Are Espresso Beans Suitable for Pour-Over Coffee? Deep Roast Flavor and Taste of Italian Blend Coffee Beans

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Understanding Coffee Roast Levels

The roast level of coffee largely determines the flavor direction of the coffee. When we buy coffee, the label will indicate the degree of roast, such as light roast, dark roast—these are easy to understand. However, some labels indicate cinnamon roast or city roast, which can be confusing. In this issue, FrontStreet Coffee will guide you through the knowledge of coffee roast levels.

Coffee roast levels have many different names, such as French Roast, Italian Roast, City Roast... Among these, French Roast and Italian Roast refer to the degree of roast, not the coffee origin.

The so-called French Roast typically refers to a relatively light espresso roast, while Italian Roast belongs to a darker roast level. However, in the United States, what is called French Roast is usually frighteningly dark, with a bitter, charred coffee flavor and a deep smoky taste, sometimes giving the sensation of drinking a cup of coal. Its strong bitterness and unique roasted aroma make it very suitable for European-style coffees such as café au lait and Viennese coffee.

City Roast originated in New York. The coffee beans show a bright tea-brown color and have a rich, mellow aroma with balanced bitterness and acidity. This is the roast level commonly consumed in general coffee shops or homes. Italian Roast has the strongest intensity, with coffee beans appearing almost charcoal-black. You can taste a strong bitterness and rich texture, suitable for espresso and cappuccino.

Agtron Color Values and Roast Levels

Agtron Color Value #95: Light Roast
Drop time: When the first crack becomes dense and is about to end

Agtron Color Value #85: Cinnamon Roast
Drop time: Around when the first crack ends

Agtron Color Value #75: Medium Roast
Drop time: After the first crack ends

Agtron Color Value #65: High Roast
Drop time: The quiet period between first and second crack

Agtron Color Value #55: City Roast
Drop time: When the second crack begins

Agtron Color Value #45: Full City Roast
Drop time: Before the second crack becomes dense

Agtron Color Value #35: French Roast
Drop time: When the second crack becomes dense

Agtron Color Value #25: Italian Roast
Drop time: When oil begins to seep to the bean surface

The Art of Dark Roasting

The above three roast levels can be categorized as "dark roast" coffee beans. Dark roast coffee beans can provide abundant mellow flavors and aromas because the longer the dark roasting time, the more caramelization reactions occur, forming more oils and obvious sweetness. This rich flavor sometimes has more depth and layers than light brown cinnamon-style roasting, and can use sweetness to balance acidity, fully revealing the delicious components in high-quality beans from premium varieties. If you are a newcomer to coffee, FrontStreet Coffee suggests that when buying coffee beans, you can choose according to the coffee beans' flavor, origin, and brewing method. It's best to directly ask the shopkeeper for recommendations to get a delicious cup of coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee's Blend Philosophy

At FrontStreet Coffee, you can find 4 types of FrontStreet Coffee espresso blend beans: FrontStreet Coffee Sunflower Warm Sun Blend, FrontStreet Coffee Specialty Espresso Blend, FrontStreet Coffee Commercial Espresso Blend, and FrontStreet Coffee Basic Espresso Blend. As FrontStreet Coffee's most outstanding blended coffee bean, let's share how FrontStreet Coffee created the FrontStreet Coffee Sunflower Warm Sun Blend with its rich chocolate, wine aroma, and vanilla flavors.

In this warm winter sun season, FrontStreet Coffee planned to create a blend suitable for both pour-over coffee and espresso production. In terms of mouthfeel, FrontStreet Coffee wanted this blend to have a pleasant, highly recognizable aroma upon entry, a thick mouthfeel with a hint of soft fruit acidity, and a finish with medium to high sweetness.

After much thought and selection, FrontStreet Coffee considered beans with prominent aromas and substantial mouthfeel. Beans with special processing methods are also good choices—anaerobic? Barrel-fermented? Ethiopian region beans have thousands of varieties with flavors worth exploring. Washed beans have bright fruit acidity and clean mouthfeel, while natural processed beans have richer tropical fruit flavors with complex and thick mouthfeel. When at a loss, FrontStreet Coffee recalled that both barrel-fermented beans and natural processed FrontStreet Coffee Yirgacheffe beans had been used for SOE before, and the extracted flavors performed excellently—aromas with fruit acidity, balanced yet not monotonous mouthfeel, and sufficient sweetness.

After our discussion, we finally decided to use a 6:4 ratio of FrontStreet Coffee barrel-fermented sherry beans and FrontStreet Coffee natural red cherry beans to blend this "FrontStreet Coffee Sunflower Warm Day Blend Coffee Bean."

FrontStreet Coffee Roasting Curve Analysis

For blended beans, there needs to be body, sufficient sweetness, and overall balance. Considering that mixed blend beans might experience uneven roasting during the roasting process, FrontStreet Coffee adopted a gradual heat reduction method in roasting to allow the beans to develop synchronously during the roasting process.

Heat the drum to 210°C to load beans, air damper set to 4, heat at 200, return temperature at 1'30", 92°C; when drum temperature reaches 140°C, open air damper to 6; at this point, the bean surface turns yellow, grassy aroma completely disappears, entering the dehydration stage. When drum temperature reaches 180°C, adjust heat to 10, air damper to maximum 10.

At 9'30", ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on the bean surface, and the toast aroma clearly transitions to coffee aroma—this can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this time, listen carefully for the sound of the first crack point. At 10'38", the first crack begins. After the first crack, develop for 3'40" and drop at 197.5°C.

After cupping, pour-over, and espresso extraction, this bean entry has soft fruit acidity, persistent aftertaste, sufficient sweetness, rich chocolate aroma, vanilla, cream, and obvious wine notes, with a clean, smooth mouthfeel and medium body—it perfectly matches the FrontStreet Coffee Warm Day Blend that FrontStreet Coffee wanted.

FrontStreet Coffee Espresso Extraction Parameters

Grind setting: Fiocco 600N grinder #1.8, 20g dose, extract 40g coffee liquid, brew ratio 1:2, extraction time 28s.

Flavor: Smooth mouthfeel, medium body, obvious fruit acidity upon entry accompanied by faint berry aroma, wine aroma, rich chocolate flavor, with obvious aftertaste.

Americano: Espresso to water ratio 1:5, with sherry wine aroma and vanilla cream flavors, the slight intoxication of sherry wine, cocoa, and caramel flavors.

Latte: Espresso to milk ratio 1:6, rich chocolate milk, caramel, very high sweetness, smooth.

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee on private WeChat, WeChat ID: 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