Friends who like milk coffee know that what we call latte on a daily basis actually refers to a popular coffee drink that is a combination of espresso and milk. Due to the addition of milk, the originally strong and bitter espresso becomes sweet and delicious, and at the same time, friends who don't usually drink coffee find it "really delicious".
We know that for different market demands, the flavor performance and positioning of espresso beans are also different. Speaking from experience in extraction, Front Street recommends choosing Italian blended coffee beans with higher stability. Blended products usually combine flavors from different production areas, and are roasted to medium or above, which makes it easier to extract rich oils (coffee beans with high oils are more suitable for making milk coffee). In this way, the concentrated taste we make is thick and rich, and the fault tolerance rate is higher.
For example, Front Street has an espresso coffee bean called Front Street Commercial Blend, which is composed of 90% Brazilian and Colombian Arabica coffee beans and 10% Vietnamese Robusta coffee beans. The espresso produced is not only rich in golden oil, but also has a fragrant and bitter traditional Italian tone. Front Street positions it for use by some large commercial cafes.
Front Street noticed that in addition to the common blended coffee, there is currently an increasingly popular category on the menus of many coffee shops, and that is SOE coffee.
SOE is the abbreviation of "Single Original Espresso", which literally means single origin espresso, obviously to distinguish it from Italian blended coffee (House Blend Espresso). It is not difficult to find that SOE, which advocates a single origin, often uses beans with a lighter roasting degree, in order to present a rich and light taste that is different from traditional bitter coffee, such as the citrus lemon tone of Ethiopian beans, the raisin honey flavor of Costa Rica, the sour tomato berries of Kenya, the floral honey flavor of Panama Geisha, etc. The higher the recognition, the easier it will be for consumers to remember the characteristics of SOE, but from a cost perspective, the price of higher quality single-origin beans will be relatively higher.
When we use lightly roasted coffee beans to concentrate, because the roasting time of the coffee beans is shorter, the internal texture is harder, and the flavor is more difficult to fully release. After adding milk, it will be even more bland and tasteless. Therefore, various parameters need to be adjusted to improve the extraction rate, such as extending the extraction time, increasing the water temperature, finer grinding, increasing the portion size, etc. The difficulty level is much higher than that of dark roasted beans. Front Street believes that in order to present the unique style of SOE, every link is indispensable: high-quality coffee beans, appropriate roasting level, corresponding grinding parameters, and proper extraction.
Precisely because the degree of roasting of this type of coffee beans is much lighter than that of traditional Italian coffee beans, the purpose of making espresso is to express the flavor of the beans themselves, with less bitterness, quiet aroma, and a thinner taste, and not that rich. Therefore, when making latte with this kind of single-origin beans, adding a large proportion of milk can easily cover up the "coffee flavor". When making soe latte at Front Street, the ratio of coffee to milk is 1:5, which can reflect the freshness and sweetness of milk without taking away from the style of soe coffee beans.
Below, Front Street uses the store's permanent item - Milasu Strawberry Candy as the extraction object to demonstrate how to extract a sweet and delicious soe latte. This is a Geisha blend produced from the Mirazu Estate in Costa Rica. It is processed using raisin honey. The extracted espresso shows rich tones of roses, preserved fruits, and strawberry-flavored fruit candies. It is very pleasant whether you add water to make American style coffee or add milk to latte coffee.
The Front Street store uses a Lelit Bianca coffee machine, paired with an espresso grinder Galileo Q18. The coffee machine we usually use at home can actually extract espresso and froth milk as long as the pressure reaches 9 bar.
Strawberry candy ·Extraction parameters of Geisha blend SOE
Coffee Bean: Costa Rica Strawberry Candy
Amount of coffee powder: 20g
Coffee liquid volume: 40g
Powder to liquid ratio: 1:2
Extraction time: 26~32 seconds
Grinding degree: Galileo Q18 scale 2.0 grid
Milk capacity: 200g
Front Street uses a double powder bowl capacity, and the amount of powder is about 18 to 20 grams. When Front Street produces coffee, 20 grams of coffee powder is used. Usually the ratio of coffee powder to coffee liquid is 1:1.5~1:2.5. The extraction ratio of Front Street is 1:2, that is, 20 grams of coffee powder extracts 40 grams of coffee liquid. The time is related to the flow rate of the coffee powder. Generally, the duration of a single extraction is controlled between 20 and 35 seconds, because within 20 seconds, the coffee usually tastes thin, and if it exceeds 35 seconds, it is easy to over-extract and produce a burnt and bitter taste. Most of the enrichments on Front Street are in the range of 28 to 30 seconds.
Before extraction, we need to dry the powder bowl first, turn on the grinder, grind out a double portion of coffee powder, place it on an electronic scale and measure the increase or decrease until it weighs 20 grams. Then use a powder spreader to spread the coffee powder, and use the tamper to press vertically downward to fill the coffee powder cake tightly to ensure more stable coffee extraction.
Then turn on the extraction switch and let in water for 1 to 2 seconds to moisten the brewing head and take away the coffee grounds stuck on it. Place an electronic scale under the cup where the Espresso is connected, return the weight to 0, and place it under the brewing head during extraction. Gently snap the handle onto the brewing head and start turning down the extraction switch. Observe the changes in the extraction liquid. When the electronic scale shows that 40 grams of coffee liquid has been extracted, and the time is about 30 seconds, pull the switch to stop extraction, and pour the extracted espresso into the coffee cup prepared in advance.
Then, pour 200g of low-temperature fresh milk into the milk vat and adjust the angle of the steam wand to start whipping. Pay attention to control the thickness of the milk foam to be 0.3~0.5cm and the temperature to be dense and silky at 55~60°C. After whipping, it will be evenly blended with the coffee liquid, and finally finished with latte art. In this way, a cup of Gesha Blended Soe Hot Latte is completed.
When you taste it on the front street, you can feel the rich floral and fruity aroma of the coffee. Not only are there aromas of berries, pink flowers, raisins, and almonds in the mouth, but also with the coffee oil, this cup of soe latte also has a thick aftertaste of chocolate and hazelnuts, just like eating a cranberry cookie, which is very special.
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
