For hand brewers, the first thing to consider is the degree of roasting of the coffee beans before formulating a brewing plan. The coffee extraction performance under different roasting degrees is different. Lightly roasted beans are very popular among coffee lovers because they are lightly roasted and retain more floral and fruity aromas. So which coffee beans are lightly roasted? Today Front Street is here to introduce it to you.
What does light roasted coffee beans mean?
During the roasting process, green coffee beans will gradually undergo dehydration and turn yellow as water is lost, and then the first crack will become dense. Because the moment the first crack begins, it means that the coffee beans have matured. If we are not ready to stop at this time and still want to continue cooking, then the coffee beans will also experience the second crack and the second crack intensively.
Lightly roasted coffee refers to beans that are roasted between the middle of the first crack and just after the first crack! At this time, because the organic acids in the beans have not been completely decomposed, we can feel the obvious sourness in the coffee, less bitterness, soft aroma, and rich taste.
Lightly roasted coffee beans recommended
If you usually like to drink light-roasted coffee, you will find that delicious light-roasted coffee is not just sour, but has a sour and sweet taste with low bitterness. Therefore, it is recommended that you give priority to coffee beans with obvious fruit flavors. This will make it easier to extract the elegant aroma of light-roasted coffee. The following four coffee beans are all light-roasted, which is very suitable for novice brewers:
1. Front Street Guodingding coffee beans
Country: Ethiopia
Origin: Yirgacheffe
Variety: Ethiopian native species
Altitude: 2300 meters
Treatment method: washed
Flavor: Bright fruity aroma, citrus, blueberry, honey, green tea flavor, prominent acidity
2. Front Street Tomato Coffee Bean
Country: Kenya
Origin: Thika
Processing Plant: Asali Honey Processing Plant
Altitude: 1550~1750 meters
Variety: SL28 and SL34
Treatment method: K72 water washing
Flavor: cherry tomatoes, plum, pear, brown sugar, bulin
3. Qianjiehua Butterfly Coffee Bean
Country: Panama
Origin: Baru Volcano Poquet
Altitude: 1600m
Treatment method: washing treatment
Varieties: Geisha, Catura, Catuai
Flavor: white floral, orange, nuts, tea flavor
4. Front Street Oiran Coffee Beans
Country: Ethiopia
Production area: Guji Hambera
Altitude: 2300 meters
Treatment method: Sun exposure
Breed: Ethiopian native species
Flavor: Creamy strawberry, citrus, light floral, berry, black tea
5. Front Street Jade Red Label Gesha Coffee Beans
Country: Panama
Origin: Baru Volcano Poquet
Altitude: 1700 meters
Treatment method: Sun exposure
Variety: Geisha
Flavor: Mango, guava, rose, fruit candy, citrus, berry, black tea
Suggestions for brewing light roast coffee
Based on past brewing experience, Front Street recommends that new players who are just getting started use the three-stage water filling method. The three-stage extraction is conducive to more fully dissolving flavor substances during extraction, increasing the taste level, and at the same time avoiding over-extraction of coffee caused by soaking for too long.
If there are 15 grams of coffee powder, a powder-to-water ratio of 1:15, and a total water volume of 225 ml, the three water levels are divided into: 30 ml, 95 ml, and 100 ml. The weight on the electronic scale will show: 30 g, 125 g, and 225 g.
Front Street here uses home-roasted washed Yirgacheffe Dingding cooperative coffee beans and brews them with a Hario V60 filter cup. The spiral design of V60 can better exhaust the coffee powder and maximize the volatilization and dissolution of sour and aromatic substances. Since Yirgacheffe uses light roasting, the coffee beans are hard in texture and require high-temperature hot water of 92°C-93°C to bring out the floral and fruity flavors in the coffee.
Grinding Front Street recommends medium-fine grinding (Chinese standard No. 20 screen pass rate 78%), which is about the same thickness as fine sugar. If the grind is too coarse, the mellow and round flavor cannot be extracted, and the brewed coffee will appear thin; if the particles are too fine, it will be over-extracted under high water temperature, and the brewed coffee will be prone to bitterness.
In terms of brewing ratio, Front Street believes that 1:15 to 1:16 is acceptable. If you want a richer taste, use 1:15. If you want to feel the floral sweetness more clearly, you can use 1:16 to make the flavor more spread out.
First, place the folded filter paper into the filter cup, pour 15 grams of ground coffee powder into the filter cup, and clear the weight of the electronic scale.
Inject 30g of water into the first section and steam for 30 seconds. Start timing while injecting water. Inject small water flow at the center point throughout the process and start to circle outwards. Pay attention to the need to moisten the entire powder layer.
After 30 seconds, start to steadily inject the second section of 95g water with a larger flow of water. The purpose is to lift the entire powder layer. The water column needs to be injected vertically and evenly. At this time, the timing scale shows 125g, and the injection is completed in about 55 seconds.
When the liquid level drops to half of the level, start using a small flow of water to inject 100 grams of the third section in a small circle. Try to control the water flow not to be too large, which will easily disperse the coffee powder layer and cause insufficient extraction. The final amount of water injected is 225 grams, and the completion time of trickling filtration is about 2 minutes. After removing the filter cup, shake the coffee liquid in the sharing pot evenly and start tasting.
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
