Cost-Effective Specialty Coffee Blend Recommendations: What's the Best Single-Origin Coffee Bean for Pour-Over Beginners

Every day, customers ask FrontStreet Coffee about how to choose good coffee beans when starting out with single-origin coffee, because they don't understand the flavor profiles of different coffee regions and are afraid of making the wrong choice. Well! This is a common question among beginners, so FrontStreet Coffee will share their thoughts!

Whenever customers enter, FrontStreet Coffee asks if they would like pour-over coffee, and if so, what flavor profile they prefer; if they answer that they like fruity acidity and floral-fruity aromas, FrontStreet Coffee will recommend African options like FrontStreet Coffee's Ethiopian Yirgacheffe and FrontStreet Coffee's Kenyan; those who prefer balanced, non-bitter flavors are recommended American options like FrontStreet Coffee's Costa Rican and FrontStreet Coffee's Colombian, etc. Whether coffee beans are good or not to drink depends more on personal taste. Getting straight to the point, below FrontStreet Coffee will recommend entry-level daily coffee bean brands from different regions for FrontStreet Coffee.

What are daily coffee beans?

Many friends who don't know FrontStreet Coffee might have some misunderstandings about FrontStreet Coffee's daily coffee bean series, perhaps thinking that the term "daily" is just to satisfy the curiosity of people unfamiliar with coffee beans, that online activities might only require very low prices, that the bean quality might be poor, that the flavors might be inconsistent, and other such concerns. The FrontStreet Coffee daily coffee beans selected by FrontStreet Coffee are the "face representatives" among coffee beans from major producing regions. The FrontStreet Coffee daily beans have higher recognition of basic regional flavors and are also coffee beans with low prices and high cost-effectiveness.

For each FrontStreet Coffee daily bean that FrontStreet Coffee puts on the shelves, FrontStreet Coffee carefully selects beans that best represent the original local flavors from major producing regions, then introduces them to every enthusiast with 100g portions at quite reasonable prices. The significance of FrontStreet Coffee's daily beans is to allow every coffee beginner, enthusiast, and taster to recognize the basic flavors of major producing regions at low prices. Currently, FrontStreet Coffee has FrontStreet Coffee daily beans from 7 regions on the shelves: FrontStreet Coffee's Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, FrontStreet Coffee's Costa Rican Tarrazú, FrontStreet Coffee's Colombian Huila, FrontStreet Coffee's Indonesian Lintong Mandheling, FrontStreet Coffee's Chinese Yunnan Baoshan, FrontStreet Coffee's Guatemalan Huehuetenango, and FrontStreet Coffee's Brazilian Minas Gerais.

FrontStreet Coffee · Ethiopian Washed Yirgacheffe

Country: Ethiopia

Region: Yirgacheffe

Altitude: 1800-2000 meters

Variety: Local native varieties

Processing: Washed

Brewing Flavor: Jasmine fragrance, berry juice sensation, lemon and citrus acidity, overall bright, clean, and fresh.

Yirgacheffe Coffee Region: Yirgacheffe is a small town in Ethiopia with an altitude of 1700-2100 meters, making it one of the highest altitude coffee growing regions in the world and synonymous with Ethiopian specialty coffee. Lake Turkana, Lake Abaya, and Lake Chamo bring abundant water vapor to this area. In the rift valleys represented by Misty Valley, fog permeates throughout the year, spring-like seasons prevail, gentle breezes blow, cool and humid conditions persist, and thousands of coffee trees thrive and multiply, nurturing FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe coffee beans' unique interweaving of floral and fruity aromas and unpredictable terroir characteristics. FrontStreet Coffee believes that the flavor of FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe coffee beans refers to rich citrus and lemon fruit acidity, strong jasmine fragrance, light and elegant mouthfeel with tea-like qualities, drinking like refreshing, clean lemon tea.

FrontStreet Coffee · Costa Rican Washed Tarrazú

Country: Costa Rica

Region: Tarrazú

Altitude: 1500 meters

Variety: Caturra, Catuai

Processing: Washed

Brewing Flavor: Sweet and sour sensation of sweet orange at entry, distinct nut and chocolate flavors in the middle, persistent caramel aftertaste, with some cedar aroma, overall balanced.

