Flavor Differences Between SOE and Blend Coffee - Taste Profile and Quality of Yirgacheffe SOE Americano

Customers who come to FrontStreet Coffee often ask our baristas if there are different espresso beans to choose from, or if we can make single-origin coffee. At these times, FrontStreet Coffee has to politely inform customers that we currently only offer one type of espresso bean blend: FrontStreet Coffee Sunflower Warm Sunshine Espresso Blend (a combination of FrontStreet Coffee Honduras Sherry and FrontStreet Coffee Natural Red Cherry). Due to the high proportion of sherry coffee beans, FrontStreet Coffee's iced Americanos have a rich wine-like aroma that rushes into your nostrils as soon as the grinder starts, tasting more like sipping aged vintage wine. Whenever FrontStreet Coffee's baristas describe this distinctive espresso flavor to customers, their eyes light up with interest and acceptance.

Understanding Single Origin Espresso (SOE)

This brings us to today's discussion topic: What exactly are customers referring to when they ask for single-origin coffee when they first visit?

FrontStreet Coffee explains: SOE coffee actually became very popular abroad over a decade ago and has now developed into a mature concept. However, it has only gained popularity in China in recent years, so many people still don't quite understand what SOE is. SOE is actually the abbreviation for Single Origin Espresso, which means espresso made from coffee beans from a single origin region. Does this give you an "aha!" moment? This isn't some mysterious, high-level coffee concept—it's simply replacing the "blended coffee" typically used for espresso with "single-origin coffee," but still extracted through an espresso machine under high pressure.

SOE vs. Blended Coffee: Which Tastes Better?

So does SOE really taste better than blended coffee? Many factors determine whether a cup of coffee is good or not, such as coffee beans, roasting, coffee machine, brewing technique, personal taste preferences, and so on. SOE only refers to espresso made from single-origin coffee beans, and the beans used aren't necessarily better than those in blends. The other factors also greatly influence coffee quality, so we can't make sweeping generalizations about what makes "good" coffee!

Take FrontStreet Coffee's iced Americano, for example. The FrontStreet Coffee Sunflower Warm Sunshine Blend wasn't created to reduce costs or mask the flavor of inferior coffee beans, but rather to create new, unique flavors and showcase FrontStreet Coffee's differentiation from other cafés through this carefully crafted formula.

Yirgacheffe Americano vs. Standard Americano

Returning to our title, what's the difference between a Yirgacheffe Americano and a standard Americano? From FrontStreet Coffee's description above, you should understand that a Yirgacheffe Americano is an SOE Americano coffee. FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe beans inherently have delicate floral aromatics, with smooth, round mouthfeel hiding notes of flowers, fruits, and high mountain black tea. When used for espresso, FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe beans even develop dark chocolate flavors, combined with clean, bright acidity, weaving together soft, pleasant flavors and aftertaste. This is precisely what a good Yirgacheffe Americano should taste like.

FrontStreet Coffee's Philosophy on SOE

FrontStreet Coffee believes that using single-origin beans for espresso is simply to allow espresso and milk coffee lovers to experience the inherent flavors of single-origin beans. Therefore, if a single-origin bean doesn't have high enough distinctiveness to make the entire coffee showcase the flavors it should have, then it's better to drink a cup of blended coffee with balanced flavors and rich body. The difference between Americano and latte lies in their espresso base—Americanos use water for dilution while lattes use milk. When making SOE coffee, we must consider the latte's flavor profile even more, because milk's flavor might overshadow the single-origin coffee's characteristics.

Regarding single-origin coffee, FrontStreet Coffee has another viewpoint: don't pursue consistency in SOE coffee. Because coffee is an agricultural product, the quality of single-origin coffee is affected by various factors such as weather and cultivation, so it's perfectly normal for SOE coffees from the same region but different years to have flavor differences.

Key Considerations for Making SOE

What should you pay attention to when making SOE? FrontStreet Coffee has discovered that many people think SOE means simply using single-origin beans directly with espresso machine extraction to create single-origin espresso. It's not until they bring home various floral and fruity flavored beans and try them with their coffee machine that they realize something's wrong. First, they experience the wild spraying scene shown below, followed by being shocked by incredibly sour espresso that makes them不敢 take a second sip, then they start wondering if their equipment is too poor or if they made some operational mistake.

Actually, the reason you might not be able to make shop-quality SOE at home likely isn't your equipment or technique, but rather that the roast level of these beans simply isn't suitable for making espresso. From FrontStreet Coffee's barista experience, choosing coffee beans 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 list offers two single-origin beans in SOE versions: one is strawberry-flavored FrontStreet Coffee Guji SOE, and the other is classic Yirgacheffe-flavored FrontStreet Coffee Konga SOE. Simply select "espresso roast" when placing your order.

