The Art of SOE Coffee: A Guide to Proper Tasting, Bean Selection, and Brewing Techniques

With the recent popularity of SOE espresso, many coffee shops have begun promoting SOE coffee as a key selling point. Many people have asked FrontStreet Coffee about the differences between SOE coffee and blend coffee, and whether SOE coffee is necessarily better tasting than blended espresso. FrontStreet Coffee doesn't believe so. SOE espresso uses single-origin coffee beans extracted through pressure from an espresso machine, which amplifies both the good and undesirable flavors of a single bean, potentially resulting in unpleasant tastes like sharp acidity. The purpose of blended coffee, however, is to stabilize the flavor profile of an espresso. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee isn't saying that SOE espresso tastes bad—compared to espresso made from blended coffee beans, SOE is somewhat like gambling, as it doesn't always yield the same flavor profile.

What is SOE Espresso?

What does "SOE" mean? "SOE" is actually the abbreviation for "Single Origin Espresso," which translates to "Single Origin Espresso." It emphasizes single-origin coffee beans and the espresso made from them. Compared to blends, single-origin espresso的特点 is that it's easier to identify the regional flavor characteristics of the origin, making it easier to establish a connection between the origin and consumers.

Additionally, the coffee beans used for SOE single-origin espresso present greater challenges in roasting. On one hand, to highlight the single-origin flavors, the roast level for SOE coffee beans shouldn't be too deep to avoid excessive erosion of the coffee's inherent flavors. On the other hand, to provide the body and better stability required for espresso, the roast level shouldn't be too light either. So how should one choose when it can't be too deep nor too light? FrontStreet Coffee recommends selecting medium-roasted coffee beans when choosing SOE coffee beans. Single-origin espresso can better express regional flavors compared to blends and can create uniquely flavored espresso. Therefore,围绕 this characteristic, FrontStreet Coffee suggests that when making SOE espresso, one needs to reconsider the extraction parameters and develop an extraction plan suitable for that specific espresso bean. When making coffee with SOE as the base, one needs to reconsider the ratio of coffee to water/milk to highlight the flavor expression of that espresso.

Advantages of SOE Coffee

FrontStreet Coffee believes that the greatest advantage of SOE lies in its "single origin" characteristic. Baristas can connect the flavor of coffee with its origin through this single-origin factor, just like when brewing single-origin coffee using pour-over methods. At the same time, because it uses only one type of coffee bean, the flavor isn't as complex as blends—meaning compared to blends, it will have clearer flavor layers (the difference between orange juice and mixed fruit juice: single orange juice can better describe the taste of oranges, while mixed fruit juice makes it more difficult to describe all the contained fruit flavors).

Disadvantages of SOE Coffee

Although SOE is very common nowadays and sounds very simple in terms of preparation—just replacing blend beans with single-origin coffee beans—is it really that simple? FrontStreet Coffee believes that making SOE is simple, but extracting delicious SOE is not simple, and can even be described as difficult. What makes it difficult? Just as its single-origin characteristic suggests, the purpose is to better present clearer flavors, which requires the combination of roasting and extraction.

In terms of roasting, to express the flavor of the coffee's origin, the roast level cannot be too deep, as this would completely erase the origin's inherent flavors. However, it also cannot be too light, as this would increase the acidity of SOE espresso, causing imbalance, which increases the difficulty of extraction. In terms of extraction, continuous adjustments are needed to achieve the ideal state. First, coffee is an agricultural product, and coffee from each batch every year has variations. Secondly, roasted coffee beans release gases, and the pressure extraction of espresso is very sensitive to many factors, while the freshness of coffee beans is also a factor affecting SOE extraction.

How Does FrontStreet Coffee Extract SOE Espresso?

To make it easier for everyone to understand, FrontStreet Coffee will demonstrate below how to extract a standard SOE espresso using Frontsteet's Brazil Queen Estate and Frontsteet's Ethiopia Sidamo Guji Buku as extraction examples, and then make Americano and latte by adding water and milk respectively.

