How do seasoned drinkers approach espresso at Frontstreet Coffee?

Espresso often sits off the printed menu, ordered mainly by people who already know it, and Frontstreet Coffee treats it the same way. The drink is a small, intense shot that many beginners have never tried. Drinking it means taking two or three quick sips while it is hot, tasting the concentrated flavor rather than sipping it slowly like a larger cup.

A glass of ice water usually arrives alongside the shot: it clears the palate first, then helps rinse the mouth afterward. Sugar can be added, though regulars often taste the espresso plain before deciding. What separates a good shot is the bean and the extraction, since the same coffee can taste sharp or balanced depending on grind, dose, and pull time.

Espresso does not appear on the regular menu in many cafés; it is more like a hidden option reserved for connoisseurs, and the same is true at Front Street Coffee. As a result, many friends who are just getting into coffee are unfamiliar with it—they neither know exactly what kind of drink it is nor how to properly enjoy it. This article, from the perspective of Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee), discusses what espresso is really about, why a glass of ice water is served alongside it, what the standard tasting steps are, whether sugar can be added, and what a good espresso demands of the coffee beans and extraction technique. If you also want to understand this small, intense coffee, read on.

Many cafés do not list espresso on their formal menu; more often it is like a hidden option, quietly waiting for those who truly understand it to order, and Front Street is the same. For this reason, many beginners do not understand what espresso actually is or how to drink it. In this installment, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) will talk about how to taste espresso.

When faced with this coffee drink that is both niche and common, people are always curious: "How exactly do you drink espresso?" Whenever this kind of question comes up, everyone often jokingly replies, "With your mouth, of course." Back to the point: to answer this question, it helps to first clarify another matter—when you drink espresso, what exactly are you drinking?

What are you drinking when you drink espresso?

In earlier years, Italians were used to using coffee to refresh themselves during work breaks. To save time, what they needed was a cup of coffee that was quick to serve and sufficiently strong in taste. After the espresso was brought over, the customer could finish it in two or three sips. It is not hard to imagine that at that time, the main purpose of drinking espresso was to quickly replenish caffeine so that Italians could recover their energy and get back to work.

Today, as coffee gradually moves toward specialty coffee, in addition to consuming caffeine, people also place higher demands on coffee flavor. So when seasoned coffee lovers order an espresso and savor it carefully, what exactly are they drinking?

Compared with pour-over coffee, espresso's standout characteristics are its intense flavor and fast drinking speed. It is hard to distinguish changes across high, medium, and low temperature stages the way you can with pour-over, since it is already finished before it has time to cool. Second, the high concentration brought by a low powder-to-liquid ratio makes espresso strong and heavy on entry, and it is not easy to capture many flavor details (though of course there are also espressos with more complex and clear flavor layers).

In addition, espresso is extracted under high pressure, producing its unique "crema," which also gives espresso a distinctive mouthfeel experience. Therefore, when tasting espresso, we lean more toward feeling its texture, aroma, and finish, supplemented by a few relatively obvious flavors. Ps: Cleanliness and balance are the passing line; if an espresso tastes insufficiently clean or loses balance, these are fatal flaws.

Why is a glass of ice water served with espresso?

If you often drink espresso, you will notice that when staff bring over an espresso, they often also include a glass of ice water. Why exactly is that?

1. Espresso is usually served together with ice water because the espresso portion is small and its taste is strong. The ice water is meant to clean the palate and awaken the taste buds before drinking. Before drinking the espresso, take a sip of water and rinse your mouth to clean the oral cavity so you can better perceive the espresso's flavor.

2. Then use the spoon provided to stir the espresso evenly, because the coffee liquid at the bottom is more viscous while the top layer is relatively thinner. After stirring evenly, you can taste it more completely. Of course, you can also choose not to stir, in order to experience a different mouthfeel and layering.

3. Then divide the espresso into three to four sips and finish it. Rub your tongue against the roof of your mouth to feel its texture, use the sides of your tongue to perceive acidity and so on, and combine various sensory taste perceptions to make an overall judgment of its condition.

4. After finishing, close your mouth and exhale to feel the aroma of the espresso and the finish it leaves in your mouth.

5. Finally, take a sip of clear water and rinse your mouth to perceive the coffee's sweetness.

However, espresso is ultimately just a drink, and there is no need to be bound by a fixed way of drinking it; any way of drinking it does no harm. For friends who prefer sweetness, Front Street suggests adding a small amount of granulated sugar or brown sugar before drinking. This can both enhance the coffee's caramel aroma and make the espresso easier to drink.

Of course, an outstanding espresso is inseparable from good coffee beans and solid extraction technique. The deep-roasted coffee bean used by Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) today is Front Street Classic Espresso Blend. This blend is composed of three origins—Brazil, Indonesia, and Vietnam—combining the caramel flavor of American coffees with the wild character of Asian coffees. It not only highlights the coffee's rich aroma to the greatest extent, but also makes it easy for everyone to extract abundant, dense crema. Whether you make an Americano diluted with water or a latte paired with milk, it is very suitable. It can be purchased and ordered at the Front Street Taobao store or the Front Street Tmall flagship store.

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