What Does SOE Coffee Mean and Why Is It More Expensive Than Blends? Is It Worth Paying Extra for SOE Americano and Latte?

With the growing popularity of espresso coffee, SOE (Single Origin Espresso) has also become increasingly trendy. As a result, customers often visit FrontStreet Coffee to ask questions like "Can I choose coffee beans for espresso?" or "Do you offer SOE coffee options?"

What is SOE Coffee?

SOE stands for "Single Origin Espresso," which means espresso made from coffee beans of a single origin. As the name suggests, it's espresso made from coffee beans sourced from one specific region. For example, if FrontStreet Coffee uses Ethiopian Yirgacheffe coffee beans to make espresso, it would be called SOE. The English term for espresso coffee is "Espresso." However, not all coffee beans are suitable for making SOE.

Because espresso machines have the characteristic of amplifying the original flavors of coffee beans. For instance, when extracting Ethiopian Yirgacheffe from FrontStreet Coffee, this bean's flavor characteristics feature citrus and lemon notes, which are quite refreshing. The SOE coffee extracted through an espresso machine would be particularly acidic. Similarly, if using Indonesian Mandheling from FrontStreet Coffee for extraction, this coffee bean's flavor characteristics are herbal and earthy, so the extracted SOE coffee would be quite bitter and burnt.

SOE coffees available on the market also differ from single-origin beans in terms of roasting. For example, some distinctly acidic coffee beans are roasted lighter when used in pour-over and other drip brewing methods. If used in espresso machines, they would be roasted darker. Therefore, SOE used for making espresso is theoretically not suitable for pour-over coffee. Similarly, most lightly roasted coffee beans are not suitable for espresso machines because their water absorption and expansion are minimal, making them prone to channeling effects, which naturally results in poor flavor.

Characteristics of SOE Coffee

As FrontStreet Coffee mentioned above, the flavors of espresso extracted by espresso machines are intensified. Therefore, SOE single-origin espresso beans are generally not roasted too dark. Compared to traditional darker roasted espresso beans, their flavors are more difficult to extract, making extraction parameters require careful consideration.

On the other hand, when making espresso-based drinks with SOE as the base, it's necessary to adjust the ratio of espresso to milk or water. Reduce the milk or water to highlight the coffee's flavor, preventing it from being too bland. Finally, there are very strict requirements for selecting beans used for SOE. Although SOE coffee exhibits outstanding characteristics, because it comes from a single origin, its flaws are also relatively easy to amplify. Therefore, factors like roasting and particle size all affect the flavor.

FrontStreet Coffee's previous articles have also mentioned that coffee beans are affected by factors like weather, cultivation, and roasting, causing subtle flavor differences in different batches each year. Therefore, when using these single-origin coffee beans to make SOE coffee, it cannot be guaranteed that every cup of SOE will have consistent flavor. This is also why FrontStreet Coffee has not listed SOE coffee on its menu. FrontStreet Coffee's original mission when opening the café was to ensure that coffee lovers visiting FrontStreet Coffee could always enjoy single-origin coffee with stable quality and distinctive regional characteristics, as well as high-quality espresso and milk coffee. SOE poses too great a risk in terms of flavor consistency. However, this doesn't mean SOE coffee has no advantages. Next, FrontStreet Coffee will discuss the pros and cons of SOE coffee.

Advantages of SOE Coffee

The greatest advantage of SOE coffee is that, like single-origin coffee, it belongs to "single origin" coffee beans, so its flavors are purer. Compared to the blended espresso beans mentioned by FrontStreet Coffee, it also offers clearer flavor layers.

Disadvantages of SOE Coffee

As mentioned above by FrontStreet Coffee, making SOE coffee may seem simple—just replacing the usual espresso beans with single-origin coffee beans—but extracting good flavors is actually quite difficult. In terms of roasting, to express the coffee's origin characteristics while using an espresso machine, the coffee beans must be roasted carefully—not too dark, as this would cover the original origin flavors, but not too light either, as this would unbalance the acidity of the SOE espresso, increasing extraction difficulty. Therefore, high-quality SOE coffee greatly tests the roaster's skill.