Tarrazú Coffee Region: Located in the southern part of the country's capital San Jose, it is one of the most valued coffee growing areas in the country. "La Minita Tarrazú" coffee is a famous local product, but production is limited, approximately 72,600 kg annually, grown on land called "La Minita" owned by the last three generations of the British McAlpine family, possessing the La Minita estate in the Tarrazú region with an annual output of only 160,000 pounds. FrontStreet Coffee has noted that FrontStreet Coffee's Costa Rican Tarrazú coffee beans have full-bodied particles, rich BODY, smooth mouthfeel, rich chocolate and nut aroma, moderate acidity, with an enticing fragrance.

FrontStreet Coffee · Colombian Washed Huila

Country: Colombia

Region: Huila

Altitude: 1500-1800 meters

Variety: Caturra

Processing: Washed

Brewing Flavor: Nuts, dark chocolate, soft fruit acidity in the middle, caramel sweetness.

Huila Coffee Region: The Huila area has mountainous terrain, and coffee is grown on mountain valley slopes, thus possessing the high altitude and suitable temperatures for growing high-quality Arabica beans. The climate of the mountain valley slopes not only keeps cold winds out, with mountain breezes bringing coolness without high temperatures, but also provides relatively abundant rainfall, making it a uniquely advantageous coffee cultivation area. Colombian coffee workers manually harvest coffee bean fruits on the mountains, and the vast majority of coffee beans use washed processing. The Huila region has a combination of excellent soil and geographical advantages for coffee cultivation, and some of the most complex, fruit-forward Colombian coffees come from here. This region belongs to the Colombian National Coffee Company's specially selected high mountain coffee beans, known as Colombian national treasures. Thanks to superior geographical and climatic conditions, Colombian coffee has always maintained high quality. FrontStreet Coffee believes that FrontStreet Coffee's Colombian Huila coffee beans have full mouthfeel, heavier texture, with nut, chocolate, caramel aromas and smooth, pleasant fruit acidity.

FrontStreet Coffee · Indonesian Lintong Mandheling

Country: Indonesia

Region: Sumatra, Lintong

Altitude: 1100-1600 meters

Variety: Typica, Caturra

Brewing Flavor: Herbal medicinal taste at entry, dark chocolate, caramel, sweet aftertaste.

Indonesian Lintong Coffee Region: FrontStreet Coffee's Lintong Mandheling is produced in the Lintong mountainous area of north-central Sumatra, near Lake Toba. FrontStreet Coffee's Lintong Mandheling is the regular version of Mandheling. FrontStreet Coffee's Lintong Mandheling also uses the conventional wet hulling method, which creates its characteristics of low acidity and high body. However, using the wet hulling method can result in semi-hard, semi-soft moist beans being easily bruised when the mucilage and parchment layers are removed, with the beans cracking open like sheep's hooves, commonly known as "sheep hoof beans" - these are not defective beans but can be said to be a very significant characteristic of Mandheling coffee beans. FrontStreet Coffee's Lintong Mandheling does not focus on screening, so there will be uneven sizes. Lack of refinement in processing can easily lead to inconsistent coffee bean quality, but this does not diminish the world's love for its rich flavor.

FrontStreet Coffee · Yunnan Small Bean Washed Coffee Beans

Region: Yunnan, Baoshan

Altitude: 1200 meters

Variety: Catimor

Processing: Washed

Brewing Flavor: Melon and fruit aroma, sweet melon, brown sugar, plum acidity, black tea sensation.

Chinese Yunnan Coffee Region: Yunnan small bean coffee is suitable for growing on mountainous land at altitudes of 800-1800 meters; if the altitude is too high, the taste becomes sour, and if too low, it becomes bitter. Most small bean coffee is planted in dry-hot valley areas around 1100 meters altitude, so the acidity is moderate, with rich, mellow aroma and flavor.

