Which Coffee Bean Brand Produces More Crema - Coffee Beans and Their Relationship with Crema

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It seems that when everyone tastes espresso, they are pursuing the perfect coffee crema - the brown foam floating on freshly brewed espresso. The right amount of coffee crema has become synonymous with a good cup of coffee, but this dense layer contains deeper coffee principles.

Actually, opinions vary on the importance of coffee crema. Is it really a sign of perfect coffee? Or is it just an overhyped term that is, in fact, optional? Why do baristas care so much about its condition? Before understanding these issues, we must first understand what coffee crema is.

What is Coffee Crema?

Coffee crema is a layer of brown foam floating on coffee with rich taste and aroma. Simply put, during the brewing process, high temperature and high pressure cause air and soluble fats in the coffee to combine, creating coffee crema. Some people call this phenomenon the Guinness effect because it has a very similar foam layer to the famous Irish stout beer.

An espresso with clearly visible coffee crema requires high-quality, properly ground coffee beans and a skilled barista. Compared to drip coffee, coffee crema gives espresso a more saturated flavor and a stronger aftertaste.

What is Perfect Coffee Crema?

Every barista has their own ideas about the definition of perfect coffee crema. But at the very least: when brewing an espresso, the coffee crema on top should not be too thin or too thick, and should maintain its condition for about two minutes.

Brewing beautiful coffee crema is somewhat complicated because too many factors affect the result. When choosing coffee beans with high crema content, you can first follow several key points:

1. Excessive coffee crema will reduce the total amount of espresso. Many baristas pursue a coffee crema ratio of about one-tenth of the entire cup of coffee.

2. Both over-extraction and under-extraction will affect the formation of coffee crema.

3. If the coffee crema dissipates within one minute, it means the extraction time is too short or the coffee beans are roasted too lightly.

4. Generally, a high-quality espresso machine takes about 15 to 30 seconds to extract espresso, but each machine is slightly different.

5. Remember to warm up the machine before brewing coffee and clean it regularly to ensure operational quality. A dirty coffee machine will add bitterness and off-flavors to the coffee it brews.

Factors Affecting Coffee Beans with High Crema Production

Actually, it's difficult to completely control coffee crema because, in addition to skills that come with practice, it will also be affected by the following reasons:

How Fresh Are the Coffee Beans Used for Brewing?

Fresh coffee beans can produce more coffee crema because they still continuously release soluble fats. Try to observe - if nearby coffee shops use self-roasted beans, compared to other shops that don't use self-roasted beans, espresso from shops with their own roasting usually has thicker coffee crema. This shows the importance of fresh roasting.

The Roast Level of Coffee Beans Also Affects Crema

Generally speaking, after passing the second crack stage, the darker the roast level, the less coffee crema there is. This is because a large amount of coffee crema has been released during the roasting process, plus stirring, packaging, and grinding, the coffee crema will be further lost through oxidation. Additionally, coffee beans that are too lightly roasted and haven't undergone sufficient reactions also have less than ideal crema content. Therefore, many coffee businesses offer products with specific roast levels specially designed for brewing espresso to ensure the beans have enough crema.

The Processing Method of Coffee Beans Must Also Be Considered

Coffee beans dried naturally in the sun usually produce the best coffee crema because sun-dried beans have higher and better-preserved oil content.

Home Espresso Machine Brewing is Also a Factor

Many home machines have one-touch operation and automatic brewing functions. Although very convenient, compared to semi-automatic brewing operations, automated settings also limit the production of coffee crema. Some machines, to compensate for this shortcoming, will separately produce simulated coffee crema.

Recommended Brands of Coffee Beans with High Crema Content

FrontStreet Coffee, a coffee roasting brand located at Dongshankou, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou, offers freshly roasted espresso blend coffee beans with full guarantees in both brand and quality, with good crema content, suitable for making specialty coffees and latte art coffees with beautiful patterns. More importantly, they offer extremely high cost-performance. Taking the commercially recommended product - Commercial Blend Coffee Beans - as an example, one 454-gram (1-pound) package costs only about 60 yuan. Calculating with 10 grams of coffee powder per single espresso shot, one package can make 45 cups of coffee, with each cup costing less than 1.5 yuan. Even when using a double shot with 20 grams of powder per espresso serving, the price of one double espresso does not exceed 3 yuan. Compared to certain well-known brands that sell packages for hundreds of yuan, this is truly a conscientious recommendation.

FrontStreet Coffee: A roastery in Guangzhou with a small shop but diverse bean varieties, where you can find various famous and lesser-known beans, while also providing online store services. https://shop104210103.taobao.com

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473