At this moment, you are standing in the supermarket, worrying about the rows of espresso beans on the shelves. You find that each coffee is different, some are dark roasted, some are lightly roasted; some are written as blends, and some are labeled with various flavors. Maybe you are thinking at this time: Which are the really delicious espresso beans?
What is espresso?
Simply put, espresso is a method of brewing coffee. After World War II, espresso became Italy's national drink because using this method, people could make very delicious coffee from ordinary coffee beans. Under high temperature and high pressure conditions, the espresso machine could make a blend of Robusta and Arabica coffee into a mellow and extremely strong coffee.
What are espresso beans?
Coffee beans on the market are divided into Italian coffee beans and Pour over(V60) coffee beans in terms of use. Italian coffee beans are specially used for pressurized extraction, such as espresso machines and moka pots, while Pour over(V60) coffee beans are used for non-pressurized extraction, such as Pour over(V60) coffee, siphon coffee, ice-drip coffee...
The biggest difference between these two types of coffee is the degree of roasting. Pressurized coffee beans require a darker degree of roasting. Italian coffee beans are further divided into blended coffee beans and SOE coffee beans. Blend coffee beans are usually made by roasters to optimize the trade-offs in terms of cost, stability, and flavor, and select more than two types of coffee beans from different origins. The most cost-effective ones include Front Street Commercial Blend Coffee and Front Street Black Cocoa Blend (100% Arabica) coffee.
SOE coffee beans are Italian coffee beans from a single origin. There is no distinction between the two which is better or worse. For example, many people think that SOE coffee beans are of higher quality and have better flavor, but because most of them are light to medium roasted, they have a stronger sour taste.
And if we use high-quality single-origin coffee beans for blending, as long as the plan is optimized properly, it will definitely taste better than SOE, but the price will be more expensive. For example, the Front Street Strawberry Candy Italian coffee beans are blended with three single-origin coffee beans from Costa Rica, Colombia, and Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, with fresh flavors of rose, strawberry candied, grape, preserved fruit, and blueberry.
So, how exactly is espresso made?
Step 1: Remove the handle from the coffee machine, place it on the electronic scale, and tare and reset the electronic scale.
Step 2: Press the water release button to release water in advance.
Step 3: If you are using a double-ended handle, the amount of coffee powder should be between 18-21g. Grinding parameters are very important to ensure a balanced taste in your coffee. In principle, the grinding of espresso coffee should be finer.
Step 4: Use your fingers to gently level the powder bed, making sure the surface of the powder bed is flat.
Step 5: Place the handle on a clean, level table, place the powder hammer on top of the handle, and use your arm to apply vertical pressure on the powder hammer. The pressure does not need to be too high, but the force is between 20-30 pounds. After pressing down, slightly rotate the powder hammer to compact and flatten the powder cake to ensure even extraction.
Step 6: Install the handle into the coffee machine and place the coffee cup under the handle. We recommend using preheated ceramic mugs.
Step 7: Press the water dispensing button. The coffee will flow out slowly at first, and then gradually form a trickle. When the time reaches 30 seconds, the extraction ends and the water flow will thicken and turn golden or yellow. At this time, brewing should be stopped. The general extraction parameters are powder-liquid ratio 1:2 and time 25-30 seconds.
Some people like to stir before drinking, while others like to drink it directly to experience the multi-layered taste and taste of espresso. It depends on personal preference.
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
