SOE Coffee's Flavor Profile and Tasting Guide: Understanding SOE Single Origin vs. Espresso Blend Coffee Beans

Many customers ask FrontStreet Coffee's baristas what SOE coffee is and why many specialty coffee shops have SOE coffee, but FrontStreet Coffee doesn't include SOE coffee on their menu. FrontStreet Coffee doesn't put SOE coffee on the menu because SOE coffee is espresso extracted from single-origin coffee beans. Coffee beans are affected by factors such as weather, cultivation, and roasting, which can cause flavor variations between different batches of the same bean, making it impossible to guarantee consistent flavor in every espresso.

What is SOE Coffee?

Single-origin espresso, also known as Single Origin Espresso (SOE), stands for "Single Origin Espresso." Although SOE represents single-origin espresso, it doesn't necessarily equal specialty coffee. If you select single-origin coffee beans with easily identifiable flavors as SOE, you can create espresso with unique and typical characteristics. For example, the citrus notes of FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe or the small tomato flavors of FrontStreet Coffee's Kenya, combined with the high pressure of an espresso machine that amplifies coffee flavors, result in more pronounced flavor profiles compared to pour-over coffee.

What Should You Pay Attention to When Making SOE?

For SOE single-origin espresso, the selected coffee beans are generally not roasted too deeply in order to highlight the regional flavors. Compared to traditionally darker-roasted espresso beans, the flavors are more difficult to extract. FrontStreet Coffee believes that on one hand, you need to adjust extraction parameters to increase the extraction rate. For example, extending extraction time, adjusting to a finer grind, or increasing the dose.

On the other hand, when making espresso-based drinks using SOE coffee beans, you need to adjust the ratio of espresso to milk or water. Reduce the milk or water to highlight the coffee flavor, ensuring it doesn't become too bland. Finally, there are very strict requirements for selecting coffee beans to make SOE. Although SOE coffee exhibits prominent flavors, because it comes from a single origin, its drawbacks are also relatively easily magnified. Therefore, factors such as roasting and particle size will all affect the flavor.

How Does FrontStreet Coffee Use Brazil Queen Manor Yellow Bourbon Coffee Beans to Extract SOE?

Coffee dose: 20g
Coffee liquid amount: 40ml
Extraction time: 27 seconds
Grind setting: Galileo Q18 2.0

SOE flavor description: Citrus, berries, fermented aroma, viscous, medium bitterness, medium-high acidity, bright and lively acidity.

FrontStreet Coffee hopes that every customer who visits FrontStreet Coffee can enjoy consistently flavored and distinctly characterized espresso or milk coffee every time. Therefore, for espresso production, FrontStreet Coffee uses their Frontsteet Sunflower Warm Sun Espresso Blend, which is a blend of Frontsteet Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Natural Red Cherry and Frontsteet Honduras Whiskey Barrel Sherry, as the daily espresso bean.

FrontStreet Coffee's Purpose for Coffee Bean Blends:

1. Create Long-term Stable Flavors

The same region from different harvest seasons or even different batches within the same year can produce different flavors. The disadvantage of single origin is exposed here - you can't confidently guarantee that you'll be able to drink the same single-origin coffee next year that you found delicious this year (except for coffee beans where processing methods dominate flavor, and other factors from origin to café can also cause flavor differences in the coffee beans you purchase). Therefore, one purpose of blending is to create a product that can be supplied long-term with stable flavors. When the quality of one coffee bean cannot meet requirements or changes in the new harvest season, you can find similar coffee beans to replace it to achieve stability.

2. Create Flavors That Single Coffee Beans Cannot Produce

Sometimes single-origin coffee beans are like a person - they have both strengths and weaknesses. Blending is like organizing a team, taking each other's strengths to compensate for weaknesses, achieving a complementary effect. For example, using a coffee bean with higher sweetness blended with a coffee bean with higher acidity to achieve a sweet-sour balance, or adding some Brazil beans to increase overall body thickness - these are all purposes of blending.

3. Determine the Target Flavor Profile for the Blend

When FrontStreet Coffee first blended the Frontsteet Sunflower Warm Sun Espresso Blend, we were very clear about wanting to create a blend with wine-like aromas, so we could immediately include Frontsteet Honduras Sherry Barrel, Frontsteet Honduras Lychee Orchid, and Frontsteet Colombia San Jose - these three coffee beans with barrel fermentation and distinct wine-like aromas - in the candidate list for blending. After multiple trials and considering factors such as cost-effectiveness, we finally decided to use Frontsteet Honduras Sherry Barrel as the main tone for the Frontsteet Sunflower Warm Sun Blend.

4. Determine the Blending Type

The advantage of raw blending is that you can use the same roast degree to make the coffee tend toward stability and uniformity. Secondly, it can reduce the number of roasting sessions - one roasting is sufficient, improving efficiency. At the same time, the disadvantages of raw blending are also very obvious. The limitations of raw blending are very large. Generally, raw blending is more recommended for several beans with similar densities. For example, blending a coffee bean suitable for light roasting with a coffee bean suitable for dark roasting together at the same roast degree can easily result in 1+1

The advantage of post-blend is that you can roast each bean to its optimal roast degree, maximizing the characteristics of each bean. But the disadvantage of post-blend is that daily quality control and management become more difficult. Inconsistent roasting dates require more attention to multiple aging periods. Imagine using 4-5 coffee beans for post-blend - this product would require attention to 4-5 different roasting dates. FrontStreet Coffee uses the post-blend method when roasting the Frontsteet Sunflower Warm Sun Blend, separately roasting the Frontsteet Honduras Sherry Barrel coffee beans and Frontsteet Natural Yirgacheffe Red Cherry Plan to maximize the wine aroma of the Frontsteet Sherry Barrel coffee beans while preserving as much as possible the fruit acidity and citrus-berry aromas of the other Frontsteet Natural Yirgacheffe.

When FrontStreet Coffee selects blend beans and formulates blending plans, they need to first determine the coffee characteristics they want to present, including the performance of sour, sweet, and bitter, expectations for body, coffee flavors, and whether the focus when serving is milk-based coffee, Americano, or espresso. These are all factors that need to be considered when selecting green beans, determining roasting methods, and finalizing recipes. Not only that, but the recipe also undergoes multiple tests, adjustments, retests, readjustments... before final determination.

FrontStreet Coffee's Espresso Extraction Parameters:

FrontStreet Coffee uses a Lelit V3 espresso machine with the following extraction parameters:
Pressure: 9 bar
Temperature: 90.5~96°C
Time: 20~30 sec
Dose-to-water ratio: 1:1.7~1:2
Dose: 12g (single espresso) 20g (double espresso)
Espresso yield: 20ml (single) 40ml (double)

This Frontsteet Sunflower Warm Sun Espresso Blend, when extracted through the espresso machine under pressure, exhibits distinct fruit acidity, with faint berry aromas lingering. The wine and chocolate flavors are rich, and the aftertaste is comfortable.

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account: cafe_style)
For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee's private WeChat: kaixinguoguo0925

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473