With So Many Coffee Varieties, How Can Beginners Quickly Find Their Perfect Single-Origin Coffee?

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As a coffee novice, when entering a café, you can first establish eye contact with the barista. Once you've made that connection, describe to the staff what flavors of coffee you prefer. You don't need to sound as professional as a coffee critic—keep it relaxed. For example, you could say you prefer something stronger or more acidic. This way, the staff can recommend the most suitable coffee based on their café's flavor characteristics. When it comes to ordering single-origin coffee, the process can generally be divided into the following 4 stages:

Part 1

A Little More Acidic? A Little More Bitter? A Little More Sweet?

Single-origin coffee beans have distinct personalities. Typically, specialty coffee shops offer 3-5 or more types of single-origin coffee beans for you to choose from:

You can usually first select by region: African beans, American beans, or Asian beans

For example, Mandheling (bitter), Yirgacheffe (citrus flavor, acidic), Costa Rica honey-processed (sweet)

Next, you can briefly understand several common types of beans: if you prefer more acidity, choose Kenyan or Yirgacheffe; if you prefer more body, select Blue Mountain or Mandheling. There are also sweet beans like Geisha, which offer floral and sweet potato flavors.

Colombia, Nicaragua, Brazil — Chocolate, nuts, caramel

Ethiopia, Tanzania, Rwanda — Sweet, acidic, nutty, lemon flavors, sometimes astringent

India, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea — Herbal, spicy, salty

Central American Bean Flavor Characteristics:

Latin American coffees are generally known for their balanced flavors, with nutty notes and some fruitiness, but the acidity isn't as bright as African beans, and they have good body.

African Coffee Flavor Characteristics:

Characterized by rich aromas and captivating fruit acidity, their bright acidity is invigorating, but African coffees often have slightly lighter body.

Asian Beans and Island Coffee:

These have higher body than Central/South American and African beans, but lower acidity, with flavors that include woody notes, herbal, spice, and earthy tones. The deep, mellow aromas are more prominent than the bright acidity. Island beans are relatively light and gentle, with an elegant character.

Part 2

Natural Process? Washed Process? Honey Process? Wet-Hulled Process?

Natural Process: Lowest acidity, noticeable sweetness, high body, slightly lower cleanliness;

Washed Process: Noticeable acidity, good cleanliness, medium body, high stability;

Honey Process falls between the two, with overall flavors that emphasize the sweet aroma of mucilage and fruity notes, similar to mango, longan, honey, and hazelnut fragrances. The mouthfeel is full but with lower, smoother acidity.

Wet-Hulled Process, due to shortened drying time, reduces the fermentation period of coffee beans, significantly lowering acidity while increasing body. Caramel and fruit aromas are prominent, with slight woody and herbal notes.

Among the four major processing methods, washed processing has the highest acidity, natural processing offers better sweetness and complexity, honey processing falls between the two, and wet-hulled processing tends toward bitterness.

The natural process involves drying the entire coffee fruit directly;

The washed process removes the skin, pulp, and mucilage before drying;

Honey processing removes the pulp and then dries the fruit with the parchment still attached;

The wet-hulled process is common in Indonesia. Similar to washed processing, but when the beans are still soft and moist with a moisture content of 30-35%, the parchment is removed, exposing the green beans directly before continuing the drying process.

Part 3

Roast Level? Roast Date?

Generally, lightly roasted beans highlight bright, refreshing flavors with very rich flavor expressions—floral notes, fruit acidity, and certain tea-like flavors are characteristic of these beans.

Medium roast offers a more balanced performance, combining refreshing flavors with rich body.

Dark roasted beans tend to emphasize their mouthfeel, with typically richer flavors like smoke, chocolate, and woody notes. They also come with full body.

Roast Date

The roast date of coffee beans represents freshness. Typically, beans roasted within 2-3 days can be called fresh coffee beans. However, buying freshly roasted beans isn't actually when the beans taste best, as they may still carry roasting smoke and the beans' own odors.

Freshly roasted beans have what's commonly known as "dryness," mainly表现为 sharp acidity that lacks roundness, sweetness hasn't reached its optimal state, and slight astringency lingers in the mouth. The roasting process is a complex chemical and physical reaction process with variables we may not yet understand. However, this dryness is a real taste sensation.

Optimal Flavor Period

From the roaster's experience, the optimal flavor period for coffee beans is about 15 days (depending on the roast level). That is, after the resting period, within 7-20 days from the roast date is considered the flavor period, or the optimal tasting period.

Part 4

Coffee Tasting

When coffee enters your mouth, you can perceive its flavors. In this regard, many enthusiasts, especially those just beginning to explore coffee tasting, often feel that coffee doesn't taste as good as it smells. Indeed, sensory discrimination of coffee liquid in the mouth requires some training, but over time, the various flavors become discernible.

Another key point in coffee tasting is how to distinguish the sweet, salty, acidic, and bitter aspects of coffee.

Body is what we commonly call "body," referring to the mature, mellow, and rich taste expressed by coffee liquid. The difference between a glass of water and a cup of coffee lies in the fact that water has no taste and isn't viscous, while espresso is rich in oils and has excellent body. A coffee with good body allows the aroma to linger longer in the mouth and extends the aftertaste.

For example, FrontStreet Coffee series coffee beans have the following types of acidity:

Washed Sidamo: Wild ginger, bergamot, blackcurrant, various tropical fruit acids

FrontStreet Coffee Flower Butterfly: Tea aroma, honey, berries

Berry Garden: Berries, floral notes, grape acidity

We believe you will become increasingly familiar with coffee

In fact, every coffee expert was once a coffee novice

So we also believe that current coffee novices

Will one day become people who understand coffee

And find their perfect coffee!

Recommended Reading

Professional Terms | Roast Date, Resting Period, Optimal Flavor Period, Shelf Life

Professional Specialty Coffee Training | Understanding the Flavor Characteristics of African, American, and Asian Specialty Coffee Beans

Why Does My Coffee Only Taste Like Coffee! Because You Haven't Spent Enough Money!

Specialty Coffee Beans VS Commercial Beans: How Should Coffee Shops Choose Their Regular Coffee Beans?

Professional Barista Training | How to Taste a Single-Origin Coffee

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473