How to Choose Coffee Beans? What to Pay Attention to When Buying Coffee Beans? How to Tell if Coffee Beans Are Fresh?

Introduction

In today's booming coffee market, more and more people are opening the door to the coffee world, only to find so many varieties of coffee beans that they can't help but exclaim, "This is too difficult, I don't know how!" In this article, FrontStreet Coffee will teach everyone how to approach selecting coffee beans.

Brewing Method Determines Coffee Bean Type

Currently, the two most common types of coffee beans in the consumer market are espresso beans and pour-over coffee beans. The reason these two types exist is that the market favors espresso and pour-over coffee, which are two different brewing models. It's not that espresso beans cannot be brewed in a pour-over style or that pour-over beans cannot be used in espresso machines. Rather, shops create different roasting curves (different roast levels) based on the brewing method. Therefore, espresso-specific coffee beans can perform well in making lattes and Americanos, but may not taste good when used for pour-over. Similarly, using pour-over coffee beans to make espresso will have the same effect (so single-origin coffee beans don't necessarily make good espresso).

Therefore, the first step in buying coffee beans is to determine how you plan to brew your coffee. If you use an espresso machine, moka pot, Turkish pot, or other pressurized or heated brewing methods, espresso beans are recommended. For methods like pour-over, French press, cold drip, or cold brew, pour-over single-origin coffee beans are suggested.

Choose Your Favorite Flavor

FrontStreet Coffee, using pour-over coffee beans as an example, finds that coffee beans from different regions, with different processing methods, and different roast levels all exhibit different flavors. As consumers, you can observe the flavor descriptions on the labels of roasted coffee beans to find flavors you like. For example, lightly roasted coffee beans described as lemon, citrus, or floral; dark roasted coffee beans described as nuts, dark chocolate, or cream; and specially processed coffee beans with wine aromas or intense fruit jam notes.

Of course, if you have some understanding of coffee regions or estates, you can also buy coffee beans from your favorite regional flavor profiles.

Coffee Beans or Ground Coffee?

Some shops that sell coffee beans also offer grinding services, so customers can buy both roasted coffee beans and ground coffee. Each has its advantages. Coffee beans better preserve the aromatic compounds of coffee, and grinding fresh before brewing can present the complete flavor profile. Ground coffee is more convenient and is undoubtedly the best choice for those who don't have grinding equipment (some high-quality grinders are expensive and bulky). However, pre-ground coffee causes aromatic compounds to dissipate more quickly, so flavor-wise it will definitely be inferior to freshly ground coffee.

In fact, if you have a habit of drinking coffee regularly or want a more refined coffee experience, you can first equip yourself with a hand grinder or a small electric grinder. If you've compared the taste of pre-ground coffee with freshly ground coffee, given a choice, you will definitely choose freshly ground coffee.

Pay Attention to Roast Date

When buying coffee beans, there's another point to pay attention to - check the roast date. FrontStreet Coffee's coffee beans are all printed with the roast date on the back of the packaging.

Generally, the optimal flavor period for coffee is reached after roasting, following a 3-7 day degassing period when the flavor peaks. Afterward, flavors will diminish over time, eventually leaving only woody notes. The first aromatic compounds to dissipate are mainly volatile compounds like floral and fruit notes, while water-soluble compounds like sugars, nuts, and chocolate are relatively less volatile.

Therefore, the general recommended flavor period for coffee is from day 4 to day 30 after the roast date. When the flavor period has passed, it doesn't mean the coffee is undrinkable, just that the flavor will be slightly inferior. This should be distinguished from the shelf life of coffee, which is typically between six months to a year for roasted coffee beans.

So roasted coffee beans are not necessarily better the fresher they are, but they also shouldn't be stored for too long. Therefore, when buying coffee beans, pay attention to the roast date to ensure you can finish them within a fixed time frame and avoid waste.

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473