Italian coffee is a must-have coffee drink in almost every cafe. And Italian coffee is more than just American coffee and latte. In this article, FrontStreet Coffee introduces the cafe’s 10 types of espresso and how to make them.
①Espresso
Espresso is a fast concentrated coffee. Under the action of high steam pressure (about 9 atmospheres), when hot water passes through the coffee powder quickly, the essence of the coffee will be fully extracted, completing a cup of rich, aromatic, high-alcohol, bitter and caramel-flavored coffee. FrontStreet Coffee is generally based on a double shot of espresso (20 grams of coffee powder) to make a cup of about 40 grams of espresso, with a very fine and rich coffee crema on the surface, also called "Crema".
Espresso is the basis of many Italian coffees. It can be said that if the espresso is not extracted well, other Italian coffees will not taste good.
②American coffee
Italian espresso is diluted with hot water to become American coffee. It originated when American troops landed in Europe during World War II. Because they were not used to drinking Italian espresso, they diluted it with water and evolved into American coffee. Although Americano coffee is mixed with a lot of water, the flavor is softer than ordinary espresso coffee, but the flavor and aroma are not reduced. Compared with Americano coffee brewed by the filter method, the flavor is completely different. It goes well with sweets such as cookies and muffins, and is suitable for those who do not like too strong espresso coffee.
The ratio of FrontStreet Coffee's hot Americano is 40 grams of espresso mixed with 180 ml of hot water, resulting in a 220 ml cup of Americano. The ratio of espresso to water is 1:4.5.
③Latte coffee
Latte is a common milk coffee in Italian coffee. Latte means "milk" in Italian. When making latte, Front Street uses 40g of double espresso, paired with 260g of milk and milk foam, and the thickness of the milk foam is 1cm. Of course, lattes make beautiful latte patterns. The perfect fusion of milk and coffee not only highlights the sweetness of milk, but also reflects the mellow flavor of coffee.
④Cappuccino coffee
Cappuccino is translated from "Cappuccino", and its name comes from the Church of St. Francis of Assisi (Capuchin) and the Italian turban (Cappucio). Cappuccino is similar to latte. It is a type of milk coffee and is also composed of espresso and whipped milk. However, unlike latte, cappuccino has thicker, denser milk foam, less capacity, and stronger coffee flavor.
The traditional cappuccino is a mixture of espresso, milk and milk foam in a ratio of 1:1:1, which makes the cappuccino less bitter in espresso and more aromatic in milk foam, making it easier to accept. Among Italian coffees, cappuccino has the thickest milk foam, and the dense and delicate milk foam also adds a good taste.
FrontStreet Coffee chooses to use a 180ml tulip cup when making cappuccino. Add a portion of the freshly extracted espresso into the cup, and then add milk to create a thick and thick milk foam.
⑤Australian white coffee
Flat white coffee can be understood as the localized "latte coffee" in Australia. So it's going to be a little different than our regular latte. Australian white coffee originated in Australia and New Zealand. It is a coffee product evolved by the residents of Oceania according to their own needs. It consists of espresso, milk and a thin layer of milk foam. Generally, the cup size of Australian white coffee will be smaller than that of latte, with less milk and richer coffee to highlight the aroma of coffee. It’s worth mentioning that Australian white coffee is only available hot.
The standard of Australian white coffee produced by Front Street is: 220ml glass cup, 30g espresso, 190ml milk and milk foam. The thickness of the milk foam is approximately 0.5 cm. (Milk foaming level: 5 minutes full of milk until 5.5-6 minutes full of milk foam).
⑥Mocha coffee
The Italian word Mo means chocolate mocha coffee, which is a fusion of mellow coffee, rich milk and sweet chocolate. There is a variation of mocha called white cafe mocha, which uses white chocolate instead of milk and dark chocolate. In addition to white mocha coffee, there is also a variation that uses two chocolate syrups mixed together, called zebras (zebras), sometimes called tuxedo mocha (tuxedo mocha).
FrontStreet Coffee's mocha coffee plan is 40g espresso + 20g chocolate sauce + 260g hot milk.
⑦Dirty coffee
What do many people think is the difference between Dirty Coffee and Iced Latte? Indeed, there are too many similarities between the two, from raw materials to formula to presentation. But if you look closely, you will find that Dirty is essentially a more elegant iced latte. The biggest difference lies in the choice of container and detailed operations.
The containers Dirty Coffee chooses are often glasses that can express beautiful liquids, and there is no ice in them. What's important is that the espresso liquid flows into the white milk, slowly penetrates, and slowly blends, forming a beautiful layered effect. If the white milk gradually becomes "contaminated" by the rich Espresso over time, it will appear through the glass that the drink has become dirty. In addition to being visually dirty, it actually contains the collision between ice milk and hot concentrate, allowing people to feel the change from hot to ice in a cup of coffee.
The ratio of making Dirty in Front Street is 150 grams of milk and 40 grams of espresso. First, take out the pre-chilled glass, make sure there is no water in the glass, and pour ice milk into it. Then fasten the filled coffee handle and place the glass with iced milk under the spout (the bottomless handle is placed directly under the liquid outlet). The liquid outlet should not be too far away from the liquid surface. If it is too far, the coffee's own gravity will have stronger penetrating power and it will be easier to fuse. The recommended distance is about 1cm. Qualified espresso will flow evenly and slowly into the milk surface, float on the liquid surface, and sink slowly, creating a dirty feeling.
Drinking Dirty does not require stirring, and if you drink it quickly, you will find that the hot espresso on top has not been iced, and the milk below has not been "contaminated". The transformation from rich chocolate-flavored hot coffee to milk-flavored iced coffee is simply wonderful.
⑧Macchiato coffee
Macchiato is an Italian word meaning "marked". Macchiato coffee originated in Italy in the 1980s. At that time, some customers were accustomed to adding a small amount of milk to espresso, but the milk would soon disappear in the coffee crema. So the barista wanted to distinguish a pure espresso from an espresso containing a small amount of milk, so he used foamed milk to "mark" a white spot on the coffee creme.
Later, people discovered that in the gradual fusion of milk foam and espresso, they could taste the rich and mellow aroma of espresso and appreciate the dense sweetness of milk, intertwined and blended in the mouth, which is wonderful. So the traditional coffee macchiato was born.
FrontStreet Coffee Macchiato plan: 40g espresso + 1 spoon of fine milk foam
⑨Affogato coffee
This is a very special coffee drink. The normal method is to put a vanilla ice cream ball on the cup, and then pour an espresso on top, so that an affogato is completed. When you taste it, you will feel the cold sweetness of vanilla ice cream with the aroma of coffee, which is very suitable for summer drinking.
⑩Caramel Macchiato
This is Starbucks' star espresso drink (it has nothing to do with macchiato). A medium cup of 355ml coffee contains 1 part (about 30ml) of espresso, and the other 300ml or so is foamed milk, vanilla syrup and caramel, with a sweet taste.
Caramel Macchiato: A large amount of milk and milk foam are used when making it. It is not much different from a wet cappuccino or a thicker latte. Vanilla syrup and smooth hot milk, topped with smooth milk foam, mixed with mellow espresso, and soft caramel sauce, the sweet and mellow caramel macchiato becomes a good choice for coffee lovers to taste espresso.
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
