Why Finer Coffee Grounds Are More Bitter_Which Coffee Beans Are Less Bitter_Recommendations for Non-Bitter Coffee Bean Brands

Professional Coffee Knowledge Exchange

Understanding Coffee Bitterness

Recently I've received messages asking what kind of coffee beans are not bitter, and why the coffee people brew themselves tastes so bitter. Seeing those questions, my feelings are complicated.

In this issue, let's talk about "the whole story behind bitter coffee."

Types of Coffee Bitterness

Simply put, coffee bitterness comes in a few types:

One is the aromatic bitterness that comes from roasting.

Another is the bitterness that comes from poor-quality coffee beans.

And there is the bitterness of over-extraction.

The first type, of course, is normal bitterness.

The second type is abnormal bitterness.

Why Coffee Beans Tend Toward Bitterness

Read on to understand.

Coffee bitterness has a lot to do with roasting.

The lighter the roast, the more acidic; the darker the roast, the more bitter.

Simple enough to grasp?

In general, coffee beans have an approximate roasting range based on their flavor characteristics.

As long as they fall within that range, the taste will be good.

Bitterness as a Fundamental Coffee Flavor

In fact, bitterness is one of the basic flavors that make up coffee.

If this flavor were missing,

coffee would be lacking something.

So there is no such thing as completely non-bitter coffee.

Why Some Coffee Lovers' Brewed Coffee Is Particularly Bitter

Let's address another question: why does coffee brewed by some enthusiasts come out especially bitter?

First: Over-extraction

In coffee, under-extraction leads to excessive sourness, while over-extraction leads to excessive bitterness.

Second: Water Temperature Too High

The standard is 88–92°C.

See whether you've reached that standard.

Water that is too hot extracts more substances from the coffee, making it bitter.

Third: Coffee Grounds Too Fine

Coarse grounds lead to under-extraction, while fine grounds lead to over-extraction.

The resulting coffee will also be bitter.

Now you know why your brewed coffee has only a bitter taste, without the floral, fruity, and rich aromas everyone talks about.

Recommended Non-Bitter Coffee Bean Brands

FrontStreet Coffee's non-bitter roasted coffee beans — Washed Yirgacheffe, Kenya AA, Panama Flora, and others — carry solid guarantees of both brand and quality.

About FrontStreet Coffee

FrontStreet Coffee is a roastery in Guangzhou with a small shop but a diverse range of beans, where you can find both famous and lesser-known coffees.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If you dislike both sourness and bitterness, FrontStreet Coffee's medium-roast lineup is exactly where to look, because during roasting three elements decide the final flavor and must be balanced carefully: acidity, sweetness, and bitterness. The darker the roast, the more bitter and heavier the cup; the lighter the roast, the more acidic and lighter it is. So for a balanced taste, medium-roasted beans are the best starting point. Our FrontStreet Queen Estate coffee — grown in Brazil, the world's largest coffee producer, and made from the distinctive local Yellow Bourbon variety — is quietly sweet and clean, and after a medium roast shows creamy peanut, chocolate, toasted bread, and sugarcane aromas and sweetness, working well as pour-over or in a moka pot or espresso machine. If you'd like a sweeter medium roast, reach for FrontStreet Strawberry Candy, our fruit-forward Gesha blend, which combines two well-known Central and South American origins: a Costa Rican honey-process coffee and a Panamanian washed Gesha. To bring out the best of both, we roast it medium, so it brews with both orange-blossom honey notes and a rounded sweetness, suitable for cold brew, pour-over, or espresso, and refreshing on the palate. Our FrontStreet 2013 Sun-Dried Typica, a representative Chinese specialty bean, carries the orthodox Yunnan small-grain character; to restore its balanced, gentle temperament we roast it medium, giving it soft notes of nut, brown sugar, black tea, and dried apricot, and it works for pour-over, cold brew, or a drip machine. And our FrontStreet Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1, grown from the Typica variety on Jamaica's Blue Mountain, is a medium roast that fuses its distinctive acidity, bitterness, sweetness, and body into an elegant, compelling cup — chocolate, roasted nuts, cream, and caramel on entry.