SOE, this word is often seen in coffee shops in recent years. What is SOE? How can you make a satisfying cup of SOE when you suddenly want to drink?
What is SOE?
The full name of SOE is "Single Origin Espresso", which means single origin espresso. This concept exists relative to blended espresso. To put it bluntly, SOE is the general term for espresso coffee from a single production area where cooked beans are produced. It does not provide a general explanation of green bean varieties, roasting information, and extraction plans, nor does it represent the quality of any coffee beans. Italian extraction is just a method of extraction, and it does not guarantee that it will taste good!
Because espresso will amplify the flavor in the coffee, whether good or bad, and single-origin coffee comes from a single origin, so its shortcomings are relatively easy to amplify. Therefore, factors such as roasting and particle size will affect the flavor. Therefore, if you want to make a delicious cup of SOE, you need to have certain requirements for various technologies. At this point, blended coffee beans can have a more stable performance.
Now that the quality of coffee beans has improved in general, more and more coffee shops are starting to use soe coffee beans as a gimmick. In order to allow customers to drink the difference between soe and ordinary blended coffee, the coffee beans must not only be selected, but also roasted to a lighter degree, so that it no longer tastes burnt and bitter, but has a sweet and sour taste.
Will lightly roasted SOE taste sour?
In the past, there were many arguments that light-roasted beans were not suitable for making espresso, and would be sour and unpleasant to drink. It is true that espresso made from lightly roasted beans will be more acidic than dark roasted beans. This is an attribute based on the degree of roasting. Another point is that the espresso extraction scheme is fixed. In manual brewing, the brewing parameters of light roasted and dark roasted coffee beans are distinguished. In Italian style, extraction is still based on the common scheme, and the sour taste is also reasonable. If you want to extract good-flavored espresso, you need a clear idea.
One thing that many friends don't understand is what you use to extract the espresso, whether you drink it directly, mix it with water, or add milk. This will affect the entire extraction plan. For example, if you drink it directly, the espresso needs to be softer; if you add water, the espresso flavor needs to be more comprehensive; if you add milk, the espresso needs to be stronger.
(Then why do dark roasted coffee beans not need to pay attention to these? In fact, the same should be paid attention to, but many times one parameter meets the three types of drinks, so there is no need to come up with 2-3 sets of extraction plans. This is why it is said to use medium-dark roasted coffee beans to make espresso, because it saves worry.)
Apply the extraction formula firstStill use the same standard formula as usual to adjust the grinding degree. This formula is a powder-to-liquid ratio of 1:2 and a time of 25-30 seconds. The reason for using this formula first is to determine a grinding degree first. Although you may still need to fine-tune the grinding degree later, the difference in grinding degree will not be too outrageous.(If you usually use medium-dark roasted Italian beans, then grinding light-roasted soe basically has a finer grinding scale. For example, the Nuanyang blending grinding scale used daily in Front Street Street is 2.1. For the same powder ratio and time, the grinding degree for light-roasted Kenyan coffee is 1.6. And because of the density change caused by roasting, the volume of light-roasted coffee powder will be smaller than that of dark roast of the same weight. Therefore, you should also determine the final amount of powder according to the capacity of your own powder bowl.)
Adjust to flavor and purposeCoffee extracted using a general formula won’t have much problem with grinding and flow rate. If there is a problem with flavor, you need to take appropriate measures.
For example, the most common problem is that it is too acidic and the aftertaste is too short. Generally, this problem is best solved by first observing whether the flow rate of the grinding degree is reasonable. For example, at what second does the first drop of coffee liquid come out? If it is 4-5 seconds, you can adjust the grinding degree to a finer size. If it is 7-8 seconds, then there is no need to adjust it.
The next step is to extend the extraction volume, usually by 10-15g. Because the sharp acidity and short aftertaste of coffee liquid are mainly caused by the low extraction rate of coffee beans. Increasing the extraction amount of coffee will make the taste of espresso less exciting, gradually balancing and highlighting the sweetness. Of course, this method will make the concentration of coffee lower, and is generally suitable for drinking directly or mixing it with water to make American style. For example, the extraction parameters of Front Street using Kenyan coffee beans are 20.6g to extract 55g of coffee liquid in 34 seconds. Drink it directly with a soft and berry sweetness, and make it American-style with full, solid plum and tomato acidity.
To make milk coffee, the grinding degree is often adjusted to a finer level to make up for the low extraction rate. Follow-up adjustments should not be framed by the data through the formula. Even if the extraction time exceeds 30 seconds, the milk coffee produced will be delicious. This is to solve the problem of insufficient coffee flavor in soe milk coffee. If there is sourness in the milk coffee, it still needs to be extended to solve the problem.
The second common problem is that the coffee liquid extracted using the formula has an unpleasant taste, such as grassy, almond, burnt and bitter taste, etc. It is best to use the method of dividing into three to examine the problem. If the target coffee liquid extracted is 40g, then we use three cups to catch about 13g of coffee liquid in the front, middle and back sections respectively. Taste which of the three cups of coffee has an unpleasant taste. If it's only in the latter part, you just need to reduce the amount of extraction. If you have it in the first or third cup, you need to adjust the grind.
The third problem is that the coffee liquid is too weak and tasteless. This is a problem that many friends have reported to Front Street Street. Front Street also summarized some problems, that is, most friends think that Italian grinding is a fixed value. As long as one bean is adjusted to the scale, other coffee beans can also be used. In fact, this is not the case, so if there is a problem that the coffee liquid is too light and thin, it is usually because the grinding degree is not correct. Of course, if you want light roasted soe beans to be richer than traditional Italian dark roasted beans, they really can't compare.
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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
