What is the difference between hand ground coffee and machine coffee? We take the most common espresso machine outside as the representative of machine coffee, while hand-ground coffee is the most commonly used to make Pour over(V60) coffee. Today Front Street will compare the differences between the two, and recommend the types of coffee beans suitable for hand-grinding.
Machine coffee - espresso
The espresso machine grinds coffee beans into very fine coffee powder, then fills it into the handle, and uses huge pressure to extract. The water quickly passes through the tight layer of coffee powder to bring out the soluble substances in the coffee.
Espresso coffee is not only quick to make and has a rich taste, but also has a dense layer of coffee oil foam on the surface, which we call Crema. The color of the oil tends to be beautiful golden yellow and brown, and the aroma also emits different flavor characteristics depending on the different coffee beans used. When making espresso, it is recommended to use medium to dark roasted coffee beans, because this has a higher success rate. We recommend Front Street Brazilian Queen Manor with the aroma of roasted peanuts, Front Street Golden Mandheling with the main spice flavor, and Front Street Strawberry Candy espresso coffee beans with floral and fruity aromas.
After adding water to espresso, it can become a cup of Americano coffee, or you can add milk, syrup, cream, spices and other flavorings to make coffee drinks with different flavors such as macchiato, cappuccino, latte, mocha... etc.
Hand ground coffee - hand brewed coffee
The representative practice of touching coffee with your hands——To brew coffee by hand, you first grind the coffee beans into powder, then inject hot water into contact with the powder layer to "dissolve" the substances in the coffee. In fact, you use a filter cup with filter paper or other tools to filter the coffee grounds and prevent them from entering the lower pot together, so that you can get a clear cup of black coffee. If you want to brew a cup of Pour over(V60) coffee, Front Street believes that in addition to high-quality coffee beans, you also need at least a Pour over(V60) pot for filling water, a filter cup and filter paper for filtering coffee grounds, a sharing pot, a grinder for grinding coffee beans, an electronic scale to record the amount and time of water filling, and a thermometer to measure the water temperature.
Since hand-ground coffee is not affected by pressure and has a softer taste, it can better reflect the taste of the coffee beans themselves. We can choose different flavors according to our preferences. Front Street shares several clearly identifiable single-origin coffee beans from production areas, which will help everyone make delicious hand-ground coffee.
1. Front Street Washed Yirgacheffe Coffee Beans G1
Country: Ethiopia
Origin: Yirgacheffe
Altitude: 1800-2000 meters
Variety: Local native species
Treatment method: washing treatment
Flavor: jasmine, berry, lemon, citrus
Yirga cheffe is a small town in Ethiopia, with an altitude of 1,700-2,100 meters. It is one of the highest altitude coffee-producing areas in the world and is synonymous with Ethiopian specialty coffee. Lake Turkana, Lake Abaya, and Lake Chamo bring abundant water vapor here. In the Rift Valley, represented by the Misty Valley, there is mist all year round, like spring all year round, gentle breeze, cool and humid, thousands of coffee trees thrive, giving birth to Yirgacheffe's unique floral and fruity aroma, and the unpredictable and unique terroir. The so-called Yirgacheffe flavor refers to the rich citrus lemon acidity and strong jasmine fragrance. The taste is light and elegant, with a tea flavor, and it tastes like refreshing and clean lemon tea.
Washing treatment method:Put the screened coffee berries into the peeling machine to initially remove the peel and pulp; put the green coffee beans with residual pulp and pectin into the water and let them ferment for about 24 hours; after fermentation, put the green coffee beans with parchment paper into a flowing water tank and wash them to remove the pulp and pectin; after cleaning, dry the coffee beans or use a dryer to dry the coffee beans to reduce the moisture content to about 12%. Finally remove the parchment paper from the green coffee beans.
Front Street considers that the washing process can better reflect the clean taste of coffee and the purity of flavor. Therefore, when analyzing the specific flavor of a certain coffee production area, the washed beans from this production area will be used as a reference. If every beginner has never tasted Yirgacheffe, Front Street will also recommend the washed Yirgacheffe first, which will help form a perception of the flavor of the production area. Later, when trying Yirgacheffe processed by sun-drying, honey treatment, etc., you can have a direction of comparison.
The grade of this washed Yirgacheffe is G1 (Ethiopia classifies the grade based on the defect rate. G1 means that 300g of green beans are allowed to contain 1-3 non-severely defective beans). FrontStreet Coffee will also manually screen out defective beans twice before roasting to ensure the quality of each batch of coffee.
FrontStreet Coffee brewing recommendations
Water temperature: 90-91 degrees
Grinding degree: EK43s grinder 10 grids (fine sugar size/No. 20 sieve bowl sieve powder to 80%)
Pink to water ratio: 1:15
Amount of powder: 15g
Front street brewing technique: Inject 30 grams of water in the first stage and steam for 30 seconds, then inject 95 grams (the electronic scale shows about 125 grams), and the injection is completed in about 1 minute. When the water level drops to 2/3 of the powder layer, add the remaining 100 grams (the electronic scale shows about 225 grams), and the injection is completed in about 1 minute and 40 seconds. 1'55''-2'00''Trip filtration is completed, remove the filter cup and complete the extraction.
