What are the characteristics and taste advantages of SOE coffee? Is SOE single-origin espresso good to drink?

The coffee wave has now reached the third wave of coffee, with the mainstream being specialty coffee. Specialty coffee places great emphasis on coffee bean quality, highlighting the importance of excellent and unique coffee flavors, which has led to the emergence of numerous single-origin coffees. FrontStreet Coffee has been in business for seven years, serving countless single-origin coffees to guests. However, FrontStreet Coffee will remain committed to its original mission in the specialty coffee wave, providing a satisfying cup of single-origin coffee to guests who travel from afar, ensuring their visit is worthwhile.

If you pay close attention, you'll notice that many coffee shops use pour-over coffee to showcase the regional flavor characteristics of a coffee. FrontStreet Coffee is no exception, providing each guest who visits with a perfectly tempered pour-over coffee to slowly savor the flavors. The single-origin concept has gradually penetrated into the espresso domain. Thus, the concept of SOE coffee emerged.

In daily life, you might hear terms like SOE latte or SOE Americano, which are essentially lattes or Americanos made with single-origin coffee as the base. FrontStreet Coffee has also encountered many guests asking what coffee beans we use for our espresso offerings and why we don't choose to use SOE.

If you hear "SOE blend beans" from a coffee shop, it indicates that the establishment might not correctly understand the meaning of SOE coffee. This is because, in the industry, SOE coffee refers exclusively to single-origin beans. "Blend" means combining two or more different origin coffee beans to achieve desired coffee flavors. Therefore, SOE coffee cannot be described as blend beans. When FrontStreet Coffee compares single-origin coffee beans, we find that if a certain bean is too bitter or too acidic, we can use blending to combine several beans to achieve flavor balance, with balanced acidity, bitterness, and sweetness, and higher body.

Generally, blend beans have advantages over SOE coffee in that they can complement each other with different coffee beans. If the coffee beans are well-blended, the flavor of this blend will combine the advantages of these coffee beans, extracting a very balanced taste and exceptionally aromatic thick crema. SOE will amplify the characteristics of the beans, especially lightly roasted beans, which will have intense aromas and stimulating sweet and sour tastes. FrontStreet Coffee has found that many coffee shops like to use Yirgacheffe for SOE coffee, as the extracted floral notes will be very prominent, and the taste will lean toward acidity, making it very suitable for enthusiasts who enjoy acidic profiles.

Understanding SOE Coffee

The popularity of SOE coffee, in FrontStreet Coffee's view, confirms that everyone's quality requirements for coffee are increasingly high. A delicious SOE coffee can greatly improve your impression of a coffee shop. SOE coffee represents single-origin espresso, and coffee from the same region can also be called single-origin. Therefore, SOE coffee generally chooses coffee beans that can highlight the basic flavors of the region. Mandheling coffee has a very distinct taste, with herbal and medicinal notes upon entry. However, if you choose Mandheling as SOE single-origin espresso, the taste extracted at high pressure and ninety degrees will be very bitter, which few people can accept. However, there are also coffee experts who can extract delicious SOE coffee using Mandheling.

Of course, FrontStreet Coffee doesn't mean that SOE equals specialty coffee or represents necessarily using lightly roasted beans. In FrontStreet Coffee's view, these statements are too absolute. In fact, both Arabica and Robusta beans can be used for espresso. Everyone doesn't need to see SOE single-origin coffee as some profound coffee concept. FrontStreet Coffee believes it's simply replacing blend beans with single-origin coffee beans, still following traditional methods through an espresso machine to extract a cup of espresso under high pressure. However, compared to traditional espresso beans, SOE flavors are more difficult to extract. The extraction parameters, extraction time, coffee powder grind size, and dosage for each SOE single-origin all need to be readjusted.

In FrontStreet Coffee's view, making a good cup of SOE single-origin coffee truly tests a coffee shop's patience and understanding of the beans. Therefore, when a coffee shop recommends their SOE coffee to you, a simple cup of SOE coffee might be the result of a barista's continuous failures before arriving at a delicious coffee.