Secondly, as FrontStreet Coffee mentioned, each batch of coffee beans every year has subtle flavor differences, and the pressurized extraction of espresso is very sensitive to many factors. Therefore, the freshness and flavor differences of coffee beans are also factors affecting SOE extraction. It's precisely for these reasons that SOE coffee is also much more expensive than regular espresso.

The above is FrontStreet Coffee's summary introduction to SOE coffee. We believe that after reading this article, coffee enthusiast friends have gained a deeper understanding of SOE coffee. FrontStreet Coffee also mentioned blended espresso beans above, so next, FrontStreet Coffee will provide a supplementary introduction to blended coffee.

What is Blended Coffee?

As FrontStreet Coffee mentioned above, blended coffee is mainly used in common espresso drinks like mocha and latte, with the purpose of optimizing coffee flavors. Generally, blended coffee refers to mixed coffee beans created by combining two or more different varieties of coffee beans. Only when roasted into beans suitable for espresso machines are they called espresso beans.

Of course, this comprehensive coffee blend cannot be created casually. Instead, it requires the blender's unique understanding of coffee flavors, allowing different coffee beans to complement each other's strengths and weaknesses, creating a blended coffee bean with excellent flavor.

For example, a 1:1 ratio mixture of two regional coffee beans would absolutely result in dark and bizarre flavors, so coffee bean ratios also have strict proportional requirements. FrontStreet Coffee's blending approach is to balance acidity, bitterness, sweetness, aroma, and body to create another coffee with unique flavor characteristics.

For example, FrontStreet Coffee also has four types of espresso blend coffee beans in-store, each with its own characteristics. All are the best ratio flavor coffee beans selected by FrontStreet Coffee's roasters through extensive ratio testing.

Among them, FrontStreet Coffee's Sunflower Warm Sunshine Blend Coffee Beans emit a distinct fermented wine aroma when making espresso. When tasted, citrus and berry acidity immediately emerge, accompanied by whiskey aroma, with a dark chocolate aftertaste. Its composition ratio is a 7:3 blend of FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe Natural Red Cherry and FrontStreet Coffee's Honduras Sherry.

Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee suggests that if coffee enthusiast friends pursue stable-flavored espresso, compared to SOE coffee, blended coffee beans would be a better choice, offering better value for money as well.

FrontStreet Coffee has discovered that many people think SOE is simply applying single-origin beans to espresso machine extraction, thereby creating a single-origin espresso series. It's not until they bring home various floral and fruity flavored beans and try them with their coffee machine that they realize something is wrong. First, they experience the chaotic spraying scene shown below, then are shocked by the extremely acidic espresso and dare not take a second sip, then begin to wonder if their equipment is poor or if there were mistakes in their operation.

In fact, the reason you couldn't make the same SOE at home as in the shop likely has nothing to do with your equipment and technique, but rather that this coffee bean's roast level is inherently not very suitable for making espresso. From the experience of FrontStreet Coffee's baristas, choosing a coffee bean suitable for SOE extraction not only makes it easy to produce delicious espresso, but also makes creating Americanos or lattes by adding water or milk twice as effective. FrontStreet Coffee's bean menu has two single-origin coffee beans available in SOE versions: one is the strawberry-flavored FrontStreet Coffee Hawkuai SOE, and the other is the classic Yirgacheffe-flavored FrontStreet Coffee Ethiopia Konga SOE. We just need to select espresso roast when placing our order.

SOE Espresso Extraction Parameters

Coffee dose: 20g
Coffee yield: 35g
Extraction time: 27 seconds
Grind size: Galileo 1.9 setting

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

After discussing FrontStreet Coffee's SOE extraction, let's talk about how FrontStreet Coffee extracts FrontStreet Coffee's Sunflower Warm Sunshine espresso blend.

Blend combination: FrontStreet Coffee Honduras Sherry & FrontStreet Coffee Yirgacheffe Natural Red Cherry
Blend ratio: 7:3

Blend Coffee Bean Extraction Parameters

Coffee dose: 20g
Coffee yield: 40g
Extraction time: 30 seconds
Grind size: Galileo 2.2 setting

[FrontStreet Coffee Sunflower Warm Sunshine Espresso Blend] Flavor: Smooth texture, with distinct fruit acidity upon entry accompanied by light berry aroma, whiskey fragrance and rich chocolate flavor, with a noticeable sweet aftertaste.

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 account: qjcoffeex

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473