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When it comes to choosing Italian coffee beans, FrontStreet Coffee focuses first on the freshness of the beans, and then on to the flavor, mellowness, balance of sourness and bitterness, etc. The espresso currently used by FrontStreet Coffee is Front Street Sunflower Warm Italian Blend coffee beans roasted in-house in order to increase the richness and harmony of the coffee taste. What are blended coffee beans? Next, let’s talk about the four Front Street espresso blended coffee beans currently on the shelves and see what the differences are between the blended coffee beans.
Before choosing any Italian blend coffee beans, how do we judge the freshness of the coffee beans?
First of all, choose products from professional coffee roasters that clearly indicate the roasting date (not the expiry date or shelf life), have a good brand reputation, and emphasize fresh roasting. In addition, good coffee packaging bags usually have a "one-way exhaust valve" (a small button-shaped hole on the top of the coffee bag) design to allow the coffee beans to discharge naturally occurring carbon dioxide.
Aim the one-way exhaust valve at your nose, gently squeeze the coffee bean bag, and smell the squeezed out gas. If it has a charming and fragrant coffee aroma, the freshness is not a problem. On the contrary, if the smell is not strong enough, or even smells of stinky oil, it means that the bag of coffee has already deteriorated and stale, and you should avoid buying it. Every package of coffee beans sold by FrontStreet Coffee is packaged with a one-way exhaust valve, ensuring that each package of coffee beans reaches the hands of enthusiasts in the freshest state. The reason why Front Street places so much emphasis on fresh roasting is because as time goes by, the coffee will basically lose its aroma after it has been roasted for more than 50 days. Some people may ask, is the fresher the coffee, the better? No, the aroma is not very stable in the first two days after it is roasted.
For espresso beans, due to medium-to-dark roasting, a large amount of carbon dioxide is retained in the body after the beans are roasted. Front Street recommends that the original packaging be kept unopened in a cool, moisture-proof place, and the coffee beans should be allowed to grow in a static state (the process of coffee beans releasing carbon dioxide) for 7 days from the roasting date before brewing.
What are coffee bean blends?
Blend coffee, also known as blended coffee and espresso beans, is to mix various single-origin coffee beans together to fully bring out the advantages of various single-origin coffee beans. The blended beans are mixed from coffee beans from different origins to create a more balanced taste. For example, if a kind of coffee bean is smooth but lacks aroma, you can add another bean with rich aroma. The advantages of individual coffee beans can be used to complement each other and complement or enhance the taste, thereby creating a new and richer taste of coffee. Sometimes the beans are mixed first and then roasted, which is called raw blending; sometimes the coffee beans are roasted and then mixed, which is called cooked blending.
Whether it is pre-mixed green beans, or roasted individually and then mixed. Both methods are acceptable depending on the characteristics of the coffee in the recipe. Post-roast blending provides each bean with varying degrees of roasting so that each ingredient brings out the best in it.
FrontStreet Coffee would like to remind you that before blending beans, you must first know the flavors of different varieties of coffee in the world. Beans have different characteristics depending on the place of origin. This requires roasters to understand the characteristics of coffee beans from multiple production areas to adjust the roasting curve. Different coffee beans have different personalities due to different varieties and origins. There are subtle differences in sour, bitter, sweet, aroma, mellow and other flavors. Single-origin coffee beans often focus on showing the unique characteristics of a certain type of coffee.
Mixing different coffee beans mainly serves the following purposes:
1. Stable flavor
Since coffee beans are a type of crop, even the same kind of coffee beans will have different flavors from year to year, so blending several coffee beans together solves this problem and keeps the taste basically the same every year.
2. Balance the taste
Since an espresso machine has the characteristic of amplifying the most prominent flavor characteristics of the coffee beans, we almost never use a single variety of coffee to make Espresso. Otherwise, if the coffee beans are bitter, the Espresso will be extremely bitter, and if it is too sour, it will be very sour. So we need to balance the flavors through blending.
Front Street currently has four types of Front Street Italian blended coffee beans to meet the different needs of coffee industry professionals and coffee lovers.
1. [Front Street Sunflower Warm Sun Italian Coffee Beans] Honduras: Yerga sun-dried red cherries, ratio 7:3, cooked;
Flavor characteristics: obvious fruit acidity, lingering light berry aroma, rich wine aroma and chocolate flavor, and a pleasant aftertaste.
Front Street Honduran coffee beans give this coffee a rich aroma of whiskey and an aftertaste of liquor-filled chocolate. Front Street sun-dried red cherries bring a sense of fermentation, berry aroma, and smooth entry to this coffee. Since this Front Street Nuanyang blended coffee bean comes in a half-pound package, it is suitable for coffee shops that require a special espresso flavor and higher quality beans, or for espresso enthusiasts who do not use a large amount.
2. [Front Street Premium Blend 100% Arabica] Colombian and Brazilian 3:7 ratio, cooked;
Flavor characteristics: Comfortable sweet and bitter taste, very smooth in the mouth, with a light grassy aroma, a refreshing fragrance with a slightly bitter taste, sweet and smooth, and a refreshing aftertaste.
Coffee beans from the Cymbidium production area in Colombia have a pleasant sour taste, mellow smell, moderate acidity, and rich sweetness that is very intriguing. Coffee beans from the Cerrado production area in Brazil have a comfortable sweet and bitter taste and are extremely smooth in the mouth. This Front Street boutique blend of 100% Arabica coffee is suitable for use in various specialty coffee shops and meets the daily needs of coffee shops.
3. [Front Street Coffee Front Street Commercial Blend] Colombia: Brazil: Robusta;
Flavor characteristics: The taste is classic, with the sweetness of caramel, the flavor of nuts, cocoa, and dark chocolate, a balance of sweet and sour, a little bit bitter, and a long-lasting aftertaste.
Coffee beans from the Cymbidium production area in Colombia have a pleasant sour taste, mellow smell, moderate acidity, and rich sweetness that is very intriguing. Coffee beans from the Cerrado production area in Brazil have a comfortable sweet and bitter taste and are extremely smooth in the mouth. Robusta provides rich oils. This Front Street commercial coffee blend is suitable for coffee shops and beverage shops of all sizes to meet daily shop opening needs.
4. [Front Street Coffee Front Street Black Cocoa Blend (100% Arabica)] Yunnan AA: Brazil;
Front Street Dark Cocoa Blend (100% Arabica) flavor characteristics: soft acidity, caramel sweetness, nutty, dark chocolate flavor, smooth and viscous, but light in taste.
The natural conditions of Yunnan are very similar to those of Colombia, with high altitude and large temperature difference between day and night. The flavor is mellow, with moderate sourness, rich and mellow taste, uniform particles, rich oil content and fruity aroma. Its quality and taste are similar to Colombian coffee. Coffee beans from the Cerrado region of Brazil have a pleasant sweet-bitter taste and are extremely smooth in the mouth. This Front Street dark cocoa blend (100% Arabica) coffee beans is suitable for use in small coffee shops, bakeries, and beverage shops. In addition, this cost-effective Front Street basic Italian blended coffee bean is also very suitable for shop owners and home users who prioritize cost and have average taste requirements.
Below, the Sunflower Warm Italian blend currently used in FrontStreet Coffee stores will be used as the protagonist to demonstrate how to extract a delicious cup of espresso base.
Extracted espresso flavor: smooth taste, medium body, obvious acidity in the entrance accompanied by a light berry aroma, whiskey aroma, rich chocolate flavor, and obvious sweetness.
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