Brewing flavor: The aroma of jasmine, berry juice, acidity of lemon and citrus, overall bright, clean and fresh.
Front Street Costa Rican Tara Beads Coffee Beans
Country: Costa Rica
Production area: Tarazhu
Altitude: 1500 meters
Variety: Kaduura, Kaduai
Treatment method: washing treatment
Flavor: Orange, honey, toffee, nuts
Costa Rican coffee has always been famous for its balanced flavor, rich chocolate, and smooth taste. Talaju is located south of the capital, San Jose, and is one of the most valued coffee growing areas in Costa Rica. Tarazhu coffee beans have full grains, rich body, smooth taste, rich chocolate and nut aroma, moderate acidity, and attractive aroma.
Treatment method:The water washing method puts the screened coffee cherries into a peeling machine to initially remove the peel and pulp. Put the green coffee beans with residual pulp pectin into water and let them ferment for about 24 hours. After fermentation, put the green coffee beans with parchment paper into a running water tank and wash them to remove the pulp and pectin. After cleaning, dry the coffee beans or use a dryer to dry the coffee beans to reduce the moisture content to about 12%. Finally, remove the parchment paper from the green coffee beans.
Front Street Brewing Recommendations
Water temperature: 90-91 degrees
Grinding degree:EK43s grinder 10 compartments(Fine sugar size/sieve powder to 80% in a No. 20 sieve bowl)
Pink to water ratio: 1:15
Amount of powder: 15g
Front Street Brewing Technique
In the first stage, 30 grams of water is injected and steamed for 30 seconds, then 95 grams (the electronic scale shows about 125 grams) is injected, and the injection is completed in about 1 minute. When the water level drops to 2/3 of the powder layer, the remaining 100 grams (the electronic scale shows about 225 grams) is injected, and the injection is completed in about 1 minute and 40 seconds. The trickling filtration is completed in 2 minutes and 3 seconds. Remove the filter cup and complete the extraction.
Brewing flavor: The entrance is the sour and sweet taste of sweet orange, the middle part has obvious nutty and chocolate flavors, the long-lasting sweetness of caramel, and the aroma of some fir trees, the overall balance.
Front Street Indonesian Lindong Mandheling Coffee Beans
Country: Indonesia
Production area: Lindong, Sumatra
Altitude: 1100-1600 meters
Variety: Typica, Kadura
Treatment method: wet planing
Flavor: Baked toast, nuts, caramel, pine, herbs
In fact, Mandheling does not specifically refer to the variety of coffee beans, nor is it the name of the coffee producing area, but a tribal name. The Japanese mistakenly thought it was the name of the coffee beans, and it has been used to this day.
Lintong Mandheling is produced in the Lintong Mountains in north-central Sumatra, near Lake Toba. Lindong Mandheling is the regular version of Mandheling. Lin Dong Mandheling also uses the conventional wet planing method, which creates its characteristics of low sourness and high alcohol content. However, what will happen when using the wet planing method is that the semi-hard and semi-soft wet green beans are easily crushed when the pectin parchment layer is removed, and the beans will be damaged and cracked like sheep's hooves, commonly known as sheep's hooves. This is not a defective bean, it can be said to be a very significant feature of Mandheling.
Coffee processing method:The wet planing method is a method of quickly processing coffee beans. The peel and pulp of the coffee beans are planed, and they are dried after a short fermentation. Then the pectin and parchment are removed, and the subsequent drying is continued until the moisture content drops to 12%. Wet-planed Mandheling coffee beans can obviously show varying degrees of extrusion cracks, and the bean color is dark cyan.
Front Street Brewing Recommendations
Front Street uses kono filter cups when brewing Mandheling coffee. The ribs of kono are less than half the height of the filter cup. This design is actually to ensure that the filter cup sticks to the wall of the filter cup after it is wet with water, limiting the air flow. This will increase the time for the coffee powder particles to absorb water, so that the extracted coffee will be more uniform overall and improve the mellow taste. The grooved frame under the Kono filter cup is a key design to create a siphon effect for subsequent brewing.
Recommended water temperature: 87-88 degrees
Grinding degree:EK43s grinder 11 compartments(coarse sugar size)
Pink to water ratio: 1:15
Amount of powder: 15g
FrontStreet Coffee brewing technique: Use 30 grams of water to steam for 30 seconds. Pour water in small circles in a circle until it reaches 125 grams. When the water level drops and is about to expose the powder bed, continue to pour water to 225 grams and stop pouring water. When the water level drops and is about to reveal the powder bed, remove the filter cup. (Start steaming and start timing) The extraction time is 2'00'.
Brewing flavor: Herbal flavor, dark chocolate, caramel, sweet aftertaste.
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
