Americano can be said to be a type of coffee that many consumers like very much. It is convenient, fast, and can quickly meet the caffeine intake needs of most people. At the same time, it only consists of two parts: water and espresso. It is a kind of black coffee that we often call. Black coffee also reflects the quality of coffee beans and its own taste. Therefore, many "SOE" single-origin espresso is made into Americano, which is like a cup of Pour over(V60) coffee with a fuller taste.
Making American coffee is very simple. The first step is to extract the espresso, and the second step is to add water. But often the simplest things test the barista’s skills the most. Because there are no factors like milk that can change or modify the taste of coffee, Americano is the drink that best allows you to experience the barista’s espresso extraction technology and the store’s quality control capabilities. Many baristas say that when they go to other cafes to explore or replenish caffeine, Americano is their first choice.
However, many customers also report that they drink Americano coffee that is bitter. So is Americano coffee bitter? In fact, in addition to bitterness, coffee also has sourness and sweetness. We can taste the sourness, sweetness, bitterness and saltiness of coffee by relying on our sense of taste. Different varieties, processing methods and other factors affect the proportion of these last few flavors, making it easier for us to perceive one or more of them. For example, Panama's Geisha coffee has a relatively low bitterness, and the SL28 and SL34 varieties adapted to Kenya's high-phosphate soil exhibit a super-high sour aroma.But what would be the reason for excessive bitterness in Americano coffee?The taste of the coffee beans themselvesBlack coffee like Americano is mainly affected by the taste of the coffee beans themselves, so the first reason why Americano is bitter is that you may chooseespresso beansThe taste itself is mainly rich and thick.The strong flavor of espresso beans comes from their rich regional flavor and deeper roasting. For example, FrontStreet Coffee’s Front Street Blend 100% Arabica coffee beans, which mix washed Colombian coffee beans with Brazilian coffee beans. The Colombian coffee beans give this blend the main tone of dark chocolate, and Brazil provides a nutty tone and higher body. The roasters at FrontStreet Coffee roast this blend to a medium-dark roast, giving it a wonderful balance of medium-low acidity and medium bitterness.FrontStreet Coffee stores have used this 100% Arabica coffee bean blend for many years, and it was not until the end of 2019 that they switched to the Nuanyang blend. Compared with the Front Street 100% Arabica blend, the Nuanyang blend coffee beans are less bitter and more acidic, and the flavor tends to be liquor-filled chocolate. This is an example of how bean selection affects the taste of American coffee.In addition to bean selection, the bitterness of American coffee also comes from errors during extraction, such as uneven extraction caused by channeling effect, or over-extraction caused by grinding too finely.
Front Street Coffee Coffee) often shares that based on the weight of the coffee beans, only about 30% of the coffee beans can be extracted, and this 30% does not mean that the more extracted the better, based on the recommended range of the Gold Cup Criteria, the extraction is about 18% to 22% It is most suitable. If it is less than 18%, we call it under-extraction. Under-extraction is manifested in the sour taste of the coffee, and the taste is bland. If the extraction exceeds 22%, we call it over-extraction, which is what we often call over-extraction. Over-extraction is usually characterized by strong bitterness.
In order to ensure the stability of the coffee and the taste of the coffee every day are within the ideal range, the baristas of FrontStreet Coffee need to adjust the parameters of the espresso before opening the door every day, based on the daily status of the coffee beans. For example, today the barista at the FrontStreet Coffee store adjusted the parameters to extract 35% coffee liquid with 20g of coffee powder, and the extraction time is 25 seconds. Compared with the previous extraction of 40g of coffee liquid with 20g of coffee powder, today’s parameters reduce the bitterness by reducing the tail section, achieving a more balanced 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
