Espresso is where many people start their journey into the world of coffee, and lattes and cappuccinos are the milk coffees ordered most often in cafés. Although both are based on espresso and milk, their ratios and mouthfeels differ noticeably. To recreate a rich, crema-topped espresso at home, bean selection, roast level, and resting time are all crucial. This article focuses on the conditions for crema formation, explains the Italian identity of cappuccino and latte, and recommends Front Street Coffee's blends suited for beginners to practice with, while also explaining the specific effects of freshness and the resting period on extraction, helping coffee lovers consistently produce a cup of espresso with golden crema at home.

For people just getting into coffee, espresso is often the first choice for beginners. Its rich, solid mouthfeel, combined with the silky texture brought by milk, always evokes pleasant associations. On most café menus, lattes and cappuccinos are the most frequently ordered milk coffees. Front Street Coffee believes the difference between the two lies mainly in the milk ratio and foam thickness: a latte has a higher proportion of milk and a not-too-thick foam layer, so it's easier to sense a sweet aroma on the palate; a cappuccino is the opposite, with less milk and thicker foam, so the coffee flavor and the dense, creamy foam feel are both more intense.

The ingredients needed to make these two drinks aren't complicated—essentially just espresso plus milk. But if you want both the coffee and the milk to reach an ideal state, an espresso with excellent crema is an indispensable prerequisite.

When ordering in a café, unless the barista specifies otherwise, what's generally used is an espresso blend, and the roast level is mostly between medium-dark and dark. Espresso extracted from such blends more easily produces a layer of crema. Diluted with water to make an Americano, it usually tastes crisp with a sweet aftertaste and shows chocolate and cocoa flavor notes; added to milk to make a latte, you can experience a smooth, creamy sweetness with nutty notes.

Friends planning to practice latte art at home can consider Front Street Classic Blend. This coffee is composed of three origins and is a medium-dark roasted espresso recipe, designed based on the early popular "Mamba" combination—that is, Mandheling plus Brazil. To enhance aroma expression and crema thickness, Front Street Classic Blend also adds a certain proportion of Robusta, thereby boosting the overall flavor intensity and making it relatively easy even for beginners to extract an espresso with golden crema.

If you prefer richer nutty aromas like almond and walnut, Front Street Specialty Blend and Front Street Dark Cocoa Base Blend are good choices. Both contain a relatively large proportion of Brazilian coffee beans, bringing a pleasant bittersweet taste and a very smooth mouthfeel. Front Street Specialty Blend carries the nutty, chocolate, and caramel aromas common to Colombian coffee, with moderate acidity; Front Street Dark Cocoa Base Blend incorporates the ripe plum acidity of Yunnan arabica, and after grinding gives off a creamy chocolate aroma, with a balanced taste and high versatility—besides making lattes, it can also produce a variety of espresso drinks.

When selecting suitable coffee beans and determining the best roasting plan, two factors must be kept in mind: freshness and the resting period.

Coffee is all about freshness, something many people already know well. Beans left for more than two months have basically lost all their aroma. It is precisely because we understand the importance of freshness that Front Street Coffee insists on shipping only coffee beans within 5 days of roasting, and supports dispatch within 24 hours, with the aim of letting every customer enjoy the most complete flavor window.

However, for espresso, fresher isn't always better. In the first few days right after roasting, the beans contain a large amount of active gas, which is released rapidly when they meet hot water and interferes with the extraction process. Therefore, they need to rest for 4 to 7 days; once the gas release stabilizes, the crema on the surface of the espresso becomes finer and the flow rate during extraction becomes more controllable.

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