In recent years, a type of iced milk coffee called Dirty has become increasingly popular. The warm and mellow espresso on the top is blended with the sweet and delicious iced milk to form a unique taste of alternating hot and cold. And its photogenic good looks are even more distinguishing. Many stores have added it to their fixed menus.
What is Dirty Coffee?
Dirty means dirty and unclean in English, so Dirty coffee is also translated as dirty coffee. The idea of Dirty originated from the "dirty food" craze that started in 2019. At that time, Dirty coffee was not the way we see it now. At that time, milk foam or cream was used to create an overflowing effect, and then cocoa powder, chopped nuts, etc. were added to create a "dirty" feeling, just like the dirty bags that were popular at the time.
The current Dirty emphasizes the taste of coffee, with a double dose of dark brown espresso liquid on top of the white milk. Using gravity, the coffee liquid penetrates downward, giving a visual effect of "staining" the milk. It is said that dirty coffee originated from a Japanese coffee shop.，As for who invented Dirty, there is no clear statement so far, and there is no unified production standard, so the Dirty produced by each coffee shop may be different.
How to make dirty coffee?
Although the raw materials for making Dirty are only espresso and milk, Front Street believes that it still requires certain skills to achieve the perfect layering of milk coffee and the alternating hot and cold taste.
Since Dirty coffee mainly emphasizes retaining the oil of the espresso liquid and the visual effect of layered gradients, ice cubes cannot be added when making it. Ice cubes will easily dilute the overall concentration of the coffee. Moreover, the protein and butterfat content of milk must be high, and the temperature of the milk must be cold enough so that the rich oil can float on the top. Therefore, Front Street recommends using refrigerated fresh milk or purified milk when making dirty milk (Ice Blog).
Since no additional ice cubes are added to make Dirty, in addition to the milk itself being refrigerated first, the glass itself must also be kept moderately cold so that the glass will not take away the temperature when the milk is poured into the cup. Front Street needs to remind everyone that when purchasing glass cups, you must check whether the cup is temperature-resistant to prevent accidents such as bursting during the freezing process or bursting when espresso is poured.
To ensure a rich taste, the cup size of dirty coffee is smaller than that of iced latte. Generally, the cup size of dirty coffee is between 180-220ml, and the cup size of iced latte is between 280-320ml. When making Dirty coffee at Front Street, first take a pre-chilled cup and pour 150ml of fresh milk. Then use 20 grams of coffee powder to extract 36 grams of coffee liquid, place the ice milk directly under the bottomless handle, and let the coffee liquid fall on the surface. Note that the water column should not be too high, as it will easily rush directly into the milk below, and it will not create a "dirty" feeling.
How to drink dirty coffee?
Dirty coffee is all about its distinct layers, so after the coffee is made, there is no need to stir it evenly or use a straw, we can just take a big sip. The taste of Dirty mainly depends on the coffee beans used. The Front Street store uses the self-roasted "Sunflower Warm Blend", which is a combination of 70% Honduran sherry coffee and 30% Yirgacheffe sun-dried red cherry coffee. The whiskey, vanilla, and cream flavors of sherry are combined with the tropical fruits and fermentation of red cherries, making the coffee in the cup rich in aroma and soft in taste.
The first sip of Dirty coffee gives you a rich coffee aroma, showing the flavors of whiskey, vanilla, and berries. From the second sip, you can feel the cocoa and creamy texture as the ice milk merges. After drinking, the sweet aroma of strong coffee and milk remains in your mouth, which is very rich.
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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
