Why Use SOE Coffee Beans_Are SOE Coffee Beans Always Delicious_SOE Coffee Bean Price Report

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Understanding SOE: Single Origin Espresso

When ordering coffee at a café, have you ever been asked by the barista: "Would you like to try our SOE?"

The so-called "SOE" is an abbreviation for "Single Origin Espresso," which refers to espresso made from single-origin coffee beans.

In the past, single-origin coffee wasn't as popular, and coffee technology and flavors weren't as mature as they are today. There was no SOE, and the espresso beans used by cafés were blended coffees created by roasters selecting and mixing coffees from different origins and flavors (sometimes roasted individually before blending), combining the characteristics of different coffees to create an impeccable flavor profile.

In recent years, the concept of single-origin coffee has become increasingly popular. Many cafés have embraced this trend, adding "single-origin coffee" options to their menus and even introducing SOE - espresso made from single-origin coffee beans.

With its novel concept, slightly higher price point, unique style, and distinct personality, SOE coffee has even become the flagship product for some independent cafés. This has led many to believe that SOE coffee is more premium and tastes better than traditional blended espresso (House Blend Espresso). But is this really the case?

Blended Coffee Isn't Necessarily Inferior

Traditional espresso beans are composed of multiple coffee varieties. In Italy, a bag of coffee beans can consist of several, or even dozens of, different coffee beans. Many people assume that blended coffee tastes bad, thinking it's a mixture of many coffees of unknown origin, but the reality is that blended beans can also be made entirely from specialty coffee beans and can taste exceptionally good.

The biggest advantage of using blended coffee beans is ensuring flavor stability. When the quality of a particular coffee bean changes, or when production decreases or prices rise, roasters can choose similar coffee beans as substitutes without affecting the overall flavor. When selecting blended beans and creating blend recipes, roasters first need to determine the desired coffee flavor profile, such as the expression of acidity, sweetness, bitterness, and expectations for the coffee's body. Most cafés will develop their own "Signature Blend" with flavors that absolutely don't lose out to single-origin coffee beans.

Many people misunderstand that the flavor of blended coffee beans is limited to the layered expression experienced when drinking Espresso. This isn't actually important for China's coffee market, which is dominated by milk coffee. In reality, good blended coffee beans should clearly allow customers—whether drinking Espresso, Milk Coffee, or Americano—to easily distinguish the café's flavor design and approximate layers.

Both regular coffee tasters and customers without taste training should benefit from good quality—this is the spirit of specialty coffee.

SOE Coffee Beans Aren't Necessarily Better

Single-origin coffee is essentially the complete opposite concept of traditional blended coffee—drinking coffee from a single region, appreciating the unique flavors of that region, allowing people to have choices of different flavors instead of just fixed combination blends. SOE represents Single Origin Espresso. Although it doesn't necessarily equal specialty coffee, if you choose single-origin coffee beans with easily identifiable flavors as SOE, you can create espresso with unique and typical flavors. For example, Yirgacheffe's typical citrus flavors, Kenya's berry flavors, etc., and since espresso amplifies coffee flavors, specific flavors become more prominent compared to pour-over coffee.

However, although SOE shows outstanding performance, because it comes from a single origin, its defects are also relatively easily amplified. Therefore, factors like roasting and grind size all affect the flavor. If you don't have high-quality coffee beans, then SOE coffee won't taste good, and these defects can't even be concealed. So in actual practice, SOE coffee has high technical requirements in all aspects, which is one of the reasons why SOE coffee is usually more expensive than regular Espresso.

Ultimately, SOE is just a general term for espresso made from roasted beans of a single origin. There's no generalized explanation of coffee bean varieties, roasting information, or extraction methods, nor does it represent any quality of coffee beans. Simply evaluating whether SOE coffee is good or bad is actually meaningless, so SOE coffee isn't necessarily better than blended coffee. To find espresso that suits your taste, don't decide based solely on whether it's single-origin or blended. Next time,不妨 ask the barista about the espresso beans' flavor and roast level, and keep trying to find your favorite taste.

Single Origin or Blend: How to Choose?

01 Purpose

For commercial use such as in restaurants, offices, etc., blended beans are preferred because blended beans are less affected by weather, harvest problems, etc., and the taste remains similar throughout the 365 days of the year. Conversely, single-origin coffee is easily affected by environmental factors and prone to errors during brewing, so the coffee's flavor may vary daily. Unique blended beans help establish an image for restaurants, hotels, and cafés. Of course, most specialty cafés offer both blended beans and single-origin coffee beans.

02 Brewing Equipment

Brewing equipment is also an important factor. Semi-automatic and fully automatic espresso machines typically use blended coffee beans, especially fully automatic machines. Since the grinder burrs are relatively ordinary, they're not suitable for using some high-density light-roasted beans. Conversely, if you have pour-over kettles, clever drippers, siphons, etc., it's strongly recommended to use light to medium-roasted single-origin coffee beans to taste the coffee's inherent flavors. If you use blended beans, the flavors will be overly complex, and if you use dark-roasted beans, the bitterness will easily overpower other flavors.

03 Personal Preference

If you want simple, traditional, and consistent flavors, good blended coffee beans are definitely your first choice. But if you want some surprises and want to try more special flavors (such as peach, pineapple, rose, etc.), you must try light to medium-roasted single-origin specialty coffee beans.

SOE Coffee Bean Brand Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee's roasted SOE coffee beans offer full guarantees in both brand and quality. More importantly, they offer extremely high cost-effectiveness. A half-pound (227g) package costs only around 80-90 RMB. Calculating based on 10g of powder per single espresso shot, one package can make 22 cups of coffee, with each SOE coffee costing only 3-4 RMB. Compared to café prices that often reach dozens of RMB per cup, this offers exceptional value.

FrontStreet Coffee: A roastery in Guangzhou with a small storefront but diverse bean varieties, where you can find both famous and lesser-known beans. They also provide 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