The Popularity of Yirgacheffe

Indeed, many people ask if FrontStreet Coffee has Yirgacheffe SOE coffee. Why is everyone asking about Yirgacheffe? FrontStreet Coffee believes this is related to Yirgacheffe coffee's reputation. Yirgacheffe was originally part of Ethiopia's Sidamo region, but due to its outstanding quality, it was separated into an independent growing region. This area produces some natural-processed coffees, but currently most are washed-processed. The coffee aristocracy with unique lemon-citrus aromas comes from Ethiopia's Yirgacheffe, where coffee is grown almost wild-style. Hand-harvested, the selected coffee beans often amount to only 1/4 of the total harvest. With delicate floral aromas and balanced acidity, Yirgacheffe, which tastes full of noble character, is known as Ethiopia's finest coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe Selection

FrontStreet Coffee shops currently offer four Yirgacheffe varieties: FrontStreet Coffee Natural Red Cherry (natural process), FrontStreet Coffee Konga Cooperative (natural process), FrontStreet Coffee Werka Cooperative (washed process), and FrontStreet Coffee Gudin Cooperative (washed process). Each bean has its own characteristics, with the overall flavor direction being citrus and berry notes.

FrontStreet Coffee's Red Cherry green beans are sourced from Trabocca, the Netherlands' largest green coffee importer. This importer, in pursuit of higher green bean quality, launched the Red Cherry Project [ORC], which requires fully manual harvesting of fully red coffee cherries, aiming to improve green coffee quality, thereby increasing coffee prices to bring higher profits to coffee farmers while bringing surprises to roasters.

Konga Cooperative is one of 26 cooperatives under the Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union. Konga's special feature lies in its red soil for growing coffee beans. The red soil is rich in iron, which is a micronutrient that helps plants produce chlorophyll, very helpful for photosynthesis, allowing plants to absorb more energy and produce better fruit. The red soil is undoubtedly a key factor in Konga Cooperative's production of delicious coffee beans. FrontStreet Coffee believes that FrontStreet Coffee's SOE Konga beans combine fruit's sweet and sour notes, almond biscuit flavors, and delicate floral aromatics, making them very suitable for creating balanced, rich lattes.

FrontStreet Coffee shops use the commercial single-group "Lelit Bianca" coffee machine, which can adjust extraction by changing pressure, with maximum pressure reaching 11bar. Home coffee machines only need to reach 9bar pressure to satisfy extraction and milk frothing functions, paired with an espresso grinder.

SOE Coffee Extraction Parameters

Coffee beans: FrontStreet Coffee Ethiopia Natural Konga SOE
Coffee dose: 20g
Espresso yield: 40g
Brew ratio: 1:2
Extraction time: 26～33 seconds
Grind setting: Galileo 2.0 settings

FrontStreet Coffee uses double basket capacity, with doses around 18～20 grams. FrontStreet Coffee uses 20 grams of coffee for service.

Typically, the coffee grounds to espresso liquid ratio ranges from 1:1.5 to 1:2.5. FrontStreet Coffee's extraction ratio is 1:2, meaning 20 grams of coffee grounds extracts 40 grams of espresso liquid. Time is related to the flow rate of coffee grounds. Generally, single extraction times are controlled between 20～35 seconds, because under 20 seconds coffee usually tastes thin, while over 35 seconds easily leads to over-extraction and bitter flavors. FrontStreet Coffee's espresso mostly falls within the 28～30 second range.

First, FrontStreet Coffee wipes the portafilter dry, turns on the grinder, grinds a double shot portion, places it on an electronic scale for adjustment to reach 20 grams. Then tools are used to distribute the coffee evenly, tamping the coffee puck firmly to ensure more stable extraction. Next, the extraction switch is turned on to run water, moistening the group head while flushing away any stuck coffee grounds, then the portafilter is gently locked onto the group head to begin extraction. When the electronic scale shows 40 grams of espresso extracted, at approximately 28～33 seconds, the extraction switch is turned off, and a SOE espresso is complete. We can add appropriate proportions of iced water or 80°C hot water according to personal preference to make a Yirgacheffe SOE Americano.

When making SOE hot lattes, FrontStreet Coffee uses a 1:6 ratio, adding 40 grams of espresso liquid to a pre-warmed coffee cup, then using the espresso machine's steam to froth 240g of milk. Milk temperature is best controlled between 50-65°C to form dense, appropriately thick foam, then evenly combining it with the espresso liquid. This creates a Yirgacheffe SOE latte that tastes like eating a lemon-flavored biscuit—rich, smooth, and aromatic, leaving you feeling warmly satisfied after drinking.

Connect With FrontStreet Coffee

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: 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