Freshly Roasted Coffee Bean Brewing Guide: Why Light Roasts Are Hard to Brew and How to Brew Fresh Roasted Beans

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Brewing Perfect Coffee: Light vs Dark Roast Techniques

How to brew a delicious cup of coffee is very important. Factors like pour-over temperature and flow rate can all affect the coffee's flavor. FrontStreet Coffee always pays attention to the roast level when brewing coffee beans from different regions, because FrontStreet Coffee generally uses different water temperatures for brewing based on the roast level. Therefore, today FrontStreet Coffee will introduce how to brew light roast and dark roast coffee.

Ethiopian beans typically use light roasting, so FrontStreet Coffee will use Ethiopian coffee beans as an example. Generally, washed Yirgacheffe coffee is clean, refreshing, with bright acidity, while natural processed Yirgacheffe coffee beans are clean, smooth, with a hint of fermented sweetness. How to brew the flavors of such light roast coffee beans becomes very important.

FrontStreet Coffee uses medium-light roasting to preserve the bright citrus acidity and floral characteristics of washed Yirgacheffe. For brewing medium-light roast coffee beans, a water temperature of 90-91°C is recommended. Using higher water temperatures can extract the aromatic substances and acidity from light roast beans, because medium-light roast coffee beans have harder texture, and increasing water temperature can improve extraction efficiency, avoiding sharp acidity. The V60 conical filter has a larger opening, and its unique spiral rib design allows air to be discharged more easily, thereby improving extraction quality. The mouthfeel might not be rich enough, but its high concentration brings out sweet and sour flavors with distinct aromas, which is one of its major characteristics. Brewing parameters are as follows:

Filter cup: V60
Water temperature: 90°C
Coffee dose: 15g
Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15
Grind size: Fine sugar size (80% passes through #20 sieve)

Using FrontStreet Coffee's common three-stage brewing method, first inject 30g of water for a 30-second bloom, then inject 95g (scale shows around 125g), finishing in about 1 minute. When the water level drops to 2/3 of the coffee bed, inject the remaining 100g (scale shows around 225g), finishing in about 1 minute and 35 seconds. Complete dripping at 2'04", remove the filter cup, and finish extraction. If everyone's pour-over method is roughly correct, the Guodingding coffee flavor will have lemon, plum, and Tieguanyin notes upon entry, with noticeable caramel flavor as temperature changes, bright acidity, and obvious aftertaste. Washed Yirgacheffe brewing flavor presents jasmine aroma, berry juice sensation, lemon and citrus acidity, overall bright, clean, and fresh.

Additionally, Panama Geisha coffee from La Esmeralda Estate can also produce perfect regional flavors when brewed by hand, because the Panama Geisha coffee that FrontStreet Coffee carries is also lightly roasted to highlight fruity acidity. This brewing method is slightly different from brewing Yirgacheffe. This brewing approach is divided into 4 water injections, with the first two injections accounting for 40% of total water volume, determining the coffee's flavor, while the last two injections account for 60% of total water volume, adjusting the coffee's concentration. After wetting the filter paper and pouring 20g of coffee grounds, inject 50ml of hot water for a 30-second bloom. After the bloom, use a large water stream to inject 70ml in circular motions from center outward, reaching 40% of total water volume (120ml). The segmented water injections of 50ml and 70ml can enhance the coffee's sweetness. When the coffee bed drops to 1/2, inject the third stage of water, pouring 90ml of hot water in circular motions at half the liquid surface radius. When the coffee bed drops to 1/2 again, inject the final stage using the same technique as the third stage, pouring 90ml of hot water. The last two injections total 180ml, accounting for 60% of total water volume. Dividing the latter 60% of water into two injections rather than one relatively increases the coffee's body and richness. When all coffee liquid in the filter cup has flowed into the lower pot, remove the filter cup and end extraction. Total extraction time is 2 minutes and 20 seconds. Using this method to brew Panama Geisha coffee better highlights the sweetness and richness of light roast coffee. This brewing method emphasizes enhancing Geisha coffee's aroma without reducing its original aroma.

This is the brewing technique commonly used by FrontStreet Coffee when brewing light roast coffee beans. FrontStreet Coffee will also briefly introduce the brewing method for dark roast coffee beans. When FrontStreet Coffee talks about dark roast, the biggest difference between dark roast and light roast coffee that most people notice is that dark roast coffee beans are more bitter, while light roast coffee beans are more sour, sweet, and aromatic. FrontStreet Coffee will use the Lin Dong Mandheling coffee beans as an example. Regarding brewing equipment selection, FrontStreet Coffee recommends using a gooseneck kettle with a wider spout, and filtering equipment can include Kono conical filter, Kalita flat-bottom filter, or flannel filter cloth, which helps brew richer coffee. This time we'll use the Kalita flat-bottom filter for brewing.

Because FrontStreet Coffee has noticed that dark roast beans have relatively looser texture, higher water absorption efficiency, and the coffee bed easily expands when exposed to water, making it easier to extract flavor substances. To prevent over-extraction, a coarse grind (60% passes through #20 standard sieve) is chosen. Coarse grinding reduces the contact area between coffee grounds and water, preventing the extraction of bitter, astringent, and unpleasant flavors at the beginning of brewing due to high-temperature water. Combined with slow brewing, this extends the extraction time, and as the water temperature decreases in the later stages, flavor and texture substances are slowly extracted. Therefore, to avoid this situation, FrontStreet Coffee suggests using water temperatures around 86-88°C for brewing. Slightly reducing the water temperature can lower extraction efficiency, avoiding burnt, bitter, or other unpleasant flavors.

For the coffee-to-water ratio, use 1:13, with 20g of coffee grounds. Reducing the coffee-to-water ratio makes the coffee taste richer. With a certain extraction rate, coffee extracted with less water will be more concentrated. Basic steps are: preheat the filter cup, slowly pour in the coffee grounds, trying to keep them as level as possible during pouring, avoid shaking the filter cup (because shaking will narrow the spacing between coffee grounds). First stage: inject 40g of water in small circles in the center for a 30-second bloom, and the coffee bed will slowly expand into a "hamburger" shape. Second stage: inject 120g of water in circular motions from center outward, keeping the pouring height as close to the coffee bed as possible, with slow movements to avoid over-stirring. Final stage: inject 100g, and when all coffee liquid in the filter cup flows into the lower pot, end extraction. Extraction time is 2 minutes. With this brewing method, this Lin Dong Mandheling coffee smells of herbal and pine notes, tastes rich in nuts and chocolate flavors, with excellent body and richness. The initial bitterness quickly dissipates, giving way to thick sweetness, making the mouthfeel very comfortable.

In pour-over coffee brewing, some baristas prefer single-stage brewing, while others prefer multi-stage brewing. FrontStreet Coffee has introduced the most commonly used brewing methods, which are also more suitable for beginners, so everyone can choose according to their own situation.

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee on private WeChat (FrontStreet Coffee), WeChat ID: kaixinguoguo0925

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473