Teach You to Make 6 Different Coffees with Osmanthus! How to Make Osmanthus Latte Dirty Coffee

FrontStreet Coffee has been open for three days, and during that time colleagues have all brought local specialties to share. Among the snacks there was a box of osmanthus cake, which reminded FrontStreet Coffee of the osmanthus coffee we had made before. Without further ado, let's make a cup to reminisce.

Why Choose Osmanthus?

Osmanthus is a flower brimming with fresh fragrance. In China's thousand-year culinary culture, beyond osmanthus cake, osmanthus has been used to create osmanthus tea, osmanthus wine, osmanthus jelly, and more.

Coffee beans also contain aromatic compounds similar to osmanthus fragrance, so adding osmanthus to coffee will not clash. It may actually create surprisingly delightful flavors.

(PS: freshly picked osmanthus cannot be used directly; it needs to be processed through certain techniques before it is edible. You can search online for processing methods, or if you prefer not to DIY, you can do what FrontStreet Coffee did and order a large package online for just ten yuan.)

Osmanthus Espresso

As the name suggests, it's an espresso with osmanthus fragrance. To bring the osmanthus aroma into the espresso while preserving the original rich flavor of the shot takes some special technique.

Some might want to simply toss osmanthus directly into the espresso, but the release of osmanthus fragrance takes time, during which the espresso's crema may be lost and its flavor diminished. So FrontStreet Coffee chooses to add osmanthus to the coffee grounds, letting them undergo the baptism of high-pressure hot water together.

FrontStreet Coffee ran tests and found that mixing osmanthus directly into the coffee grounds for extraction causes channeling due to their significant differences in density and volume, resulting in unstable flavor. So FrontStreet Coffee adopted a more stable approach, placing osmanthus either above or below the coffee puck for brewing.

FrontStreet Coffee used Warm Sun Blend espresso beans and compared extractions with osmanthus placed above and below the puck: 1. spread dried osmanthus evenly at the bottom of the portafilter, then add and tamp the coffee grounds; 2. pour the coffee grounds into the portafilter and tamp, then gently sprinkle dried osmanthus on the surface and tamp again. (PS: use 0.3-0.5g of osmanthus for 20g of coffee grounds.)

Both extraction processes were relatively stable, with extraction times similar to normal parameters, no channeling as described above, and both espressos had a delicate floral aroma. After making the two shots into hot Americanos and tasting them, the coffee extracted with osmanthus at the bottom of the puck had the fullest flavor. Besides Warm Sun's unique wine-like fruity acidity, it carried a light osmanthus fragrance that was particularly delightful.

Osmanthus Latte

If you want to taste how osmanthus espresso pairs with milk, you'll need to add osmanthus syrup as an aid, since milk will mask the osmanthus aroma.

First, extract a regular espresso shot (40ml of espresso from 20g of coffee grounds), add 15g of osmanthus syrup, then make it into a latte with approximately 200g of milk, and finally sprinkle some dried osmanthus on top for decoration, making the latte visually appealing while giving off a subtle osmanthus fragrance.

Of course, if you don't have osmanthus syrup but still want hot osmanthus milk coffee, try making a piccolo latte (mini latte).

Extract osmanthus espresso by placing dried osmanthus below the coffee puck, using a split portafilter to extract two 20g shots of osmanthus espresso. Take one shot and add steamed milk with thin foam in a 1:2 ratio (60g). On careful tasting, besides the coffee aroma and fresh milk sweetness, the osmanthus fragrance is more pronounced, making it exceptionally delicious.

Osmanthus Iced Americano

There was still one shot left from the split extraction, so rather than waste it, FrontStreet Coffee poured it directly over ice to make a pure iced Americano. This Americano tastes closer to drinking espresso directly, but with the cooling and dilution of the ice it retains more osmanthus fragrance. The whole cup wasn't as bitter as expected, but rather refreshing and easy to drink, with a hint of osmanthus flavor. Absolutely delicious.

Osmanthus Dirty

Now we know that osmanthus not only enhances the appearance of coffee but also opens up more flavor possibilities. And Dirty is a coffee drink that excels in both appearance and taste. When these two meet, what kind of sparks will fly?

First, pick a beautiful glass. Add some dried osmanthus to osmanthus syrup, invert the glass to coat the rim, then pour in about 170g of iced milk and extract an osmanthus espresso shot on top. Your osmanthus Dirty is complete. Before tasting, you can smell the elegant floral aroma. With one sip you experience both the warm, bitter coffee and the fresh osmanthus fragrance, followed by the cool sweetness of milk, distinctly layered with an incredibly full flavor profile.

Osmanthus Pour-Over

After making so many cups of coffee, there was still plenty of dried osmanthus left, so FrontStreet Coffee decided to make a pot of osmanthus pour-over coffee.

Considering that osmanthus has a strong sweet fragrance and pairs well with lighter-flavored coffee beans, we chose Guatemala New Oriente Geisha beans. Compared with espresso, osmanthus can release its aroma more fully during the roughly 2-minute hot water pour-over, so you don't need to add too much: for 15g of coffee grounds, add about 1g of dried osmanthus, just enough to lightly cover the surface of the coffee bed.

Extraction parameters: 15g of coffee grounds; 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio; 91°C water temperature; grind setting at EK43s 9.5 (85% pass-through on a #20 standard sieve); V60 dripper; three-stage pouring method.

Tasting notes: during brewing you can smell the warm aroma of osmanthus blending with coffee. The first sip reveals bright, full citrus acidity and rich peach flavors. As it cools, the whole cup becomes like peach oolong tea, soft, smooth, and exceptionally delicious.

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FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If you want to make any of these osmanthus drinks at home, the beans matter as much as the technique. For the espresso-based recipes, FrontStreet Coffee's Classic Blend is the first pick and was designed specifically for espresso and the moka pot, with outstanding crema that even a beginner on a home machine can pull thick and fine. Built on the traditional Mamba blend, it is mellow and warm, and it is the base of the lattes, cappuccinos, and Dirty drinks that depend on good crema. If you prefer a fruitier, softer profile for milk drinks, FrontStreet Coffee's Strawberry Candy beans are a popular fruit-forward espresso blend that layers the natural flavors of Arabica beans from different regions into a bright strawberry-gummy sweetness, suitable both for daily home drinking and for cafes that want a distinctive milk coffee.

For the osmanthus latte, FrontStreet Coffee's Specialty Blend and Black Cocoa Blend are the best companions for milk. Because Brazilian coffee dominates, they bring out complex almond, walnut, and nutty flavors in a latte with a silky, full mouthfeel. If you want the crema to be even richer, choose the Classic Blend or FrontStreet Coffee's Commercial Blend, which contain a small amount of Robusta; they not only provide more golden foam but also push the body and caramel aroma to the maximum.

For the osmanthus pour-over, lighter, chocolate-nutty single origins work well. FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Queen Estate, Indonesia Mandheling, and Papua New Guinea Bird of Paradise are all medium-dark single origins that suit a little milk, and their flavor descriptions lean toward chocolate, nut, cream, and cocoa. For cold brew, choose fruity or wine-like medium roasts such as the passion-fruit-noted Colombia Xizhua or the rose-noted Strawberry Candy Geisha blend, which stay balanced and easy to taste with a little milk added.