For more knowledge about specialty coffee, please pay attention to: Front Street Coffee (Frontsteet Coffee）
Espresso is the soul of Italian coffee, commonly known as espresso. As the name suggests, it comes from Italy, with high concentration and strong taste. A good cup of Kung Fu coffee is like a good cup of base wine. It can be used to make any fancy coffee. The most popular cappuccino and the most common latte are both made with Kung Fu coffee. However, many people in Italy drink espresso directly. Let’s talk about the correct way to drink espresso on Front Street Street.
Single espresso
Generally, the amount of powder for one serving of espresso is about 1 ounce (30ml). When ordering at a coffee shop, you don’t say espresso, but say shot. “Shot” is the unit of espresso, and one shot means one serving of espresso. If you think 30ml is too little, then you can say double shot, which means double espresso, which is about 2 ounces.
Espresso is very strong. The concentration measured by Front Street's concentration meter is about 9-11%, while the concentration of Pour over(V60) coffee is usually about 1.3%, so most people will feel very bitter when drinking espresso, and they don't know why they drink it.
In Italy, many people choose to drink espresso, mainly because it is a cheap way to replenish caffeine. However, after it spread from Italy, espresso also began to pay attention to flavor and taste.
What's the drink for espresso?
Espresso coffee cannot distinguish different flavors at different stages of high, medium and low temperatures like Pour over(V60) coffee. After all, a serving of espresso coffee is only about ten or twenty grams, and it will be finished before it reaches low temperature. Secondly, because extracted espresso coffee is a high-concentration coffee that is quickly extracted using extremely finely ground coffee powder at high temperature and 9 bar pressure. It has a strong taste and stimulates the taste buds in the mouth, so people who drink espresso coffee pay more attention to the aroma, taste and aftertaste of this cup of coffee.
Cleanliness and balance are the Achilles heel of a cup of coffee! Cleanliness refers to the fact that this cup of coffee does not have unpleasant flavors such as odor and astringency. Balance means that the flavors of the entire cup of coffee can be coordinated with each other/in a harmonious state, giving people a comfortable and pleasant feeling without any abruptness.
Where does the taste come from? The layer of crema on the espresso. Espresso is extracted under high pressure. The carbon dioxide in the coffee powder will become supersaturated due to too much pressure. Since it cannot be released, the carbon dioxide is integrated into the coffee liquid. When the coffee is extracted and the atmospheric pressure returns to normal, the carbon dioxide still remaining in the coffee liquid encounters the oil in the coffee liquid when it is ready to return to the air, so it is wrapped in the oil and flows into the cup and then gradually returns to the air.
What's the aftertaste? After the coffee reaches the mouth, it is catalyzed by saliva, and the aroma vaporized molecules hidden in the coffee oil are released, passing through the mouth into the nasopharyngeal duct and into the nasal cavity, bringing about an olfactory experience. Many people mistakenly believe that the flavor of coffee is tasted by their taste buds. In fact, taste buds can only distinguish between sour, sweet, bitter, salty and fresh. The aroma felt through the sense of smell and the taste experienced by the taste buds combine to make us think of specific foods, flowers, etc.
How to drink espresso?
Front Street also mentioned just now that although espresso coffee has a strong taste, it will not hinder the overall cleanliness, balance, aroma, and aftertaste of the coffee. So, how can we better appreciate the charm of espresso?
1. Before tasting espresso, we first clean the mouth with clean water/ice water to remove the residual taste in the mouth.
2. Generally, a spoon will be provided when making espresso. Since the concentration of espresso is different when dripping into the cup, it will form a sticky state at the bottom and a thin surface, so you need to stir it evenly to taste the espresso better. Of course, you can also enjoy different tastes and levels without stirring.
3. Then drink the espresso in three to four sips, rub the roof of your mouth with your tongue to feel the touch of the espresso, use both sides of your tongue to feel the acidity of the espresso, and taste the overall state of the espresso using various taste senses.
4. After swallowing the coffee, close your mouth and breathe back to feel the aroma and aftertaste of the espresso. Finally, take a sip of water and feel the sweetness of the coffee on your taste buds.
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
