Perhaps many people have had this experience: when they first came into contact with coffee, they received expensive coffee beans from enthusiasts around them. Although they did not know much about them, when they saw many industry-specific terms such as "TOH", "BOP", "CoE", "green bean competition", "...place", "champion" and other industry-specific terms on the information card, they could probably guess that they were of extraordinary value, so they were always cautious when brewing, but in the end they were still unsatisfactory.
So when we are faced with a pack of expensive coffee beans, what parameters and techniques should we use to avoid washing it and avoid wasting it?
Why are these coffee beans so expensive?
From Front Street's point of view, whether the high-priced coffee beans are worth it is a matter of opinion. The birth of good coffee, from the planting of a seed to roasting and brewing, every step will affect the final result.
Compared with ordinary single products, expensive coffee beans are usually given the title of "top quality". First of all, they have outstanding flavor performance, which is in sharp contrast with other varieties. Then there is the scarcity of production, coupled with a series of publicity and marketing, such as competition awards, auctions, origin stories, etc., combined to create its high price.
For the vast majority of consumers, there are two main purposes for drinking coffee. One is to refresh themselves, and the other is the taste. At this time, good taste and low price are the key, so they rarely spend a lot of money to buy "top-quality coffee" that they are not familiar with at all. But it is undeniable that some expensive coffees do stand at the top of the quality pyramid, with richer complex aromas and layers. For baristas or players who pursue the flavor ceiling, the ultimate experience brought by this type of top coffee has irreplaceable value. If you don’t want to waste them, you need to pay attention to the following three details.
1. It shouldn’t be too fresh, but it should be fresh while it’s fresh.
Front Street has always emphasized the freshness of coffee beans, because after the coffee beans are roasted, the aroma substances will continue to dissipate over time, and there will be basically no flavor in about 50 to 60 days. Therefore, in order to ensure that every customer can drink the freshest coffee, every package of coffee beans sold by Front Street is shipped within 5 days after roasting. Therefore, after everyone gets it, they have enough time to feel the delicious taste of the beans in the full aroma state. Assuming that the coffee beans you got have been for a while (more than 30 days), you should consume them quickly, otherwise no matter how expensive the beans are, they will eventually become bitter water with only the flavor of coffee.
Some friends also say that the coffee they brew is fresh, but after drinking it, their throats will feel dry and choked, or the taste will be bland and prone to astringency. There is a general sour and bitter taste, but the aroma is not rich enough. This is because the carbon dioxide gas in the coffee beans is too rich, which hinders the release of coffee flavor substances during brewing.
At this time, Front Street recommends growing the beans first. After roasting the coffee beans, the roasting smell that makes the throat uncomfortable will become less obvious on the 4th day, and then on the 7th day, the flavor will begin to become fuller. Therefore, in order to improve the flavor performance of too fresh coffee beans, Front Street is accustomed to resting the medium-dark roasted coffee beans for 4 to 6 days, and the medium-light roasted coffee beans for 7 to 8 days.
2. Understand the basic information of coffee beans
We need to be clear that regardless of price, coffee beans can be roughly divided into light to medium roasts dominated by sourness and medium to dark roasts dominated by bitterness, so Front Street’s brewing plan will always focus on these two directions. You only need to determine which category the coffee beans belong to, and then check in according to the following table.
Some people may have noticed that many coffee roasting brands, including Front Street, do not indicate the "roasting degree" information on the packaging, which leaves many novices scratching their heads. This is because each store has a different understanding and definition of roasting degree. However, for us ordinary consumers, it is actually very simple to distinguish between light, medium and dark roasting degrees. Just look at the flavor description.