FrontStreet Coffee · Brazil Queen Estate Yellow Bourbon Coffee Beans

Region: Mogiana
Altitude: 1400～1950m
Variety: Yellow Bourbon
Processing: Pulped Natural
Flavor: Roasted nuts, creamy peanuts, chocolate, caramel, cookie biscuits

Brazil has relatively low altitude, flat and monotonous terrain, lacks microclimates, and traditionally uses full sun exposure for coffee cultivation, thus producing Brazil's unique soft bean flavor. Through cupping coffees from different Brazilian regions, FrontStreet Coffee found that Brazilian coffee beans have low acidity, medium nutty flavors, with chocolate's sweet aroma and a rich mouthfeel.

How Does FrontStreet Coffee Roast Frontsteet Brazil Queen Estate Coffee Beans?

FrontStreet Coffee uses a medium-dark roast for this Frontsteet Brazil Yellow Bourbon bean. Using Yangjia 800N, with 550g bean input: preheat to 200°C and add beans, adjust firepower to 150, damper to 3, return to temperature at 1'30", maintain firepower, turn yellow at 5'10", grassy aroma disappears, enter dehydration stage, reduce firepower to 125, damper to 3.5. Dehydration completed at 8'20", wrinkles and black spots appear on bean surface, toast aroma turns to coffee aroma, prelude to first crack. When reaching 178°C, reduce firepower to 80, pay attention to the sound of first crack, first crack begins at 9'14", fully open damper to 5. Post-first crack development time 3'00", discharge at 201°C.

FrontStreet Coffee Brazil SOE Extraction Parameters:

Grinder: Feima 900N
Grind size: 1.6
Pressure: 9 bar
Temperature: 90.5~96°C
Time: 28s
Dose: 20g (double shot espresso)
Yield: 40ml

Flavor and mouthfeel: Smooth texture, medium body, obvious creamy peanut aroma upon entry, nutty and chocolate flavors, noticeable aftertaste.

The Sidamo region is located in southern Ethiopia, extending east to Arsi and Bale administrative regions, and west to the Gamogofa administrative region. Sidamo coffee is cultivated between 1400m-2000m altitude. Most areas in Sidamo use natural processing methods for coffee beans. FrontStreet Coffee believes that natural processing gives Sidamo region coffee beans rich fruity aroma and smooth mouthfeel.

FrontStreet Coffee · Ethiopia Sidamo Buku 8.0 Coffee Beans

Region: Guji Hambela
Altitude: 2300 meters
Variety: Local native varieties
Processing: Natural processing
Flavor: Tropical fruits, strawberry, citrus, floral

How Does FrontStreet Coffee Roast Frontsteet Sidamo Buku Coffee Beans?

FrontStreet Coffee uses a medium-light roast for this Frontsteet Buku bean. Yangjia 800N, with 480g bean input: heat furnace to 175°C and add beans, damper to 3, firepower 120. Rise to 140°C, damper to 4. At 6'00", temperature 151.7°C, bean surface turns yellow, grassy aroma completely disappears, dehydration complete. When ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on bean surface, toast aroma obviously turns to coffee aroma, can be defined as prelude to first crack. At this time, listen carefully for the sound of first crack, first crack begins at 9'50", fully open damper, reduce firepower to 80 at 188°C, post-first crack development time 1'40'', discharge at 196°C.

FrontStreet Coffee Buku SOE Extraction Parameters:

Grinder: Feima 900N
Grind size: 1.7
Pressure: 9 bar
Temperature: 90.5~96°C
Time: 30s
Dose: 20g (double shot)
Yield: 40ml

Flavor and mouthfeel: Medium acidity, medium-low bitterness, medium sweetness, viscous texture, berry flavors, slight floral notes, slight tea-like sensation, long aftertaste.

The extraction parameters above are for reference only. The state of coffee beans varies every day. Whether using single-origin coffee beans or blend coffee beans for espresso extraction, FrontStreet Coffee recommends adjusting espresso parameters daily to ensure that each day's parameters can extract the best flavors from the coffee beans.

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