Recreate the Osmanthus Coffee Series at Home! How to Make Osmanthus Latte? How to Make Caramel Crème Brûlée Latte? Can Osmanthus Be Extracted in a Coffee Machine?

Introduction to Osmanthus Coffee Creations

As autumn winds blow and osmanthus fragrance fills the air, it's once again the golden season for enjoying osmanthus-infused delicacies. Almost every autumn, FrontStreet Coffee shares coffee creations featuring osmanthus elements, because nothing is more suitable for autumn than osmanthus (if there were, FrontStreet Coffee would have mentioned it). So naturally, this year is no exception.

This year, FrontStreet Coffee's osmanthus coffee creations will be somewhat different from previous years. Besides several regular osmanthus coffee varieties, there are also a few osmanthus coffees that are relatively complex to make but offer a unique taste experience. FrontStreet Coffee has tried making all of them, and they're absolutely delicious! Truly excellent! Alright, without further ado, let FrontStreet Coffee share how to make several of the most "autumn-like" osmanthus coffee creations!

Ingredients and Materials

But before that... before that, FrontStreet Coffee will first introduce the materials we'll be using shortly. These are all items that can be easily purchased both offline and online! They are: dried osmanthus flowers, osmanthus jam/syrup, osmanthus oolong tea leaves, white sugar, and cream.

For the coffee aspect, FrontStreet Coffee recommends using medium to medium-dark roasted coffee beans for brewing. Not too light, not too dark. Because osmanthus has a sweet, rich, and fragrant aroma that gives people a warm, comfortable feeling. Meanwhile, medium to medium-dark roasted coffee beans, due to proper caramelization, have mellow aromas like caramel and chocolate while not being too strong or acidic, allowing them to complement osmanthus fragrance perfectly, creating a harmonious balance. Therefore, in this article, FrontStreet Coffee will use the FrontStreet Classic Blend coffee beans from their selection to make the coffee. It's a medium-dark roasted espresso blend that not only perfectly expresses the advantages mentioned above but also can extract a very rich crema.

One final note: the content shared in this article is not available at FrontStreet Coffee stores~

1. Osmanthus Americano / Osmanthus Oolong Americano

First, let's share the osmanthus americano coffee! The osmanthus americano is made by adding osmanthus to the regular americano preparation process. This way, besides the coffee's own aroma, the americano will also have a light osmanthus fragrance, which is quite delightful. If you don't like sweetness or prefer less intense flavors, this osmanthus americano is definitely suitable for you.

The osmanthus americano is very simple to make! Taking FrontStreet Coffee as an example, FrontStreet Coffee uses the same parameters as regular americano when making osmanthus americano. The coffee is extracted from 20g of grounds to produce 40ml of espresso in 30 seconds, then diluted with 180ml of 65°C hot water.

Then, if we want to add osmanthus aroma to the americano, we can choose to sprinkle some dried osmanthus on the coffee puck before extraction to participate in the brewing process, or add a small amount of osmanthus after the espresso is extracted for steeping (2g, steep for 30 seconds, finally filter out the osmanthus with filter paper). This way, the americano will have osmanthus flavor, very simple!

Next is the "variation" of osmanthus americano coffee: osmanthus oolong americano. The osmanthus oolong americano replaces the water in the osmanthus americano with osmanthus oolong tea. Compared to the former, the osmanthus oolong americano not only has a richer osmanthus flavor but also carries the delicate fragrance of oolong tea. For the osmanthus oolong americano, we don't need to steep osmanthus flowers, but rather osmanthus oolong tea leaves. However, it's important to note that the brewed osmanthus oolong tea concentration shouldn't be too high, otherwise the coffee we make will have a noticeable bitter taste. Additionally, tea itself is a beverage with stimulating effects. If brewed too strong and then combined with coffee, friends with low caffeine resistance might find themselves wide awake until dawn.

Therefore, everyone should pay attention to the concentration when brewing tea. FrontStreet Coffee uses 200ml of hot water to brew 5g of osmanthus oolong tea leaves, with water temperature at 85°C, steeped for five minutes. After five minutes, pour 180ml of osmanthus oolong tea into the americano cup, then drizzle with 40ml of espresso, and a cup of osmanthus oolong americano is complete!