For example, the most expensive item sold on Front Street is the Front Street Jade Manor Red Label Geisha, which is light brown to yellowish brown in color. Its flavors include citrus, compound fruit, peach and plum, jasmine, and berry. The descriptors are all fruity and floral, which means it is a medium-light roasted type;
Front Street Blue Mountain No. 1, known as the coffee king, is dark brown to the naked eye, and its flavor is chocolate, fried nuts, cream, caramel and other roasting characteristics, so it is a relatively standard medium-dark roast type;
There is also a type like Front Street Bolivian Java, which is brown. It is characterized by the sour flavor of floral and raisins, as well as the milky characteristics of nuts and cocoa. This means that it can be classified as medium-light roasted to medium.
3. Improvement in details
Different coffee beans have different personalities. If you want to make the flavor even better, the parameters must be fine-tuned appropriately according to the original framework as a basic reference.
As mentioned above, many expensive coffee beans have more outstanding flavors, such as Front Street Jade Geisha, Front Street Geisha Village Gold Label, TOH Guji, etc., which have fragrant floral and fruity aromas. In most cases, these beans are more resistant to extraction during brewing, so more "extreme" parameters can be used to squeeze out their essence.
Medium light roasted coffee is represented by Front Street Emerald Red Label Geisha
When brewing this Gesha, Front Street will adjust the grinding degree, powder-to-water ratio, and technique. Compared with conventional light roasted beans, Front Street Jade Red Label Geisha contains more complex aroma substances, so more water can be used to increase the extraction rate of coffee and enhance the light flavor expression. In this way, the powder to water ratio changes from the original 1:15 to 1:16.
As light-roasted beans at high altitudes, Front Street Jade Red Label has a hard texture and is easy to sink to the bottom and block the drain holes. At this time, the grinding can be appropriately coarsened, from the original No. 20 screen pass rate of 80% to 78%. The corresponding scale of the EK43s grinder is 10.3 grids (the scale of the C40 grinder is 27 grids).
Since the heating time of Geisha is relatively short and the water absorption effect is poor, only 25ml of hot water is used to steam the coffee powder, and it is enough to ensure that the coffee powder is completely moist and exhausted for 30 seconds. After steaming, enter the second stage and control the water injection to 120ml, injecting from the middle outward to raise the powder layer.
Then wait for the water level to drop. Under normal circumstances, the water level drops at a constant and slow speed, reaching one-third of the powder layer in about 1 minute 10 seconds to 1 minute 15 seconds. You can see that a "bowl shape" has been formed;
At this time, pour the remaining 95ml of hot water around 1/2 of the liquid surface. The rest is done after the coffee liquid drips into the lower pot and then the filter cup is removed. The time is about 2 minutes to 2 minutes and 05 seconds.
Medium-dark roasted coffee is demonstrated by No. 1 Blue Mountain on Qian Street.
Medium-dark roasted coffee takes longer to heat and produces more bitter substances, but for high-grade coffee beans like Front Street Blue Mountain No. 1, it also means a richer aroma that provides sweetness. In order to make the coffee have a more obvious aftertaste, Front Street usually adjusts the water temperature, powder-to-water ratio and technique at the same time.
If we want to create a high sweetness, we still increase the amount of water to improve the extraction of substances, and the powder to water ratio becomes 1:16. The powder-to-water ratio takes into consideration that dark roasted beans tend to have a burnt and bitter taste, and manual brewing requires slow work and meticulous work. If too extreme parameters are used, the coffee may be over-extracted accidentally, so the water temperature used to brew Front Street Blue Mountain No. 1 is 2°C lower than that of ordinary medium-dark roasted coffee, that is, 85~86°C.
In terms of technique, Front Street will divide 225ml of hot water into 4 sections and inject it multiple times to increase the layering of the coffee.
First, steam 30ml of hot water for 30 seconds. You can see that it will form a round bulge; then inject the second section of 80ml from the center to the outer ring. After the injection, the liquid level is about 3/5 of the filter cup;
When the water reaches halfway, continue to pour 70ml of water in the third section, keeping the circle the size of a coin; when the water in the filter cup almost bottoms out, you can fill in all the remaining 60ml of hot water.
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
