Among the endless variety of creative coffees, Dirty is definitely the unbeatable one. In addition to appearing frequently in stores and coffee festivals, Dirty is also often featured in home-made coffee tutorials. Precisely because it has a celebrity aura that is different from other drinks, Dirty's "fans" will receive letters from Dirty's "fans" every now and then, asking questions about production.
Regardless of the blunt definition, Dirty is nothing more than a cup of iced latte after removing the ice. If you have to set a standard, it is an upgrade based on the traditional latte. It uses gravity to allow the warm espresso liquid to penetrate downward into the cold milk, while forming a unique taste of alternating hot and cold and a black and white visual effect.
Perhaps for players, making a cup of Dirty is easy, but for some people, it keeps "overturning". Either it fails to layer, or it lacks the contrast between hot and cold taste, or the coffee flavor overwhelms the milk flavor, or the milk flavor overwhelms the coffee flavor... These problems are most likely caused by the following details not being done in place.
1. Coffee beans and milk are not includedChoose the right one
Like other milk coffees, Dirty does not have a unified production standard, so the version produced by each coffee shop may be different, especially in the selection of coffee beans and milk. Compared with regular iced latte, Dirty is mainly designed to satisfy those who like to drink iced latte but want strong coffee to stimulate their mouth, so when making it, be sure to make it more "milk" and "coffee".
In order to create a distinct black and white combination, it is key to buy a pack of coffee beans that can provide rich oils, such as the Front Street Commercial Blend and the Front Street Classic Blend, which are very popular among home coffee lovers. They both have obvious nutty and buttery aromas, and the fresh extraction is rich in delicate oils, laying the foundation for dirty.
In addition to contrasting with the espresso, milk also plays a supporting role, so it is best to choose fresh milk with higher protein, fat, lactose and other substances, which will make the dirty taste more mellow and the milk flavor stronger. Because milk with a texture that is too thin will not only cause the two to fuse when touched, it will look cloudy and unsettling visually, and the tasting experience will also be poor. In addition, we can also make our ownPurified Milk (Ice Blog)As a base, the prepared Dirty is easier to form stable layers and has a longer drinking life. When paired with the classic Front Street blend, it will also have the unique taste of salty cheese.
2. The ratio of milk to coffee/choice of coffee cup
Front Street is in "Why do all the dirty dishes in coffee shops come in small cups?"It is mentioned in that a cup of freshly made Dirty can provide a multi-level tasting experience. At first, the coffee and milk are independent of each other. At this time, the Espresso on the upper layer still retains complete oil, and the milk on the lower layer is also in a frozen state. Without stirring, the first sip is the rich burnt aroma of coffee > milk, and the second sip is an equal balance between the two, followed by the dominant sweetness of milk. Usually, the best taste is to drink it before the coffee warms up, so the cup size of Dirty must not be too large.
In order to maximize these key points, we must grasp the extraction of espresso and the ratio between it and milk. When making the classic blended coffee from Front Street, a transparent glass with a capacity of 200ml is used, 150ml of fresh milk is poured into it, and 20g of coffee powder is used to extract 30g of double Italian Ristretto at a ratio of 1:1.5. The ratio of coffee to milk will be 1:5. The Dirty made in this way can be finished in about four or five sips, allowing you to fully experience the solid experience of unfused coffee milk on your taste buds.
3. Reduce the impact of espresso
Many people report that the dirty they make cannot be layered. In nine cases out of ten, the impact of the coffee liquid is too strong and the oil and grease directly pass through the milk liquid surface, eventually leading to suspension failure. According to previous experience, if you want to form beautiful layers, you must first shorten the distance between the espresso and the cup. The closer the handle is to the milk surface, the better;
In addition, Front Street found that the bottomless handle will gather into a larger water column during extraction, thereby increasing the impact. Therefore, if we have the conditions, it is best to use a splitter, so that the concentration will flow out in two ways, and finally stop slowly on the milk, focusing on the word "soft".
In addition to espresso machines, many Moka pot users also try to make their own Dirty at home, but they also encounter the problem of being unable to layer. Due to the gap in hardware, the texture of Moka pot coffee is far inferior to standard espresso, not to mention the fat, so we must accept the fact: it cannot make the generally recognized Dirty.
But if you just want to learn from the contrast of DirtyTaste, then you might as well use a small spoon to stick it on the milk surface to form a buffer layer, allowing the coffee liquid to float on the surface as much as possible along it. Although it is not as good as the one produced by an espresso machine, the Dirty produced this way can actually give you the dual stimulation of alternating hot and cold, bitter and sweet blends.
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