If you want to make the coffee look more aesthetically pleasing, we can sprinkle a small amount of dried osmanthus flowers on the surface of the coffee, but be careful not to add too much, as this will affect the mouthfeel and significantly diminish the drinking experience (as shown in the picture below).

2. Osmanthus Latte

Next is the osmanthus latte. Like the osmanthus americano, the osmanthus latte only needs to have osmanthus steeped to release its fragrance on top of the original latte foundation. However, the object for steeping osmanthus is not the espresso, but the milk. Because if you use espresso to steep osmanthus, the osmanthus aroma will easily be masked by the milk. One reason is that the aroma extracted from espresso isn't strong enough, and another is that the amount of milk is relatively large, as it needs to balance the bitterness of coffee. Therefore, we need to use milk to steep osmanthus!

And because we need to allow the osmanthus aroma to mix thoroughly with the milk, the steeping time will be longer, which is also related to the lower temperature of milk. Generally, when FrontStreet Coffee makes osmanthus latte, they use 5g of osmanthus with about 210ml of milk, sealed and refrigerated for 4 hours. Then when time is up, take it out and filter it, then proceed with the latte-making steps. The latte made this way will have a rich osmanthus fragrance, combined with the coffee's own milk chocolate and nutty cream aromas, creating a rich and multi-layered experience. However, because flowers themselves can have a certain bitterness, for friends who can't tolerate bitterness, FrontStreet Coffee suggests adding a small amount of syrup on this basis to balance the coffee's bitterness. About 5ml will make the coffee easier to drink.

Of course, if you find this method too troublesome, we can also directly add osmanthus syrup to the coffee to make a osmanthus-flavored latte. The specific parameters are: 200ml of 65°C milk, 40ml of espresso, and 12ml of osmanthus syrup. Similarly, according to your preference, you can choose to sprinkle osmanthus on the latte surface for decoration at the end, but also be careful not to add too much osmanthus to avoid affecting the mouthfeel.

3. Caramel Crème Brûlée Coffee (Osmanthus Version)

Finally, the osmanthus coffee that FrontStreet Coffee wants to share involves more steps, but both its aroma and taste will definitely be worth your effort—get to know the osmanthus version of caramel crème brûlée coffee!

Caramel crème brûlée coffee is a very popular preparation method recently. It adds whipped cream and torched caramel on top of a latte base. Besides tasting the rich aroma of coffee, you'll also experience the soft texture and rich mouthfeel from the cream, plus the crispy caramel! From top to bottom, it's three completely different experiences with very distinct layers! The osmanthus version of caramel crème brûlée coffee adds osmanthus and related ingredients, giving the entire drink an additional layer of osmanthus fragrance, making it even more complex. Besides the materials used for the latte itself, we also need to prepare: white sugar, a culinary torch, osmanthus jam, osmanthus syrup, and cream.

First, let's whip the cream! Before whipping, we first add a small amount of osmanthus syrup to the cream to give the cream itself osmanthus aroma! Since FrontStreet Coffee doesn't like overly sweet flavors, the amount of syrup added here is relatively small—100ml of cream with 8ml of osmanthus-flavored syrup.

Whip until the cream is semi-solid and set aside! Then we follow the steps for making hot latte to extract espresso and steam milk (no need to froth milk foam, just heat it), and then start assembling the ingredients in the cup. First, pour in 8ml of osmanthus jam. (If making an iced version, you'll need to increase the amount of osmanthus jam by about 7ml. At the same time, reduce the proportion of milk and add ice cubes, just like an iced latte)

Then sequentially add milk (200ml), espresso (40ml), and the whipped cream (appropriate amount). Then evenly spread a layer of white sugar on the surface.

After the white sugar is evenly spread, we can take out the torch and start caramelizing the sugar!

Stop when the surface is caramelized to a golden brown, then decorate according to your preference, and a richly layered and delicious caramel crème brûlée latte (osmanthus version) is complete!

Before drinking, we can take small sips to taste the deliciousness of different parts sequentially, then stir evenly with a spoon to experience the blended flavors. It's truly excellent, highly recommended for a try~~ (but for friends who don't like sweetness, it's best to use less sugar)

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