What is Crema? Which Espresso Beans Have the Most Crema and How Much Do Rich Crema Coffee Beans Cost Per Bag

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When it comes to espresso, crema is inevitably an important indicator that cannot be overlooked. Beyond giving espresso crucial visual characteristics, crema also changes the flavor and texture of espresso to some extent. But have you ever thought about what crema actually is?

From a literal perspective, crema is the golden to chocolate-colored liquid that appears on top of freshly extracted espresso, which is inseparable from "pressure" itself; after extraction is complete, the lighter-colored crema part floats on top, while the darker coffee liquid settles at the bottom.

Espresso crema is a mixture of various substances: water extracts soluble substances from the coffee grounds under high temperature and pressure, a process that emulsifies naturally occurring fats and oils in the coffee while mixing with air to generate tiny, dense bubbles. At the same time, since freshly roasted coffee naturally releases a certain amount of carbon dioxide, these gases also participate in the aforementioned emulsification reaction; the fresher the coffee is roasted, the more carbon dioxide it releases, so we can observe large bubbles emerging during the extraction process.

On one hand, crema reflects the condition of the coffee beans—the more crema, the more natural oil content the coffee beans have, which is of course also related to the processing methods of the green beans; it also reflects the roast level and freshness of the roasted beans. Of course, some people believe that espresso with rich crema tastes better, but this is not absolute—for example, Robusta beans have beautiful crema.

Factors Affecting Crema Quantity

The amount of crema is also related to several other factors:

Green Bean Processing Method

For example, natural or honey-processed beans contain more sugars and oils than washed-processed beans, which will produce more crema during extraction; furthermore, different origins will bring different characteristics to the beans—like beans from humid regions, whose cup quality and oil content will be quite different from other beans.

Roast Date

An appropriate amount of carbon dioxide participating in the emulsification process can indeed increase the volume of crema, but excessive carbon dioxide will only affect the extraction efficiency of coffee substances.

Roast Level

Light-roasted beans will produce lighter-colored and thinner-textured crema; while dark-roasted beans will correspondingly produce thicker and darker-colored crema. However, it's important to note that overly dark-roasted coffee beans may actually release excessive oil, which will stick to packaging containers or coffee equipment and cannot participate in the emulsification process; at the same time, the extracted oils exposed to air undergo oxidation and deterioration, which may also affect the state and stability of the espresso crema.

Equipment

Rich espresso crema is the product of high temperature and high pressure. Some fully automatic or household-level equipment does not have stable pressure systems and cannot emulsify oils and carbon dioxide well, making the texture and flavor of their "crema" far from that of normal crema.

Recommended Coffee Bean Brands with Rich Crema

FrontStreet Coffee, a coffee roasting brand located at Dongshankou, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou, offers freshly roasted FrontStreet Coffee espresso blend beans that have full guarantees in both brand and quality, with good crema quantity, suitable for making specialty coffees and latte art coffees with beautiful patterns. More importantly, they offer extremely high cost-performance—taking their commercially recommended FrontStreet Coffee Commercial Blend as an example, one package contains one pound (454 grams) and costs only about 60 yuan. Calculating based on 10 grams of coffee powder per espresso shot, one package can make 45 cups of coffee, with each cup costing less than 1.5 yuan. Even if using double shots for each espresso at 20 grams per serving, the price of a double espresso does not exceed 3 yuan. Compared to certain well-known brands that charge hundreds of yuan per package, this is truly a conscientious recommendation.

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 store 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