Are SOE Coffee Beans Worth Brewing at Home?
SOE stands for single-origin espresso, a term used to separate single-origin shots from traditional espresso blends. Luckin's El Paraiso SOE followed its Geisha SOE, drawing attention to the Colombian champion estate. Front Street Coffee also carries an El Paraiso Cherry Blossom series, making a direct comparison possible.
Finca El Paraiso has been run by Diego Samuel since 2008, starting as a 2.5-hectare family farm before expanding through reinvestment in agricultural research. Its beans go through a double anaerobic washed process. Testing the Cherry Blossom lot in espresso, americano and latte shows which Italian-style drink suits it, and how it compares with the same SOE served in Luckin's small black cup.
After launching the Geisha SOE, Luckin immediately followed up with the El Paraiso SOE, sparking interest among many coffee enthusiasts in this Colombian champion estate bean. Front Street Coffee's bean list happens to include the El Paraiso Cherry Blossom series as well. This article will start from the concept of SOE, introduce El Paraiso's estate background, cultivated varieties, and double anaerobic washed processing method, and share the pour-over parameters and flavor performance of Front Street's Cherry Blossom coffee beans. At the same time, we will also test its performance in espresso, americano, and latte to see which type of Italian coffee this bean is truly suited for, and whether it can take on the role of the same SOE used in Luckin's small black cup.
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Recently, many customers have asked Front Street whether SOE coffee beans are available for sale, especially after Luckin launched the El Paraiso SOE coffee right after the Geisha SOE. Taking this opportunity, Front Street will discuss what exactly makes SOE coffee special.
SOE stands for "single original espresso," which means single-origin espresso. This concept was introduced into the field of Italian coffee after single-origin coffee gradually became popular, with the aim of distinguishing it from traditional espresso blends and creating a distinctive, recognizable flavor. For this reason, SOE is especially particular when it comes to bean selection.
Take Luckin's newly launched El Paraiso SOE as an example. The highlight of this estate's coffee beans lies in the use of new processing techniques, giving the coffee a unique flavor through fermentation. Coincidentally, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee)'s bean list also includes an El Paraiso Cherry Blossom series coffee bean, which is perfect for a test.
El Paraiso Estate
El Paraiso Estate (Finca El Paraiso) has been managed by Mr. Diego Samuel since 2008. At first, it was just a small family estate of only 2.5 hectares. The estate owner continuously invested the profits from each year's harvest into coffee agricultural research, constantly exploring how to present higher-quality specialty flavors more consistently.
In 2015, he participated in a local regional competition for the first time and won first place with Colombian El Paraiso Estate coffee beans. After making a name for himself in one battle, he gained recognition in the industry and was therefore even more motivated to promote specialty coffee cultivation.
At present, the main varieties cultivated at Colombia's El Paraiso Estate include Bourbon, Laurina, Gesha, Castillo, and others, while more new varieties are also being planned and tried. Among them, the Castillo variety used in Strawberry Yogurt is the most widely planted variety in Colombia. Castillo was bred by backcrossing the Colombia variety with Caturra and has extremely strong resistance to leaf rust.
Although blind tastings by Colombia's National Coffee Research Center show that Castillo's flavor performance can rival varieties such as Caturra and Bourbon, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) still recommends everyone remain objective and rely on actual cupping results.
Beyond variety, the processing method is also key to the Cherry Blossom coffee's unique flavor. It uses an innovative double anaerobic washed process. As the name suggests, this processing method undergoes two rounds of anaerobic fermentation: after the coffee cherries are harvested, they are first placed in a sealed environment for the first anaerobic fermentation; after completion, they are taken out, the pulp and mucilage are removed by the washed method, and then they are placed back into a sealed environment for a second anaerobic fermentation. These two rounds of anaerobic fermentation are precisely what makes this processing method unique. Finally, they are dried by the sun-dried method, reducing the moisture content to about 11%.
Front Street Colombian Cherry Blossom coffee beans are mainly brewed by pour-over drip filtration. In order to fully showcase this bean's extremely high sweetness, a medium-light roast is used.
When extracting this bean by pour-over, in order to present the best flavor, Front Street recommends using freshly roasted coffee beans, as this allows you to experience the coffee's rich layers to the greatest extent. The coffee beans shipped by Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) are all within 5 days after roasting, because Front Street deeply understands the huge impact of freshness on flavor. Front Street's roasting philosophy is "freshly roasted good coffee," so that every customer who places an order can receive the freshest coffee upon delivery. The resting period for coffee is about 4 to 7 days, so when customers receive it, it is exactly at its peak flavor.
Pour-over parameters
Dose: 15 grams
Coffee-to-water ratio: 1 to 15
Grind size: 80% passing through a No. 20 sieve
Water temperature: 91 degrees Celsius
Dripper: V60
During brewing, first pour 30 ml of hot water and bloom for 30 seconds. After blooming, proceed to the second pour. In this stage, pour 120 ml of water, pouring in a spiral "mosquito coil" pattern from the center outward, raising the coffee bed, and finish pouring in about 1 minute. Then wait for the water level to drop. Under normal circumstances, the water level will drop steadily and slowly, reaching the halfway point at about 1 minute 10 seconds to 1 minute 15 seconds, forming a "bowl shape."
At this point, begin the final pour. In this stage, pour 90 ml of water, pouring in a circle about half the size of the water surface, and finish pouring in about 1 minute 35 seconds. After that, wait for all the coffee liquid to drip into the server, then remove the dripper and it is complete. The total time is about 2 minutes.
The flavor performance of Front Street Colombian Cherry Blossom coffee beans is: mugwort, mint aroma, fruit jam, strawberry.
If El Paraiso Cherry Blossom is used to make SOE coffee, what would the flavor be like?
After multiple adjustments to Front Street's espresso parameters, a dose of 20 grams was ultimately selected, extracting 40 grams of coffee liquid in about 27 seconds, with the first drop of coffee liquid beginning to drip at the 5th second.
In the end, the espresso made with Colombian El Paraiso Cherry Blossom coffee beans has medium acidity, low bitterness, a unique fresh mint aroma reminiscent of mint candy and strawberry, a medium cheesy sensation, and a finish of dark chocolate.
El Paraiso Estate Americano
For the americano, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) chose a 10-ounce cup capacity, with a ratio of coffee liquid to water of about 1:6. The taste is similar to mint hard candy, Indian spiced tea, dark chocolate, and a slight strawberry note, with a smooth mouthfeel and medium body.
Milk coffee
For the milk coffee portion, a 12-ounce cup was used to make a latte. The latte has a silky smooth mouthfeel and carries the sweetness of milk, with flavors leaning more toward lemon yogurt, vanilla ice cream, and a slight dark chocolate finish. However, Front Street also believes that the espresso flavor is not rich enough and was overshadowed by the milk, causing this latte to have an unbalanced flavor and making it not much like a cup of coffee.
Based on the overall feedback, Front Street El Paraiso Estate coffee beans are suitable for making SOE americano; as for latte, Front Street believes it is difficult for it to fully express the flavor of El Paraiso Estate coffee beans.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
