What is a Coffee Combo? How Large is a Combo Coffee Serving? What is the Ratio of Espresso to Milk in a Combo Latte and Americano?

What is Coffee Combo?

Coffee combo (combo for short) is a popular serving method in coffee shops today. By dividing extracted espresso into 2-3 small portions and then making different products with each portion for combination serving, it allows customers to taste the performance of the same coffee bean under "different cooking methods" simultaneously.

Barista Skills for Coffee Combo

However, precisely because of this, making a combo is quite challenging for baristas. To make a combo that highlights the coffee bean's characteristics while being delicious, baristas need not only select a suitable coffee bean but also redevelop the espresso extraction and adjust the coffee-to-milk/water ratios. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee often receives questions like: How to choose beans for combo? How to extract espresso for combo? What are the coffee-to-milk/water ratios? Good! Today, FrontStreet Coffee will share how to make a delicious coffee combo! First, FrontStreet Coffee will explain some considerations for making combos, and then FrontStreet Coffee will demonstrate the actual process.

What Beans to Use for Combo?

Since most coffee shops serve combos as "one black, one white" - an Americano and a latte, the selected coffee beans need to consider both Americano and latte making (specialty drinks require your own research!). Finding suitable beans is not simple because different coffee beans have distinct characteristics and may not be suitable for all coffee preparations.

For example, if we choose a very lightly roasted bean with very fresh flavor expression, the Americano made from it might be very good and refreshing. However, due to insufficient prominent flavor, the latte made might be somewhat lacking; or some very dark roasted coffee beans might produce lattes with rich and mellow performance, but the Americano made from them would be somewhat inferior.

Therefore, when selecting beans, we need to find a relatively versatile, balanced, and harmonious bean that can satisfy both Americano and latte making. For this requirement, FrontStreet Coffee would recommend coffee beans with medium-light to medium roast degrees and heavier fermentation degrees. Because medium-light and medium roasted coffee beans have higher sweetness, without overly prominent acidity or bitterness, they can balance both Americano and latte coffee preparation in terms of taste. Meanwhile, coffee beans with heavier fermentation degrees will have more prominent and complex flavor expressions, better showcasing their own advantages. After all, a combo is essentially a performance by the barista and coffee bean - conveying their advantages to consumers is what matters most.

How to Extract Espresso for Combo?

When we finish selecting coffee beans, the next issue is espresso extraction. Because the extracted espresso needs to be divided into two or more portions for coffee preparation, we should use a slightly larger amount of coffee grounds than usual to ensure the final coffee portions aren't too small. (Unless you already use large amounts of grounds for regular espresso extraction)

There are many directions we can choose for extraction! If we want to make larger portions, we can extract espresso according to conventional ratios. For example, using 22g of grounds, extracting according to the conventional 1:2 ratio would yield 44ml of coffee liquid.

If we want to make small but concentrated coffee, we can choose a ristretto extraction method: extract only 70%-80% of the original liquid weight, increasing the coffee concentration. But remember, this extraction method cannot use the same grind size as regular espresso - it needs to be adjusted finer. (For details, see: Ristretto)

How Much Water and Milk to Add?

After extracting espresso, we divide it into two portions (or we can skip this step by using a split portafilter), then mix with appropriate amounts of water and milk to make Americano and latte. The most crucial aspect here is the ratio!

Because when we normally make Americano or latte, we use medium-dark or dark roasted espresso as the base, so we use relatively more water and milk to dilute the coffee's bitterness. When we switch to coffee beans with relatively milder flavors, we can appropriately reduce the added amount to avoid excessive dilution of coffee concentration and flavor by too much water or milk.

Practical Operation

The above are some issues to pay attention to when making combos. Next, FrontStreet Coffee will share the parameters and process used when FrontStreet Coffee makes combos. Since Sunny Blend has been featured too many times, FrontStreet Coffee will choose a single-origin bean this time - anaerobic natural processed Santa Vini! After all, quite a few coffee shops use it for combo service~ Extraction parameters are as follows: 22g grounds, 1:1.2 coffee-to-liquid ratio, 36s extraction time.

Prepare two 120ml coffee cups in advance~

FrontStreet Coffee didn't choose a split portafilter for splitting here, but instead chose to extract first then divide. When extracting yourselves, it's better to use a split portafilter, as it's more convenient~

Because one hot milk coffee needs to be made, FrontStreet Coffee steamed the milk during the espresso extraction process! FrontStreet Coffee used a 1:4 ratio - 22ml espresso, 90ml milk, milk temperature 65°C. By the way, the Americano ratio is 1:3.5 - 22ml espresso, 80ml of 70°C hot water. After steaming is complete, we can start latte art!

After pouring the water and completing the latte art, we can plate the two coffees, and then it's tasting time! FrontStreet Coffee suggests when drinking a combo, start with the relatively lighter-flavored Americano first (those who know, know~)! And Santa Vini truly lived up to expectations - the Americano made from it has high sweetness, with citrus, pineapple, and some red wine aroma; the latte's performance is equally outstanding, with balanced texture and distinct mango and red wine aromas, very excellent~

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Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473