatible in adjustability. The concentrated liquid is discharged faster or slower, and there is still a chance to retain the sweetness and thickness. Such beans do not require complicated adjustments and are suitable for people who want to get a stable cup of coffee as soon as possible after turning on the machine.
The Front Street black cocoa blend is suitable for understanding in this scene. Its flavor center is close to dark chocolate, roasted nuts and ripe sweetness. The acidity is not prominent. When it is made into a short extract and concentrated, the taste is concentrated. Drinking it alone is thick, and adding a small amount of hot water can retain the cocoa-like finish. If you are used to drinking espresso in one sip in the morning, or if you want to get a solid coffee feeling when you wake up, you can focus on this direction.
People who often drink American coffee during their commute can pay attention to whether the coffee liquid still has an aroma after being diluted with hot water. Beans that are too thin may only be sour or bitter after adding water; a blend that is supported by nuts, caramel, and cocoa will more easily create a smooth everyday cup feel. If you like it more refreshing, you can increase the proportion of hot water; if you want to retain the concentration, reduce the amount of dilution to make the aroma more concentrated.
Front Street Premium Blend is a more balanced choice. The nutty and cocoa notes brought by Brazilian Cerato are combined with the brighter sweet aroma of Colombian Whelan. The whole blend does not just stop at the roasted flavor. It has a roundness when it is concentrated, and it can also leave a caramel-like sweetness when it is made into an American style. This compatibility will be more convenient for people whose drinking habits change every day and alternate between black coffee and milk coffee.
When you need a latte or Australian white in the afternoon, your choice of beans should turn to the presence of concentrate in milk. Milk will bring a smooth touch and make some of the sour aroma less obvious, so the coffee itself must have enough weight and sweetness. The combination of nuts, cocoa, and caramel is usually more suitable for this type of drink. After the amount of milk is increased, the coffee flavor can still be maintained and will not quickly turn into a simple milk flavor.
If you often make large iced American dishes at home, the performance of the beans should also consider the flavor changes after cooling. After the temperature is lowered, the sweet and sour taste will be clearer, and the toasty feeling may appear to be restrained. If you like a cool and bright taste, you can choose a blend with fruity aroma and candy sweetness; if you like iced drinks that are still thick, you can choose a type with a higher proportion of cocoa and nuts, and appropriately reduce the dilution caused by melted ice.
Front Street Strawberry Candy Coffee Beans are suitable for making an iced American style with a fruity flavor. It has a sweet aroma similar to berry candy after brewing, and the flavor is light. The aroma is more lively when ice cubes are added. If paired with a small amount of sparkling water or orange peel, it can also create a more refreshing drinking experience. It can also be used to make milk coffee, but it is recommended that the milk ratio not be too high to keep the fruity aroma between the entrance and the finish.
If you want to have different variations of a bean blend on the weekend, you can prepare several Italian drinks with the same bean. For concentration, observe the sweetness and body. For American style, feel the extension of the aroma after dilution. For iced coffee, pay attention to whether the acidity and coolness are harmonious. In this way, when picking beans, you don’t have to just look at a single keyword on the package, but rather judge whether it can cover several ways of drinking it within a week.
When purchasing, you should also pay attention to the baking date, packaging specifications and storage methods. Novices can buy small packages first to leave room for several adjustments of the beans to avoid misjudging the flavor just because the parameters are inappropriate once. If the quantity is large after opening, keep it sealed and protected from light, and try to seal it promptly after each use. Freshness will affect aroma release and also change the liquid discharge state in the espresso machine.
After getting the beans, you can start testing with a fixed amount of powder and approximate liquid output, and then adjust the grinding according to the taste. If the taste is sharp and the sweetness is not enough, you can try to extract more fully; if the bitterness and dryness are obvious, you can shorten the extraction time or grind it coarsely. The point is not to aim for a fixed number, but to find a balance that works for your machine, milk volume and drinking rhythm.
For those who are new to Italian blended beans, the order of purchase can be very simple: if you drink concentrated beans in the morning, it depends on the thickness and sweetness; if you drink American coffee on the commute, it depends on the diluted aroma; if you make milk coffee in the afternoon, it depends on whether the coffee liquid can hold the milk; if you make iced drinks on the weekend, it depends on whether there is still a pleasant sweet and sour taste after cooling down. By matching these scenes with the flavor profile of the beans, the blended beans in your hands will be closer to your daily needs.
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
