How to Make Osmanthus Latte, Flat White Dirty Coffee? Does Hand-Poured Coffee with Osmanthus Taste Good?

Who wouldn't want a cup of seasonal coffee with autumn characteristics in this sentimental autumn, to feel the beautiful coolness of the season?

You all want to try it, right? There's really no helping it. Today, FrontStreet Coffee will bring out its precious osmanthus flowers to teach everyone how to make coffee filled with autumn ambiance!

Why Choose Osmanthus?

The fragrance of osmanthus is rich and mellow without being overpowering. Coffee beans also contain aromatic compounds similar to osmanthus fragrance, so adding osmanthus to coffee not only blends harmoniously but is also quite delightful. Most importantly, when people mention osmanthus, they naturally associate it with autumn—it's not an exaggeration to call it synonymous with the season.

FrontStreet Coffee's Tip: Freshly picked osmanthus flowers cannot be consumed directly; they need to undergo certain processing procedures before becoming edible. If you're like FrontStreet Coffee and prefer not to do it yourself, you can purchase edible dried osmanthus online. Not only is it inexpensive, but it also offers better safety assurance~

Osmanthus Espresso

As the name suggests, osmanthus espresso involves infusing osmanthus aroma into espresso. However, to make an espresso that retains coffee's richness while properly extracting osmanthus fragrance requires specific techniques. Some might consider soaking osmanthus in espresso, but while this does release the osmanthus aroma, it requires time, during which the espresso's crema dissipates and many flavors are lost. Therefore, rather than worrying about the loss of espresso's essence, FrontStreet Coffee prefers to make osmanthus part of the extraction process, letting it be extracted along with the coffee grounds.

Additionally, considering the significant differences in density and volume between osmanthus and espresso-ground coffee, mixing dried osmanthus particles with coffee grounds for tamping and extraction would increase the risk of channeling in the coffee puck. Hot water tends to flow through areas with lower density (looser regions), often manifesting as sudden acceleration in flow during the middle to later stages, sometimes accompanied by slight spraying. Therefore, we can adopt a more reliable method for extracting osmanthus and espresso: placing osmanthus above or below the coffee puck.

FrontStreet Coffee experimented using the Warm Sun Blend, separately placing osmanthus on the surface and at the bottom for comparison: one method involved spreading osmanthus (0.3-0.5g osmanthus for 20g coffee grounds) evenly in the portafilter, then adding coffee grounds and leveling; another method involved first adding coffee grounds to the portafilter and leveling, then lightly sprinkling osmanthus on the coffee puck and tamping.

Both extraction processes were relatively stable, with extraction times similar to standard parameters, without the channeling mentioned above, and both espressos carried floral aromas. When making hot Americanos with these two espressos, the coffee extracted with osmanthus at the bottom had the best taste—besides the coffee's inherent wine-like notes and fruit acidity, it was accompanied by a subtle osmanthus fragrance, making it exceptionally delicious.

Osmanthus Latte

For lattes, you can't simply add osmanthus espresso to milk directly, as milk will overwhelm the osmanthus fragrance. Therefore, we need an additional assistant—"osmanthus syrup." Add 15g of osmanthus syrup to espresso (regular espresso will do, 20g beans extracted to 40g), then proceed with making the latte (220g milk), and finally sprinkle some dried osmanthus fragments on the surface for decoration while also allowing you to smell a hint of fragrance when sipping.

Of course, if you prefer hot drinks with stronger coffee flavor, you can also make flat whites and cappuccinos. Compared to lattes, flat whites and cappuccinos have smaller volumes, so you can appropriately reduce the amount of syrup used. Add 10g of osmanthus syrup to regular espresso (20g coffee beans extracted to 40g coffee liquid), then use 180g of milk for steaming, fusion, and latte art. Finally, sprinkle dried osmanthus on the surface for decoration and aroma, and you're done!

Osmanthus Dirty

Although we're in a season with slightly lower temperatures, it still can't stop Dirty lovers from their passion. As for how to make osmanthus Dirty, there are many detailed tutorials online for reference. Here, FrontStreet Coffee will introduce one of them.

First, choose a beautiful glass, turn it upside down to let osmanthus syrup coat the rim of the glass, then pour in 170g of iced milk, and extract a shot of osmanthus espresso on top (20g coffee beans, 0.3-0.5g osmanthus, extracted to 40g coffee liquid), and you're done! This method of making osmanthus Dirty not only looks photogenic but also allows you to smell the elegant floral fragrance before tasting. The addition of osmanthus honey makes the "autumn atmosphere" of the entire coffee more substantial.

Osmanthus Pour-Over Coffee

Since you're here, let's also make a cup of osmanthus pour-over coffee~ Considering that osmanthus has a rich sweet fragrance, it's suitable to pair with relatively light-flavored coffee beans. Here, we've chosen Panama Washed Mariposa. Compared to espresso, pour-over has about 2 minutes of extraction time. With multiple rinses by hot water, osmanthus can more fully release its aroma, so you don't need to add too much—just slightly fill the visible area of the coffee layer, as FrontStreet Coffee does.

Brewing parameters: 15g coffee grounds, 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, grind size: EK43s setting 10 (China #20 sieve standard with 80% pass-through rate), water temperature: 91℃, filter: V60, brewing method: three-pour technique.

Osmanthus + Mariposa pour-over flavor profile: Before tasting, you can smell the gentle osmanthus aroma. The entry presents bright citrus-like coffee fruit acidity, peach and honey-like sweetness, and the mellow richness of oolong tea. After swallowing, a subtle osmanthus fragrance remains in the mouth, making it very comfortable.

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FrontStreet Coffee

10 Bao'an Qianjie, Yandun Road, Dongshankou, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473