In contrast to traditional Italian blended coffee, SOE (Single Origin Espresso) is an espresso made from coffee beans from a single origin. The novel concept and the mainly fresh and sour taste have made it the flagship product of many coffee shops in recent years. Some friends also buy coffee beans to make SOE at home. Let’s talk about what kind of coffee beans can be used to make SOE coffee.
The difference between SOE coffee and Pour over(V60) coffee
The extraction method of SOE coffee is different from that of Pour over(V60) coffee. SOE is espresso extracted using a high-temperature and high-pressure espresso machine, which is a pressurized extraction. Hand-brewed coffee is made by infiltrating hot water into coffee powder to release its substances, which is a drip extraction method.
When we make a cup of espresso, we pressurize hot water through the compacted coffee powder. Since espresso is extracted in a very short extraction time, we use finer ground coffee powder and high-temperature hot water to allow the compounds in the coffee to be extracted quickly.
When making Pour over(V60) filter coffee, under normal temperature and pressure conditions, we need to use more water to allow the coffee powder to absorb enough water to release the soluble aroma substances in the coffee within a certain period of time.
Extraction characteristics of SOE
When we use blended coffee beans to make espresso, we mix coffee beans from different production areas. As the roasting degree deepens, the flavor becomes more balanced and rounded, which is more conducive to the stability of extraction. Returning to the SOE that shows the flavor of the production area, the roasting degree is usually not too dark, so the flavor of lighter roasted coffee beans is more difficult to extract when extracting SOE. Therefore, it is necessary to adjust the extraction parameters to improve the extraction rate, such as extending the extraction time, increasing the water temperature, finer grinding, increasing the amount, etc.
The roasting of all single-origin coffee must take into account the unique regional flavor of the place of origin and the aroma of the coffee beans themselves. For example, Front Street Yirgacheffe must have fresh and bright citrus and citric acid, and Front Street Blue Mountain Coffee must have sweet dark chocolate and caramel aromas. Similarly, SOE must also express the taste characteristics of the place of origin, otherwise it will be meaningless to use single-origin coffee to make espresso. If the roasting degree is too deep, the flavor and aroma will be easily obscured by the heavy substances after roasting. If the roasting degree is too shallow, the extraction will be insufficient, resulting in a sour and thin taste.
Because espresso amplifies the taste of coffee, for example, the bright and moderate acidity in Pour over(V60) coffee can easily become sour in espresso, and the mellow taste of Pour over(V60) coffee can be very bitter in espresso. Therefore, depending on the extraction method, the roasting degree of the coffee beans will be adjusted. In other words, we can choose single-origin coffee beans with moderate roasting degree, which not only expresses rich layering in Pour over(V60) coffee, but can also be made into SOE to release the aroma of soybeans.
What coffee beans does SOE recommend?
The first prerequisite for a cup of delicious coffee is good-quality coffee beans, and the coffee beans selected by SOE should also be higher-quality single-origin coffee beans. Front Street's roasting purpose is "freshly roasted and good coffee". We hope that every customer will drink freshly roasted coffee beans with full aroma. The coffee beans shipped are all freshly roasted within 5 days. Let’s take the coffee on the Front Street Bean List as an example to introduce which coffee beans are suitable for making SOE.
1. Front Street Yirgacheffe Red Cherry Coffee Bean
This coffee bean was originally used for brewing coffee in the form of hand drip filter. It shows a very high sweetness and a strong fruity aroma. When used to extract espresso coffee (the grinding degree needs to be adjusted), the oil on the surface is fine and the color is light yellow. It smells of sweet berries, sweet and sour berries and caramel, and has a clean taste. Adding the whipped hot milk will bring out the sweetness of honey.
2. Front Street Papua New Guinea Birds of Paradise Coffee Beans
A medium roast gives the coffee a toasty aroma while retaining a slight citrus acidity. The finished SOE highlights the aroma of nuts and cream, and the addition of milk brings out the smoothness of chocolate cream. The overall taste is relatively soft, and the finish has a slight cocoa.SOE American style is refreshing in the mouth, with moderate sweetness and sourness.
3. Front Street Mozart Coffee Beans
This Front Street Mozart belongs to the Costa Rican Musician Series,Anaerobic honey processing allows the coffee beans to retain the pectin layer for closed fermentation before drying, maximizing the sweetness of the coffee beans. This coffee presents a rich aroma of roses and a high sweetness of raisins when brewed by hand. The SOE extracted shows strong tropical fruit and fermented flavors.
4. Front Street Queen Estate Yellow Bourbon Coffee Beans
If none of the above flavors are your favorite, why not take a look at the Queen’s Manor coffee beans produced in Brazil, a major coffee country. The medium-dark roasting degree gives the coffee a strong aroma of nuts, cream, and peanuts, and the aftertaste is sweet chocolate. The extracted SOE has beautiful rich oils, and the milk coffee is also full of aroma.
5. Front Street Oiran SOE coffee beans
Different from the above single-product Pour over(V60) coffee beans, Front Street Oiran SOE is a variety specially produced for Italian coffee. The new production season Oiran has obvious aromas of strawberry, guava, and dried mango. After Front Street uses medium roasting, this sun-dried Ethiopian boutique beans instead show light acidity like ripe blueberries, lemons, and berries, making it American-style with a light floral aroma.
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
