How to Brew Single-Origin Coffee Beans? How to Determine Brewing Parameters for Single-Origin Coffee?

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Generally, the packaging bags of single-origin beans contain basic information such as processing method, roast level, roast date, and origin. This is our first step to quickly understand the coffee.

Through the processing method and roast level, we can make a basic judgment about the bean's characteristics.

About Processing Methods:

Natural Process: Because coffee beans mature naturally inside the fruit without interference from the external environment, natural process coffee beans have more intense flavors, with wine-like fermentation notes and sweetness.

Washed Process: Washed beans develop acidic substances during fermentation in the fermentation tank, so the coffee beans typically have bright, clean acidity.

Semi-washed Process: The semi-washed method has the fewest variables affecting quality. The coffee's acidity is slightly lower than washed beans but higher than natural process; the sweetness is lower than honey process, but the cleanliness is slightly better than honey process, with flavors介于 honey process and washed process.

Honey Process: Because it's dried with the mucilage attached, the sugars in the mucilage enter the beans during the drying process, making the coffee beans have balanced sweet and sour notes with rich body.

OK, we can conclude: washed beans have the highest acidity. Semi-washed comes next, but as acidity decreases, it gains some sweetness. Natural process beans have the most intense flavors. Honey process beans have balanced sweet and sour notes with rich body.

About Roast Level:

The roasting standard that a roaster adopts for a bean is always to highlight the bean's character and amplify its characteristics. Therefore, regardless of dark or light roast, identifying this bean's characteristics will help our subsequent judgments. For example, many roasters today choose light roasting to maximize the preservation of floral and fruity acidity.

Next is cupping. However, I don't really know much about cupping, so I won't discuss it here to avoid misleading people. But I can share an alternative testing method that I personally like:

Chewing the beans directly—yes, directly chewing them. Through the process of chewing beans, you can get some information, such as: Is this bean hard? How is it roasted? Some beans are labeled as medium roast on the packaging but have actually exceeded the medium standard, tasting strongly of burnt flavors when chewed. Some beans taste really wonderful when chewed, with pleasant acidity, a sweet aftertaste, making you want to eat more...不小心暴露了……

About Equipment Selection:

For beans with more acidity: pour-over.

For beans with balanced sweet and sour: pour-over.

For more bitter beans: moka pot, espresso machine.

For beans with strong floral notes: pour-over.

For beans with strong nutty flavors: moka pot, espresso machine.

This is a general direction because there are many varieties of coffee beans, and their growing environments are different, so this is definitely not absolute. We're only discussing general trends here.

Practical Single-Origin Coffee Brewing

1:15 ratio, 90°C water temperature, grind size slightly finer than sugar. This is a pour-over formula I use. Regardless of the bean, when you have no idea, just use this formula to brew—it won't taste bad. Then, make adjustments based on what you taste.

Next, summarize all the information we've gathered previously: origin, processing method, roast level, flavors from chewing the beans, coffee brewed with the formula, etc. Based on this information, make final adjustments. I think this is quite reasonable.

FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee): A roastery in Guangzhou with a small shop but diverse bean varieties, where you can find various famous and lesser-known beans, while also providing online shop services. https://shop104210103.taobao.com

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473