As the saying goes, a good horse needs a good saddle, and good tea needs a good vat. As the main container for holding coffee, people have gradually paid more and more attention to the impact of different designs of cups on tasting. Some coffee shops even spend a lot of money to create a set of coffee cups specifically for the production, in order to create a dual experience of vision and taste buds.
Just like wine, cup shape has a certain impact on the sensory experience of coffee. Therefore, which cup to choose for drinking different coffees has gradually become the focus of many enthusiasts. Today, let us put aside the price for the time being and conduct experimental comparisons to see what the effects will be if the same pot of coffee is drunk from different cups.
First, we need to reach consensus on two points:
What is the difference in taste when drinking the same pot of coffee from different cups?
Since there are many types of coffee tasting cups on the market, Front Street here only focuses on the mainstream cup mouth types and selects three more common styles for comparison, namely open type, straight type,Closed mouth typeThree types. During the process, Front Street will record the flavor by combining the smell of coffee aroma, high temperature and low temperature tasting.
In order to obtain more reference information, Front Street will use three types of coffee beans for experiments. One is the dark roasted Front Street Blue Mountain No. 1 to feel the mellowness, body, and balance (brewing parameters: 15 grams of powder, 1:15 powder to water ratio, 87°C brewing water temperature, grinding degree:EK43sScale - 10.5 grids/75% sieving rate of Chinese standard sieve, three-stage water injection);
The second one is medium roastedfront street paw, focusing on a rich floral and fruity aroma and a full and solid sweet and sour texture (brew parameters: 15 grams of powder, 1:15 powder to water ratio, 91°C brewing water temperature, EK43s scale -9.5 grid/Chinese standard sieve 82% sieving rate, three-stage water injection)
The third one is light roastedGesha Village Red Label, mainly bringing out the light floral aroma, acidity and aftertaste (brew parameters: 15 grams of powder, 1:15 powder to water ratio, 91°C brewing water temperature, EK43s scale-10 grid/80% sieving rate of Chinese standard sieve, three-stage water injection).
During the aroma stage, the three coffees all showed a similar trend: the aroma of the open cup was fleeting and soon became the weakest among the three cups; the aroma concentration of the straight cup was in the middle and did not change much; the aroma of the closed cup was the richest, and the aroma of each bean was expressed.
The flavor performance of Blue Mountain No. 1: the straight cup has the most concentrated flavor, high concentration, and mellow body; the closed cup has obvious sweetness, clear and soft; the open cup is overall light, slightly sour, and lacks body.
Xi clawflavor expression: The open cup prefers the acidity of citrus and stone fruits, with a slight tea feel; the closed cup has the highest sweetness, and tastes like ripe grape juice; the straight cup maintains a good balance in both aroma and taste, making it more comfortable from beginning to end.
Gesha Village Red Labelflavor expression: The straight cup has a strong fruity aroma, a solid taste, and a tea astringency in the aftertaste; the aroma of the closed cup is not obvious, but the caramel feeling is prominent; the open cup has relatively clear layers, and you can drink bright fruit acid and slightly fermented aroma at high temperatures, and after cooling down, it has the tonality of citrus and black tea.
Why does the cup affect the taste of coffee?
The structure of the human tongue makes usfeelThe sensitivity of various tastes varies. Generally, the tip and edge of the tongue are more susceptible to salty tastes, the base of the tongue is more sensitive to bitter and spicy tastes, the front of the tongue is more sensitive to sweet tastes, and the sides of the tongue against the cheeks are often irritated by sour tastes. When we combine it with the above flavor comparison records, we can draw a general conclusion.
The open cup is wider at the top and narrower at the bottom, with a larger diameter and an outward slope of more than 45 degrees on the edge of the cup. When drinking coffee with it, the contact area between the liquid and the air is the largest, so the aroma travels the fastest. The larger tilt angle makes the coffee liquid the smoothest and most dispersed when it enters the mouth. It flows through the side and tip of the tongue first, so it is easier to capture the sweet and sour fruits and subtle changes in flavor when tasting medium-light roasted coffee. It is suitable for African beans such as Front Street Oiran and Front Street Cherry Tomato.
For straight cups, the diameter from the mouth to the middle is basically the same. Some are perpendicular to the table and the cup body is higher. The linear design allows the coffee liquid to flow into the mouth concentratedly, which has a greater impact on the senses of the entire mouth. Especially when tasting at medium and high temperatures, it has the highest flavor concentration, full and solid taste, and can better express the mellowness and caramel aroma, so it is more suitable for Front Street Mandheling, Front Street Whelan, etc.Dark roast coffee。
The closed mouth cup is mainly reflected in the fact that the top of the cup is drawn inward and the belly is bulged outward, so that the aroma can be released in the widest place, and then gathered at the mouth of the cup, which is more conducive to smelling aroma. Many red wine glasses adopt this closed mouth design.
When drinking coffee from a cup with a closed mouth, we first need to raise the lower jaw so that the lips are concentrated forward. At this time, the coffee liquid will preferentially fall on the cup.The front of the tongue that is more sensitive to sweetness, and then it is distributed in the mouth, so the aroma it provides will be weaker, but the sweetness is the highest. So if you want to highlight its advantages, Front Street believes that it is best to use beans with flavor descriptions such as candied fruit (dried fruit), toffee, ripe fruit, fermented aroma, etc., such as Front Street Xi Claw, Front Street Strawberry Candy, etc.Medium roast type of coffee。
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
