When we often order at coffee shops, many baristas will recommend, "Would you like to try our SOE?" Some customers who come to Qian Street to drink coffee also take the initiative to ask if there is SOE coffee. The so-called "SOE" stands for Single Origin Espresso, which refers to espresso made from single-origin coffee beans.
The origin of SOE?
Literally understood, SOE is to distinguish it from House Blend Espresso, where roasters select coffee beans from different origins and flavors to be mixed and roasted (or roasted separately and blended in proportion) to create an espresso with rich and balanced flavor. Back to our SOE, we use coffee beans from a single origin in order to highlight the unique taste of the production area, such as the floral and fruity aroma of Front Street Yirgacheffe SOE, the nutty chocolate sweetness of Front Street Colombian Cymbidium Coffee SOE...
What are the characteristics of SOE?
Since we know that SOE is coffee from a single production area, if we use the best batches of beans from the region and add appropriate roasting and extraction parameters, the brewed coffee can fully demonstrate the flavor characteristics of this production area. For example, Kenyan coffee has full juice and acidity, Brazilian coffee has rich creamy chocolate and smoothness, and Ethiopian coffee has floral and citrus notes.
Whether it is Italian blended coffee beans or Italian single-origin coffee beans, they have to go through the high temperature and pressure of the Italian coffee machine. The taste of the extracted espresso coffee will be amplified a lot, that is, the acid will become more sour and the bitter will become more bitter.
In order to reflect the "personalization" of SOE, the quality of coffee beans must be guaranteed to a certain extent, and the defect rate cannot be too high. The degree of roasting and extraction must take into account the unique flavor characteristics of the production area, which imposes technical requirements on roasters and baristas. If the roasting degree is too deep, the espresso coffee will tend to have only a bitter taste, and the aroma substances cannot be reflected; if the roasting degree is too light, the requirements for coffee extraction will increase. Once the grinding degree and extraction parameters are not controlled well, the taste of SOE espresso will easily be thin, and the milk coffee will be even more "coffee-free".
Therefore, Front Street recommends not to choose extremely darkbakingor extremely shallowbakingSOE is made from single-origin coffee beans to avoid irritating taste and unpleasant flavor experience. If you don’t know how to choose, you might as well find the answer from the following three types:
When we come into contact with Pour over(V60) single-origin coffee, we can find that the flavor of coffee beans can be mainly divided into three types: sour, bitter and fermented. SOE coffee beans are also based on the above flavor and tonality, and we can choose according to our own preferences and needs.
1. Fresh and fruity sour: Front Street Colombian SOE
This Front Street Xija SOE comes from Cymbidium, a famous production area in Colombia. It is produced by the Divide Manor. It is close to the volcanic zone, which gives the coffee a rich aroma. The mature coffee cherries are double anaerobic sun-dried and are moderately roasted, which maximizes the floral and fruity aroma. The Italian coffee will have obvious flavors of blueberry juice, passion fruit, ripe grapes, and the sweet and sour taste of apricots;
Front Street Columbia Hija SOE Coffee Beans
Origin: Colombia Cymbidium
Manor: Divide Manor
Altitude: 1700m
Treatment method: double anaerobic sun exposure
Breed: Cicada
Flavor: passion fruit, grape, berry, apricot, preserved fruit
2. Fermented fruit wine flavor
In order to make the flavor of SOE coffee extraction more concrete, it is recommended to choose some coffee beans with mature fruit flavors, which will make it easier for us to drink the sweet fermentation feeling like fruit wine.
Front Street Costa Rican Blackberry Coffee Beans
Origin: Costa Rica Tara beads
Manor: Palong Treatment Plant
Altitude: 1700m
Breed: Catura
Processing method: black honey processing
Flavor: Grape juice, blueberry, floral, fermentation
During the peeling process of honey processing, coffee farmers can freely adjust the amount of pectin retained according to the desired degree of fermentation. Because pectin is rich in sugar, the more pectin is retained, the darker the color of the coffee beans will be after drying. Black honey retains the highest amount of gum among the four, almost no pectin is removed, and it takes the longest to dry. It generally needs to be dried in the sun for more than 14 days. Therefore, the coffee processed with black honey has a very rich flavor and a rich sweetness.
3. Mellow, rich and bitter
Some friends may think that the SOE coffee produced by the above two types of Front Street is not "coffee-flavored" enough. The mellow and rich coffee beans should be suitable for you. For example, the Brazilian Queen Manor coffee beans on Front Street are very representative.
Front Street Brazilian Queen Estate Coffee Beans
Production area: Morgiana production area
Manor: Queen Manor Fazenda Rainha
Altitude: 1400-1950m
Variety: Yellow Bourbon
Treatment method: Sun treatment
Flavor: Cream Peanut Sucrose Nut Chocolate
Unlike many commercial beans produced on a large scale in Brazil, Queen's Manor in Brazil mainly produces fine batches of coffee beans, using excellent yellow bourbon varieties. Through sun-drying treatment, Front Street Brazilian Queen Manor coffee not only has a strong flavor of cream, peanuts, and nuts, but also has a super sweet aftertaste of sucrose. Made into SOE, it has a strong coffee aroma and a significant aftertaste.
Professional coffee knowledge exchange. For more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account cafe_style)
For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee on private WeChat, WeChat ID: qjcoffeex
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
