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If you want to extract a cup of delicious espresso, you need the right coffee beans, the right amount of powder, ratio, time, grinding degree, water temperature and pressure. Although it is very popular to use single-origin coffee beans to extract espresso, if you are a novice in extraction/new to espresso, you can choose to blend coffee beans for extraction.
Advantages of Italian blended coffee beans
The emergence of blended coffee beans is because coffee is a crop, and the terroir and climate of the growing environment every year will have an impact on the taste of coffee. Therefore, in order to avoid the shortcomings of single-origin (i.e., single-producing area) coffee beans from showing an unpleasant taste during pressurized extraction, the characteristics of different flavors in different production areas are expressed in different proportions to make up for each other's weaknesses, and through medium-dark roasting, the espresso can be mellow and stable for a long time.
FrontStreet Coffee currently sells 4 types of coffee beans with different flavor characteristics. You can choose according to your own taste preferences.
"FrontStreet Coffee - Nuanyang Blended Coffee Beans" is a coffee bean with a mainly wine aroma. Made from Ethiopian sun-dried red cherry coffee beans (30%) + Honduran sherry barrel coffee beans (70%), it has a rich aroma of wine, vanilla cream, sweet and sour berries, and the flavor of roasted nuts.
"FrontStreet Coffee-FrontStreet Blend 100% Arabica Coffee Beans": an Italian coffee bean with a nutty aroma. Made from Colombian washed coffee beans (30%) + Brazilian semi-dried coffee beans (70%), it has flavors of nuts, dark chocolate, and caramel.
"FrontStreet Coffee-FrontStreet Commercial Blend Coffee Beans" is an Italian coffee bean that is mainly full-bodied. Made from Robusta washed coffee beans (10%) + Colombian washed coffee beans (30%) + Brazilian semi-dried coffee (60%), it has the flavor of nuts, cocoa, and caramel, and has a high mellowness.
"FrontStreet Coffee-FrontStreet Black Cocoa Blend (100% Arabica) Coffee Beans" is a slightly acidic and mellow Italian coffee bean. Made from Yunnan washed arabica coffee beans (30%) + Brazilian semi-sun-dried coffee beans (70%), it has a soft fruity acid, caramel, and nutty flavor.
espressoNotes on production
The performance of each coffee machine and grinder is different, and there will be certain differences in both pressure and grinding scale, so there are no fixed parameters for accurate grinding scale and thickness. Here we use Front Street commercial blended coffee beans, which are rich in oil and roasted deeply, as a reference.
If it is the initial stage, FrontStreet Coffee recommends an intermediate extraction parameter. You can adjust the data according to the performance of the coffee taste: use 20g powder to extract 40g of coffee liquid at a ratio of 1:2 & 9bar pressure for 25-30 seconds. Make corresponding adjustments based on the actual flavor performance of the coffee after extraction.
The difference in grind size and time will make a significant difference in the flavor of espresso. The coffee machine is very sensitive to the degree of coffee grinding. If the grinding is slightly coarser, the flow rate will be too fast, the extraction time will be shortened, and the coffee tastes thin; if the grinding is slightly finer, the flow rate will be too slow, the extraction time will be lengthened, and the coffee will taste burnt and bitter.
espressoextraction steps
1. Grind and receive powder
Before grinding and collecting the powder, Front Street recommends grinding 1g of coffee beans to remove the remaining coffee powder in the grinder. Then wipe the coffee handle clean and keep the powder bowl free of powder residue and dry. Then start turning on the grinder and start grinding the coffee beans. And use the coffee powder bowl to catch the coffee powder.
2. Powder cloth & filling
The purpose of powder distribution is to ensure that the coffee powder is evenly distributed in the bowl. FrontStreet Coffee recommends using a powder distributor to distribute the powder, which can ensure stability and speed for novices. Place the powder dispenser flat on the coffee powder bowl, rotate it a few times and then pick it up.
The purpose of pressed powder is to reduce the air between particles, increase the density of the powder cake, and resist the impact of water flow in a high-pressure environment. When filling, the direction of force should be vertical to the powder bowl. The best way is to hold your arms vertically and use the strength of your arms to fill. The pressure does not need to be too strong. Just press the coffee powder cake to the concave line in the powder bowl.
3. Pour water into the brewing head
We don’t rush to brew each shot of espresso. First turn on the switch to let the water stored in the water distribution net of the brewing head drain away to ensure that the water temperature is consistent during the extraction process.
4. Fasten the handle and quickly press the extraction button
Gently buckle the coffee handle onto the brewing head, making sure it is fastened to avoid water leakage. After fastening the brewing head, press the brewing button quickly to avoid the high temperature of the brewing head from scorching the surface of the coffee powder. About 4 seconds after pressing the extraction button, thick coffee liquid began to appear at the bottom of the powder bowl. Slowly, several liquid columns merged into one liquid column, and turned from dark brown to golden yellow.
When the electronic scale shows close to 40g of coffee liquid, you can pull down (press) the extraction button to end brewing. At this time, you can see beautiful golden foam floating on the surface. The coffee liquid is rich and viscous to the naked eye, and exudes bursts of aroma.
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
