Is Yirgacheffe Suitable for Milk? How to Choose Grind Size for Pour-Over Coffee

FrontStreet Coffee - Yirgacheffe Red Honey Red Cherry Brewing Introduction

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Light Roast Coffee

Light roast coffee refers to the degree of roasting from the first crack to before the second crack, which means from cinnamon to city roast.

Light roasting is mainly intended to enjoy the diverse flavors contained in raw coffee beans. That is to say, it reduces the coffee flavor formed during dark roasting and highlights the inherent characteristics of the raw beans. Therefore, the key to choosing light roast coffee lies in the freshness of the raw beans and the rich aroma they contain.

In light to medium roast levels, the "terroir" of the coffee itself is most easily expressed. Bright and lively acidic fruit flavors are mostly what this roast level aims to present. Paired with "black" coffee extraction methods such as pour-over, siphon, and AeroPress, light roasted beans typically highlight refreshing flavors, and the flavor expression is very rich. Floral notes, fruit acidity, and certain tea-like notes are all flavor characteristics of this type of bean.

Simply from the perspective of extraction principles, the cell expansion of lightly roasted beans is relatively smaller compared to dark roasts, and water absorption is weaker. When water meets the cells, more time is needed to extract the desired substances. In terms of extraction, because the cell walls of light roast coffee are less damaged, the coffee cell tissue has not fully expanded, and the capillaries that assist in coffee extraction have not fully formed, resulting in more prominent acidity.

FrontStreet Coffee's Brewing Example

Today, FrontStreet Coffee will use Yirgacheffe idido red honey red cherry as an example to share a brewing method.

For the red honey processed red cherry, we will choose light roasting to express its floral and fruity aromas as well as citrus acidity. During cupping, we tasted flavors of jasmine, citrus, honey, berries, and almonds. Overall, this bean is flavor-oriented, so we do not recommend adding anything else to this single-origin coffee bean - simply tasting its original flavors is already very enjoyable.

Brewing Parameters

Water temperature for brewing: 91°C

Coffee extraction water temperature is related to the degree of roasting, and light roasted beans contain more floral and acidic substances. If the water temperature is too low, it will result in uncomfortable acidity and astringency in taste, but too high water temperature will result in a very bitter taste, masking the fruity acidic flavors.

Powder to water ratio: 1:15

If the powder-to-water ratio is too high, it will result in a watery, thin, and clean taste; conversely, if the powder-to-water ratio is too low, the flavor will be very intense and bitter.

Grind size: Medium-fine grind

Normal pour-over coffee grind should be relatively uniform. Uniform grind can avoid inconsistent coffee extraction and allow the dissolution rate of coffee flavors to reach a relatively saturated state.

Brewing method: Segmented extraction. Use 30g of water for a 40-second bloom (due to the freshness of the beans with vigorous gases, the bloom time was slightly extended). When brewing with a small water flow in circular motion to 125g, perform segmentation. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring water to 228g and stop. Wait until the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, then remove the filter cup. (Timing starts from the beginning of the bloom) Extraction time is 2'05".

Tasting Notes

Flavor: Berries, strawberry, honey

Knowledge Expansion

The vast majority of coffee beverages is water, and we should understand the relationship between the substances containing special flavors in coffee beans and water. Extracting flavor substances requires comprehensive consideration of the solution (water), solvent (coffee), temperature, and other variables and factors in the coffee brewing process.

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473