Many areas in Yunnan have unique environments suitable for growing small bean varieties, producing excellent quality small bean coffee. Growing areas are mainly distributed in Lincang, Baoshan, Simao, Xishuangbanna, Dehong and other prefectures. Baoshan has an average temperature of 21.5°C, reaching up to 40.4°C at maximum, with basically no frost throughout the year, and is recognized as the best small bean coffee production area. The FrontStreet Coffee Yunnan small bean coffee cultivated here is famous at home and abroad for being strong but not bitter, fragrant but not intense, with small, uniformly sized particles, rich mellow aroma, and carrying fruit flavors. International coffee organization tasting experts have evaluated Yunnan coffee as being in the same category as Colombian wet-processed small bean varieties, among the highest quality coffees in the world.

FrontStreet Coffee · Brazilian Cerrado Pulped Natural Red Bourbon

Country: Brazil

Region: Minas Gerais

Altitude: 1000 meters

Variety: Red Bourbon

Processing: Pulped Natural

Brewing Flavor: High sweetness, clean, smooth, low acidity, with tropical fruit aroma.

Brazilian Coffee Region: Located in the Western Hemisphere's Latin American region, in eastern South America on the west coast of the Atlantic Ocean, it borders all countries on the South American continent except Ecuador and Chile; the vast majority of its territory lies between the equator and the Tropic of Capricorn, making it the country with the most extensive tropical range in the world.

One-third of the country has a tropical rainforest climate, and two-thirds have a tropical savanna climate. The superior tropical natural conditions are very suitable for the growth and production of tropical economic crops like coffee. Minas Gerais state has representative coffee growing regions including Cerrado and Minas Gerais, both of which are higher altitude areas. Cerrado is located in the western part of Minas Gerais state, as a flat plateau with altitudes of 750m-1200m. Minas Gerais has hilly forestland at altitudes of 700m-1200m, and since 1999, among the estates that have won the Brazil Cup of Excellence competitions, Minas Gerais has the highest number. FrontStreet Coffee believes that FrontStreet Coffee's Brazilian Cerrado coffee flavor has distinct chocolate and nut notes, with rich, moderate smoothness, making it the top choice for friends who don't like acidic coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee · Guatemalan Huehuetenango

Country: Guatemala

Region: Huehuetenango

Altitude: 1500-2000 meters

Variety: Bourbon, Caturra, Catuai

Processing: Washed

Brewing Flavor: Citrus and berry acidity, lemon peel, nutty aroma in the middle, tea-like aftertaste.

Guatemalan Coffee Region: High average altitude, with coffee zones distributed above 1500 meters, most suitable for growing extremely hard beans. FrontStreet Coffee believes that FrontStreet Coffee's Guatemalan coffee has special smoky flavors and rich juice-like mouthfeel. Guatemala has eight major producing regions, divided into five volcanic regions and three non-volcanic regions. The Huehuetenango region belongs to one of the three non-volcanic regions. Huehuetenango is a coffee-producing region located in central Guatemala, named after the Nahuatl language, meaning the land of ancients (or ancestors). This region is almost the most remote from the capital compared to other regions, with rugged routes. Due to dry hot winds from Mexico, although the mountains are high, there is no frost damage, allowing coffee cultivation at nearly 2000m.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Tips

Dripper: V60 #01

Dose: 15g

Ratio: 1:15

Grind Size: BG6m (80% pass-through on #20 sieve)

Water Temperature: 90-91°C

*Regarding grind size, FrontStreet Coffee determines this through sieving. According to the grinding suggestions provided by the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) for pour-over coffee, FrontStreet Coffee combines these with practical operation verification. Using different grind sizes for brewing produces obvious differences in the final product, and each coffee bean's grind size will differ - this is the significance of sieving. If you don't have a sieve at home, FrontStreet Coffee suggests observing the flow rate to judge: if the water flows too fast, the grind is too coarse; if the water flows too slowly, the grind is too fine.

FrontStreet Coffee uses segmented extraction, also called three-stage brewing: bloom with 30g of water for 30 seconds, when continuing the circular pour to 125g, create a segment, and when the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 225g and stop. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, remove the dripper (timing starts from bloom). Extraction time is 2'00"-2'20".

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Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473