What Does a Raw Coffee Bean Taste Like in Canet Estate Chopin?

Front Street Coffee compared four drippers with the Costa Rica Canet Estate Chopin, part of the Musician Series alongside Mozart, Beethoven, and Bach. The bean shows a clear rose aroma and prominent sweetness in cupping. The four brewers were the Hario V60, Ice Eye dripper, Strawberry dripper, and Origami dripper.

Each device was tested for its structure, parameters, and technique, then compared on aroma, acidity, sweetness, and aftertaste. With the Hario V60, for example, a 15 g dose, medium-fine grind, 90°C water, and 1:15 ratio produced a total extraction time of 1 minute 56 seconds, bringing out rose and fermented aromas.

Front Street Coffee recently launched the Chopin coffee beans from Costa Rica's Canet Estate. After joining the Musician Series, this bean has drawn attention for its prominent rose aroma and sweetness in cupping. To explore how different brewing devices affect the flavor expression of this bean, Front Street Coffee conducted four comparative brews using the Hario V60, Ice Eye dripper, Strawberry dripper, and Origami dripper. This article focuses on the structural characteristics of these four drippers, the parameters and brewing techniques used for each, and the resulting differences in aroma, acidity, sweetness, and aftertaste, helping coffee enthusiasts find an extraction plan better suited to their taste.

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) recently received a shipment of Front Street Costa Rica Canet Estate Chopin. When mentioning Canet Estate, the most memorable thing is the Musician Series. This series initially consisted of three single-origin beans: Front Street Mozart, Front Street Beethoven, and Front Street Bach, before Chopin was added as a new member. During cupping, Front Street Chopin showed a clear rose aroma, and its sweetness was quite prominent as well. So what different experiences will brewing with different devices bring? Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) will test them one by one today.

Hario V60

The Hario V60 dripper has a large outlet hole at the bottom, and its internal ribs are curved and spiral-shaped, extending from the bottom upward. This structure makes the coffee liquid flow relatively fast, but the curved ribs also moderately slow the flow rate, giving the coffee grounds more extraction opportunities and thus better releasing the aroma and flavor layers of this bean.

Parameters: 15 g dose; medium-fine grind (BG 5T: 78% passing through a Chinese standard No. 20 sieve); water temperature 90°C; coffee-to-water ratio 1:15; brewing method: staged extraction. Bloom with 30 g of water for 30 seconds, then pour 90 g in a slow stream, stopping in stages when the total reaches 120 g. When the water level is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 225 g to finish. Remove the dripper when the water level is about to expose the coffee bed. Extraction time (starting from the beginning of the bloom) is 1 minute 56 seconds. [Front Street Costa Rica Chopin] Flavor: prominent rose aroma and fermented aroma; on the palate, citrus and berry-like acidity, raisin and sucrose sweetness, and a tea-like note.

Ice Eye Dripper

The ribs of the Ice Eye dripper are arranged vertically in a stepped pattern, creating an elevated gap between the bottom of the dripper and the filter paper, while the uppermost part of the dripper and the filter paper are completely sealed.

The advantage of this design is that because the upper part of the dripper and the filter paper fit tightly and are sealed, if the water flow suddenly becomes too strong or the water temperature is too high and floods the flow channels during brewing, there is insufficient space for air to escape, and the water level drops more slowly, instead forming an immersion similar to the KONO dripper, thereby preventing under-extraction.

Parameters: 15 g dose; medium-fine grind (BG 5T: 58% passing through a Chinese standard No. 20 sieve); water temperature 90°C; coffee-to-water ratio 1:15; brewing method: staged extraction.

Bloom with 30 g of water for 30 seconds, then pour 100 g in a slow stream, stopping in stages when the total reaches 130 g. When the water level is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 226 g to finish. Remove the dripper when the water level is about to expose the coffee bed. Extraction time (starting from the beginning of the bloom) is 2 minutes 02 seconds. [Front Street Costa Rica Chopin] Flavor: wet aroma with osmanthus and fermented notes; on the palate, strawberry, citrus, and lemon acidity, with sucrose sweetness.

Strawberry Dripper

The inner ribs of the Strawberry dripper are distributed in dots, resembling the small seeds on the surface of a strawberry, and the bottom hole is relatively small, so the flow rate is comparatively slow, helping to increase the extraction yield. After adding filter paper, the fit between the dripper and the filter paper is not very tight because of the many raised dots, and water can pass through the filter paper and flow away through the gaps between the dots, helping prevent over-extraction. At the same time, these raised dots can adsorb fine particles. When fine particles are retained along the upper wall of the dripper, most of what is immersed at the bottom is coarser-ground particles, so while increasing the extraction yield, it greatly reduces the possibility of over-extraction.

Parameters: 15 g dose; medium-fine grind (BG 5T: 58% passing through a Chinese standard No. 20 sieve); water temperature 90°C; coffee-to-water ratio 1:15; brewing method: staged extraction. Bloom with 35 g of water for 30 seconds, then pour 95 g in a slow stream, stopping in stages when the total reaches 130 g. When the water level is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 226 g to finish. Remove the dripper when the water level is about to expose the coffee bed. Extraction time (starting from the beginning of the bloom) is 2 minutes. [Front Street Costa Rica Chopin] Flavor: wet aroma with floral and fermented notes; on the palate, strawberry, tropical fruit, and creamy flavors.

Origami Dripper

The edge of the Origami dripper has many relatively deep vertical grooves, and the bottom outlet hole is relatively large, so the flow rate is faster. The ceramic Origami dripper is also relatively better in heat conductivity and heat retention. Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) chose a flat-bottom filter paper for brewing this time, because the flat-bottom structure allows the coffee grounds to spread evenly on the filter paper, making the extracted coffee more uniform as well.

Parameters: 15 g dose; medium-fine grind (BG 5T: 58% passing through a Chinese standard No. 20 sieve); water temperature 90°C; coffee-to-water ratio 1:15; brewing method: staged extraction. Bloom with 38 g of water for 30 seconds, then pour 90 g in a slow stream, stopping in stages when the total reaches 128 g. When the water level is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 225 g to finish. Remove the dripper when the water level is about to expose the coffee bed. Extraction time (starting from the beginning of the bloom) is 1’58”. [Front Street Costa Rica Chopin] Flavor: wet aroma with fermented notes; on the palate, strawberry and tropical fruit sweetness and acidity, dried fruit and sucrose sweetness, and a green tea note.

Summary

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) brewed so many pots of Front Street Costa Rica Chopin, and no matter which device was used, the result was quite clean and sweet. In terms of aroma, the coffee brewed with the V60 dripper and Strawberry dripper performed better; in terms of overall balance, the Origami dripper was slightly superior; and in terms of mouthfeel and aftertaste, the coffee brewed with the Ice Eye dripper performed impressively.

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.