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Before trying to figure out questions like "the difference between Americano and Latte," "which one is less bitter, Americano or Latte," "which tastes better, Americano black coffee or Latte," and so on, Front Street believes everyone should first understand what espresso is.

EspressoWhat on earth is it? Espresso is also called Espresso. Espresso is both a coffee beverage and a coffee brewing method. The parameters for making espresso with an espresso machine are affected by dose, ratio, time, grind size, water temperature, and pressure. At nearly 9 times normal atmospheric pressure (that is, 9 BAR of pressure), the machine forces near-boiling water through finely ground and evenly tamped coffee grounds, extracting a cup of coffee with high viscosity and a strong taste.

Espresso is a coffee that tests coffee quality and a barista's skill.Here's a reminder to underline the key point:EspressoIt is also the base for popular coffee drinks such as Americano and Latte. As we all know, today's Americano is made up of espresso + water. Water is colorless and tasteless and serves to dilute, so the taste depends on the espresso, and the flavor quality of the espresso mainly depends on the coffee beans and extraction.

Espresso is a very classic coffee in Italy, rich in flavor with layers, and it can highlight certain flavor characteristics of coffee. Savored carefully, it has a distinctive charm. It can be said thatEspressoAs the base of many espresso drinks, if the Espresso is not made well, then you can't expect other fancy espresso drinks to taste good either.
 

The cup volume is about 30ml. This cup of highly concentrated coffee extracted in an extremely short time has a beautiful golden-brown layer of coffee oil floating on the surface. The oil has a rich and delicate texture, enticing and delicious. We generally call this layer of oil Crema. Crema is responsible for the aroma, and the extracted liquid is responsible for the taste.

Should you add sugar when drinking Espresso?

Some people like to add sugar, some don't. Whether or not to add sugar varies from person to person. However, from a health perspective, Front Street Coffee recommends adding little or no sugar.

The traditional way to drink Espresso is to immediately add a small spoonful of white granulated sugar to the Espresso that has just been served, then stir while drinking; the coffee's texture becomes milder, the bitterness is less pronounced, and an appropriate acidity also emerges.

But if you are a coffee lover, then you must go to a café and order an Espresso. Why? Because you will discover that espresso made by an espresso machine is so rich~ What it brings you is not only bitterness, but also fruity acidity, floral notes, nuts, and even vinous aromas and other flavors.

Latte

Everyone is familiar with Latte. This milk coffee can be said to be standard in every coffee shop.

Unlike Americano, Latte is a milk coffee. "Latte" means "milk" in Italian, so if you order a single Latte in Italy, you will get a glass of milk without coffee. Corresponding to the practice of adding water to espresso for Americano, the practice for Latte is to add milk or frothed milk to espresso. At the same time, the proportion of milk is relatively large, so the milk flavor dominates, making it more like milk with a coffee flavor.

But making a cup of Latte taste good is not an easy thing. As the flavor of the coffee beans differs, the richness of the fresh milk differs, and the extraction parameters differ, the taste of the Latte will change.

How to make Latte? 

Now we know that Latte is composed of two parts: espresso and milk. Among them, hot Latte requires frothed milk, which greatly tests the barista's milk-steaming skills. So when making hot Latte, it is divided into three parts. The first part is extracting the espresso, the second part is steaming the milk, and the third part is pouring is combining the steamed milk with the espresso and making latte art.

One of the beans used in Front Street Coffee stores is the Warm Sun Blend, a blend of 60% sherry barrel coffee beans and 40% sun-dried Yirgacheffe. After repeated adjustments, it was determined to use 20 grams of coffee powder to extract 40 grams of coffee liquid, with an extraction time of 28 seconds.

Front Street believes that choosing a suitable espresso blend bean is also very important. Blended coffee, also called mixed coffee, is the mixing of various single-origin coffee beans together, thereby fully bringing out the strengths of each single-origin coffee bean. Blend beans are made by mixing coffee beans from different origins to create a more balanced taste.At the same time, before blending coffee beans, you must first understand the different varieties of coffee in the world and their flavors. Beans have different characteristics depending on their origin. Different coffee beans have different personalities due to different varieties and origins, with subtle differences in flavors such as acidity, bitterness, sweetness, aroma, and body.

Currently on the market, there are 2 typesespresso coffee beanstypes: one is single-origin espresso beans, and the other is the more common blended espresso beans. Single-origin coffee beans tend to focus more on expressing the unique characteristics of a certain type of coffee.

Next, Front Street Coffee will introduce a few of Front Street Coffee's blend beans. According to different types of coffee, Front Street formulatesespresso coffee beanswith different characteristics in taste and flavor.

The several espresso coffee beans currently sold by Front Street Coffee are all blends, namely Front Street Black Cocoa Blend, Front Street Specialty Blend, Front Street Commercial Blend, and Warm Sun Blend coffee beans. You can place orders directly through the Front Street Taobao store or the Front Street Tmall flagship store.

1. Front Street Specialty Blend Coffee Beans

Front Street Specialty Blend coffee beans are an espresso coffee bean that has accompanied Front Street Coffee stores for many years. Until the end of 2019, Front Street Coffee stores used this coffee bean as the base espresso bean. To blend a stable espresso bean, you need to start with stable, high-yield coffee-producing countries, so when Front Street Coffee's roaster formulated this Front Street Specialty Blend coffee bean, they chose two countries with the highest and most stable Arabica coffee production worldwide—Colombia and Brazil. The ratio is 60% Colombian mixed with 40% Brazilian coffee beans. The washed Colombian coffee beans give this Front Street Specialty Blend coffee bean a soft fruity acidity and black cocoa notes, while the Brazilian coffee beans are responsible for providing this coffee bean's full-bodied taste.

Therefore, when this espresso bean is made into espresso, it has very obvious dark chocolate notes, a solid and full-bodied taste, and a nutty finish. This espresso blend coffee bean's balance and obvious dark chocolate taste make it suitable for both black coffee and milk coffee. Therefore, Front Street Coffee chose this blend coffee bean for store output for more than 6 years.

2. Front Street Black Cocoa Blend Coffee Beans

Made into Americano, it will have obvious vinous chocolate and citrus acidity; made into Latte, it will have flavors such as vanilla cream and liqueur chocolate.

Front Street Commercial Blend is different from the other three blend coffee beans. Front Street Commercial Blend is a commercial choice. The main基调 of Front Street Commercial Blend coffee beans is Colombia and Brazil, in a ratio of 60% and 30%, with the remaining 10% space, Front Street Coffee's roaster chose Robusta coffee beans.

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