SOE Coffee vs. Blend Beans

SOE coffee and blend beans share similarities in approach. Blend beans are made by combining two or more coffee beans. FrontStreet Coffee also has its own blend beans, using a "Warm Sun" blend for espresso, which is primarily based on Honduras Sherry coffee, supplemented with Yirgacheffe natural red cherry. FrontStreet Coffee's blend combines the advantages of both coffees to create extremely high balance.

Although blend beans have better balance, their flavors are less distinctive. Meanwhile, SOE single-origin coffee flavors are very prominent. If the production process is good and professional enough, the resulting espresso will be exceptionally delicious and memorable. The quality of a bean largely determines the quality of this cup of coffee. Because SOE single-origin coffee amplifies the inherent quality of the beans themselves, and its flavor is difficult to maintain consistently.

FrontStreet Coffee's Approach to SOE

Many specialty coffee shops now offer SOE coffee, but FrontStreet Coffee has not included SOE coffee in our menu. Because SOE coffee is espresso extracted from single-origin coffee beans, and coffee beans are affected by weather, cultivation, and roasting factors, which cause flavor variations in different batches of each bean, making it impossible to guarantee stable coffee flavors. This is also why FrontStreet Coffee doesn't serve SOE coffee.

It's not hard to discover that SOE, which advocates for single-origin, often tends to use lightly roasted, fruity acidic beans, aiming to obtain a cup of espresso with light aroma and high flavor recognition. To achieve more ideal extraction results, we adjust parameters according to actual situations, but under the influence of high temperature and pressure, fine grinding, fast speed, and crema factors, the flavor expression of espresso will have certain deviations from pour-over extraction.

Although FrontStreet Coffee doesn't currently serve SOE coffee, we are very optimistic about its prospects. Because the emergence of SOE coffee shows that everyone's requirements for coffee quality and high-quality coffee concepts are continuously deepening. Moreover, FrontStreet Coffee has mentioned using high-quality single-origin beans to make SOE in our daily WeChat official account updates. Below, FrontStreet Coffee will demonstrate with Costa Rica · Mirasu Strawberry Candy.

SOE Extraction Parameters Sharing

Coffee beans: Costa Rica · Mirasu Strawberry Candy
Coffee powder amount: 20g
Coffee liquid amount: 40g
Powder-to-liquid ratio: 1:2
Extraction time: 26～32 seconds
Grind setting: Galileo 2.0 scale

FrontStreet Coffee uses a double basket capacity, requiring 20 grams of coffee powder each time, with a powder-to-liquid ratio of 1:2, meaning extracting 40 grams of coffee liquid within a reasonable time. Extraction time is related to the flow rate of coffee powder. Generally, single extraction time is controlled between 20-35 seconds. If less than 20 seconds, the coffee taste tends to be thin and bland, while over 35 seconds easily leads to over-extraction, causing burnt bitterness in the coffee. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee controls espresso extraction time within the range of 26-32 seconds.

Before extraction, we need to first wipe the portafilter dry, turn on the grinder, grind double shots of coffee powder, place them on an electronic scale for measurement and adjustment until reaching 20 grams. Then use a distributor to level the coffee powder, and use a tamper to press downward vertically, firmly compacting the coffee puck to ensure more stable coffee extraction.

Then turn on the extraction switch to flush water for 1-2 seconds to moisten the group head while washing away any stuck coffee grounds. Place an electronic scale under the cup for receiving Espresso and zero the weight, placing it under the group head during extraction.

Gently lock the portafilter into the group head and start the extraction switch. Observe the changes in the extraction liquid. When the electronic scale shows 40 grams of coffee liquid extracted, at approximately 30 seconds, pull down the extraction switch. Extraction parameters will vary subtly based on daily air humidity and coffee bean condition, therefore requiring adjustments up or down to coffee powder amount, grind setting, and coffee liquid extraction amount.

The Strawberry Candy SOE made this way can be consumed directly and is completely not bitter. Remember to pair with a glass of water to rinse your palate, and you can taste the rich crema foam and the fragrant dried fruit aroma of the underlying coffee liquid. If you cannot accept the strong bitterness of espresso, you can also add ice water or warm water in a 1:4 ratio according to your preference to make a refreshing Strawberry Candy SOE Americano, or add steamed fresh milk in a 1:6 ratio to soften the texture, creating a delicious Strawberry Candy SOE latte.

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee on private WeChat, ID: 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