Characteristics and Stories of Espresso Beans | Espresso Bean Brand Recommendations

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Understanding the Foundation of Espresso

Espresso is the foundation of Italian coffee culture. For baristas, extracting espresso is both the most fundamental skill and the most difficult to master. This is because even the smallest details can affect the quality of an espresso. FrontStreet Coffee has shared several installments of the "Coffee Development Journal" series on our public account, receiving quite positive feedback. It shows that whether for professional reasons or personal interest, more and more people are becoming fascinated with coffee. Today, FrontStreet Coffee will detail all the important aspects to consider when making espresso.

Starbucks has specifically developed an espresso roast coffee bean, using a blend from Latin America and Indonesia. Its characteristics include rich aroma and soft acidity, balanced with rich caramel sweetness. FrontStreet Coffee currently offers four distinct espresso blend coffee beans, one of which also uses a blend from Latin America and Indonesia. In the following content, FrontStreet Coffee will share the blend parameters we use.

Watch How FrontStreet Coffee Makes Espresso

Detail 1: Dry the Portafilter Before Dosing

When removing the portafilter from the group head, residual water will remain. When dosing coffee, moisture on the portafilter walls will wet the coffee grounds, causing uneven extraction. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee always dries the portafilter before dosing coffee.

Detail 2: Distribution

Distribution is the process of placing ground coffee into the portafilter basket and ensuring it's evenly spread. The most important aspect of this step is achieving uniformity (not just surface smoothness).

The two most important purposes of distribution are breaking up clumps and leveling the coffee bed. Most electric grinders generate static electricity during grinding, causing coffee grounds to clump together. One purpose of distribution is to break up these clumped coffee grounds, ensuring consistent gaps between coffee particles. The other purpose is leveling, providing a foundation for even tamping later.

Common distribution methods include finger distribution and using a distribution tool. Finger distribution involves gently moving fingers back and forth across the portafilter basket to level the coffee. FrontStreet Coffee has noticed that some friends apply pressure when using finger distribution, which should be avoided. Technically, fingers should move horizontally along the basket edge.

Distribution tools can achieve effects like mixing coffee grounds, breaking up clumps, and evenly distributing particles. However, they also have drawbacks: wasting coffee grounds, complex tools requiring specific techniques, downward pressure during distribution that may cause internal cracks, and merely smoothing the surface without guaranteeing consistent distribution and thickness.

Detail 3: Tamping Must Be Level

Tamping is using a tamper to compress loose coffee grounds, ensuring the coffee puck can provide resistance when facing 9 bar water pressure.

FrontStreet Coffee has conducted several experiments. If the puck isn't tamped firmly enough, water flows too quickly and freely, resulting in espresso with unpleasant watery characteristics. If the puck is tamped too tightly, the resistance becomes too strong, extending the time needed for water to penetrate the puck, ultimately producing viscous, burnt, and bitter coffee. Generally, concentrating force in your arm (15-25kg) and pressing down once is sufficient.

Gently hold the tamper and adjust its handle until it feels like an extension of your arm. Keep your wrist straight and comfortably place the bottom of the tamper handle in your palm. This posture minimizes pressure on your wrist.

Keep the tamper level and gently press on the coffee bed. That's enough—no need to twist or press a second time. More tamping passes can create layers in the puck. Ensure it's level to avoid uneven thickness that would cause uneven extraction.

After removing the tamper, there may still be some loose coffee grounds on the portafilter walls or puck surface. FrontStreet Coffee reminds you: never tap the portafilter, as this can loosen the connection between the basket walls and puck, causing channeling. Simply flip the portafilter over to remove these grounds. Next, wipe the portafilter edge to clean away any coffee grounds.

Detail 4: Extraction

After locking the portafilter into the group head, press the brew button immediately. FrontStreet Coffee has experimented and found that the longer the time between locking the portafilter and pressing the brew button, the more the puck surface gets "scorched" by the high temperature of the group head. This causes the extracted espresso to have burnt, bitter flavors.

Start timing when you press the brew button. Without pre-infusion, liquid should appear after 3-5 seconds.

During the 3-5 second phase, you'll see thick, brown espresso flowing. If you see any yellow or spurting during this phase, it indicates channeling has already occurred, possibly due to grind being too coarse or uneven distribution or tamping.

During the 8-12 second phase, the flowing liquid will contain some orange-brown crema with stable flow rate.

In the remaining time, the liquid color will become progressively lighter. The entire extraction process should be completed within 20-30 seconds. (FrontStreet Coffee's espresso extraction ratio is 1:2)

Four Types of FrontStreet Coffee Espresso Beans

Frontsteet Premium Espresso Blend

Colombia: Brazil, ratio 3:7, 100% Arabica, post-roast blend

Flavor profile: Comfortable bitterness, extremely smooth entry; subtle grassy aroma, fresh fragrance with slight bitterness; sweet and smooth, pleasant aftertaste; medium-dark roasted. When making espresso, it has soft, subtle acidity, clear sweetness, nutty aftertaste, overall feeling is not too stimulating, balanced, with medium crema. This premium espresso coffee bean is suitable for daily coffee shop production.

Frontsteet Commercial Espresso Blend

Colombia: Brazil: Robusta, ratio 3:6:1, post-roast blend

In terms of individual bean flavor, commercial coffee beans are much less impressive than specialty coffee beans. Commercial beans are typically chosen for blending, and through proper blending, can produce coffee with excellent taste, suitable for making lattes, cappuccinos, and other espresso-based drinks. When FrontStreet Coffee uses this commercial blend for espresso, the Robusta beans provide richer crema and classic flavors, meeting daily shop demands.

Flavor profile: Caramel sweetness, nutty and cocoa notes, dark chocolate flavors, balanced acidity and sweetness, slight bitterness, persistent aftertaste.

Frontsteet Basic Espresso Blend

Yunnan: Brazil, ratio 3:7, post-roast blend

Flavor profile: Soft fruit acidity, caramel sweetness, nutty and dark chocolate flavors, smooth and viscous, but relatively mild flavor. This basic espresso coffee bean is suitable for shop owners and home users who prioritize cost considerations and have moderate flavor requirements.

Frontsteet Sunflower Warm Sunshine Espresso Blend

Frontsteet Honduras Sherry: Frontsteet Yirgacheffe Red Cherry, ratio 6:4, post-roast blend

Flavor profile: Distinct fruit acidity, subtle berry aroma lingering, rich wine and chocolate flavors, comfortable aftertaste and finish.

FrontStreet Coffee has actually discovered that adding Robusta beans to espresso blends can provide more caffeine, better crema, and flavor balance. However, some people believe Robusta beans are inferior. Besides higher caffeine content, this is largely due to ingrained impressions from numerous articles criticizing Robusta. After multiple ratio adjustments, FrontStreet Coffee has concluded that a Robusta proportion within 10-20% is most suitable for overall flavor presentation. Exceeding this ratio can introduce rubbery flavors.

In the image below, the left side shows Arabica beans, the right side shows Robusta beans. Robusta beans are more round in shape, while Arabica beans are more elongated. FrontStreet Coffee often encounters customers who worry about identifying whether coffee beans are pure Arabica, but they can actually be clearly distinguished by appearance.

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