Here's the thing: when customers push open the front door of Front Street Coffee and step inside, their attention is immediately drawn to the blackboard beside them. There's nothing particularly special on the blackboard—just the new product recommendations and the words "Cold brew coffee requires a 2-day advance order."
As a result, many customers ask upon seeing it, "Is there no cold brew coffee available right now? Do I need to make a reservation?" Actually, whenever the weather gets a bit hot, Front Street Coffee prepares cold brew coffee in advance. However, Front Street typically prepares several coffee beans with broad appeal. If you want cold brew made from a specific coffee bean, you need to order it 2 days in advance.
If you order on T+0 and production starts on T+1, the cold brew coffee bean production takes about 6 hours. But once the cold brew is dripped, Front Street doesn't serve it to customers right away. Instead, the coffee liquid is poured into a sealed glass bottle and refrigerated for more than 8 hours. Only after that can it be served to customers. The timing works out to exactly T+2 days.
Why can't freshly dripped cold brew coffee be consumed immediately?Front Street should clarify here: freshly dripped cold brew coffee can be consumed immediately, but its flavor and mouthfeel are not ideal (not that it tastes bad, but that it doesn't reach the expected level of deliciousness). That's why few coffee shops serve cold brew coffee right after dripping.
Generally, after cold brew coffee finishes dripping, it's bottled and placed in the refrigerator for "aging." Aging can be roughly understood as sealed low-temperature fermentation. Sealing prevents contamination from external bacteria, while low temperature effectively inhibits the reproduction rate of bacterial colonies and also slows down the fermentation process, keeping it in a controllable state.
Freshly dripped cold brew coffee has a relatively thin mouthfeel, and its flavor is more about the coffee bean's original notes—somewhat similar to iced pour-over coffee. But when cold brew coffee is sealed and aged in the refrigerator for 8 hours, its mouthfeel becomes cleaner, mellower, and fuller, with a sweet, rich fermented quality. Some people call this the "cold brew taste."Of course, the fermentation process of cold brew coffee cannot be interrupted—meaning the longer the cold brew sits, the stronger the fermentation. But cold brew coffee doesn't taste better the more fermented it is. Also, frequently opening the bottle cap of cold brew coffee makes it easy for external bacteria to invade, and over time, the coffee will spoil and become undrinkable.
Therefore, cold brew coffee also has a drinking window. Generally, cold brew coffee stored in the refrigerator for 5 days is relatively safe; cold brew coffee beyond 5 days tends to develop off-flavors like sourness from spoilage. Front Street only sells cold brew coffee within 3 days. Although cold brew coffee beyond 3 days won't necessarily spoil or taste bad, out of consideration for flavor experience and health safety, Front Street sets the best-tasting period for its cold brew coffee at 3 days.
Next, Front Street would like to recommend a few coffee beans that are perfect for making cold brew and cold extraction coffee.- Front Street Coffee · Ethiopia TOH Champion Floral
If you like refreshing coffee, then this Ethiopian coffee bean is definitely for you! This Front Street Floral coffee bean actually has quite a pedigree—it's the champion bean of the 2020 TOH washed group, from the Uraga sub-region of Guji. Front Street often uses this bean to make cold brew coffee: 60g of coffee grounds dripped over about 6 hours to produce 600ml of coffee liquid, then refrigerated and fermented for 12 hours before drinking. Add 50g of ice cubes to a cup, then pour in 200ml of coffee liquid.
The cold brew coffee made from Front Street Ethiopia Floral has a faint floral honey aroma and cold brew fermentation aroma on the nose. On the palate, it shows clear citrus and pomelo acidity, honey sweetness, and a green tea finish—refreshing and comfortable.
- Front Street Coffee · Kenya Asalia
Front Street Kenya coffee beans are also very suitable for making iced coffee like cold brew and cold extraction. Thanks to Kenya coffee's excellent acidity varieties (SL28, SL34) and its unique K72 washed processing method, the coffee's acidity is bright and solid with a round mouthfeel. The resulting cold brew coffee offers a completely different experience compared to Ethiopian coffee beans.
Front Street Kenya Asalia coffee beans come from the Honey Processing Plant in the Thika region. The cold brew coffee made with this Front Street Kenya coffee bean tastes very much like sour plum drink—solid plum and cherry tomato acidity, with caramel sweetness and a smooth, full mouthfeel. Add two ice cubes, and it's very refreshing.
- Front Street Coffee · Costa Rica Mirazu Estate Strawberry Candy Geisha Blend
The flavor of Front Street Costa Rica Strawberry Candy is just like its name—strawberry gummy candy sweetness. Front Street Strawberry Candy Geisha Blend coffee beans come from Mirazu Estate. The very distinct fruit sweetness of this Front Street Mirazu Strawberry Candy coffee bean is inseparable from its varieties and processing method. This Front Street Strawberry Candy coffee bean is composed of multiple varieties, including 50% Geisha, which gives the coffee a very sweet fruit tone. The remaining 50% consists of ET47, SL28, and MAICO.
In terms of processing, Front Street Mirazu Strawberry Candy uses raisin honey processing, giving the coffee a candied fruit sweetness like raisins. The cold brew coffee made from it has a fruity wine-like flavor and is very popular among Front Street customers.
- Front Street Coffee · Honduras Sherry
Front Street Honduras Sherry is the coffee bean most commonly used by Front Street to make cold brew coffee. This Front Street Honduras coffee bean, on top of washed processing, is fermented in Sherry whisky barrels, so you can taste a very rich Sherry wine aroma in the coffee.
The cold brew coffee made with this Front Street Sherry coffee bean has a very rich vanilla cream flavor, Sherry wine aroma, and dark chocolate notes—the most intense flavor among the several coffee beans Front Street shares.In addition, Front Street Sherry coffee beans paired with other coffee beans to make cold brew coffee also produce great results. For example, pairing Front Street Sherry coffee beans with Front Street Sun-Dried Yirgacheffe coffee beans at a 1:1 ratio preserves the rich wine aroma while adding sweetness. Another example is a very popular cold brew blend recipe at Front Street—Front Street Honduras Sherry paired with Front Street Costa Rica Beethoven coffee beans at a 1:1 ratio, producing a flavor that shows Sherry wine aroma, refreshing citrus fruit notes, plus a full vanilla cream sensation.
These 4 cold brew coffee beans shared by Front Street are among the best-selling at the store, and they represent 4 completely different flavor experiences, for everyone to reference when choosing a cold brew coffee that suits their taste.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
