What goes into a plum latte, and how is it assembled?

A plum latte combines dried plum syrup, cream and espresso, and the balance among the three decides whether the drink works. Too much plum overwhelms the cup, too much cream makes it cloying, and espresso that is too strong suppresses the plum aroma. Dried plums are a pickled product, so they must be soaked or simmered first to release their sour, sweet and salty notes.

Two methods are used: the assembly method, where plum syrup and cream go into the glass before the espresso, and the ice-shake method, where the components are shaken together for a colder, lighter texture. People who find regular lattes bitter often prefer the assembly version, since the plum's acidity and the cream soften the espresso's edge.

Once you're used to regular lattes, sometimes you want to try something new but not too strange. Front Street Coffee recently learned a plum cream latte — the process isn't complicated, but the flavor is quite impressive. Dried plums themselves combine sour, sweet, and salty notes, and when paired with cream and espresso, the proportions of all three need careful balancing: too much plum will overpower the drink, too much cream makes it cloying, and too strong a coffee will suppress the plum's aroma. This article will break down the implementation of this specialty drink, from making the plum syrup and controlling the cream quantity to choosing espresso beans, as well as two preparation methods: the assembly method and the ice-shake method.

Many friends who prefer milk coffee have had this experience: after drinking regular lattes for a while, you always want to switch things up with something new but not too strange. Front Street Coffee recently learned another creative coffee — the plum cream latte. The barrier to entry is low, but the result is quite a pleasant surprise. Let's try making it together today.

Friends who have followed Front Street Coffee for a while may recall that we previously published a tutorial on "plum coffee," where we made three creative specialty drinks on a sweet-and-sour theme in a row. Since they were all black coffee-based, there was plenty of room for error. But this plum cream latte we're recreating this time has three things to watch out for: too much plum will overpower the other flavors, too much cream makes it cloying, and too strong a coffee will suppress the plum's flavor — so the proportions among the three must be carefully coordinated.

Plum jam:

Hold a dried plum in your mouth, and the distinctive aroma of preserved fruit slowly spreads across your tongue, followed by a wave of sourness through your whole mouth. Your taste buds seem to wake up and begin to salivate and return sweetness. Sour, sweet, and salty sensations appear almost simultaneously, and together with the plum's unique fragrance, the taste is rich and layered with a bit of a kick. That's why, besides being a daily snack, it's also well-suited to play a supporting flavor role in drinks.

But dried plums are, after all, a pickled product, and they must be soaked or simmered to fully release their aroma and salty-sour flavor. So before starting, we first need to solve the question of "where does the plum flavor come from." For black coffee, you can extract a rich fruity aroma by soaking in water; but for a latte, which needs to highlight the mellow aroma of milk and coffee, Front Street Coffee recommends using plum syrup directly.

Simmering a good batch of plum syrup actually has its finer points. First, prepare dried plums, rock sugar, and water in a 1:2:4 ratio. In actual practice, Front Street Coffee used 50g dried plums, 100g rock sugar, and 200g drinking water, plus one fresh lemon.

Pour water into a pot and bring it to a boil, then add the dried plums and rock sugar. Keep it on low heat so the sugar water continues to bubble and simmer, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. Once the liquid has reduced to about one-third, cut half a lemon and squeeze its juice into the pot. Let it cool, then refrigerate. Once the syrup becomes thick, it's ready to use.

Cream:

Since there's already milk as a base, the cream here serves two purposes: it brings a smooth mouthfeel and enhances the overall richness of the coffee. But it can also make the whole latte too cloying. So it's best to make it an iced drink and strictly control the amount, lest you feel bloated after just a few sips.

Of course, if you really can't handle the high calories of cream, you can omit it entirely — the resulting plum latte will taste more refreshing.

Espresso beans:

When choosing coffee beans, Front Street Coffee recommends prioritizing options with a roast level that's neither too dark nor too light. Dried plums are sour and salty by nature; if the bitterness is too heavy, the overall taste becomes very harsh. If you switch to light-roasted beans, the acidity is further amplified, the oils are scarcer, and the bean's own character gets drowned out by the other flavors.

Every time Front Street Coffee recreates a creative coffee with cream, we usually prioritize beans with a nutty aroma. These beans are mostly medium to medium-dark roasted, and the espresso they produce often shows flavors of almond, apricot kernel, walnut, toasted sunflower seed, peanut, and so on — rich in aroma without stealing the show.

If you want to choose a single-origin coffee, you can buy Front Street Coffee Brazil Cerrado and Front Street Coffee Queen's Estate; if you value balance and body more, Front Street Coffee Black Cocoa Basic Blend or Front Street Coffee Specialty Blend are both good choices. They both contain a large proportion of Brazilian coffee beans, bringing a comfortable bittersweetness and a very smooth entry.

How do you make a plum cream latte?

Today's plum cream latte uses Front Street Coffee Brazil Cerrado, an entry-level nutty daily-drinker bean that can be brewed as pour-over and also shows its distinctive creamy peanut flavor when used in an espresso machine or moka pot. Also, when Front Street Coffee was learning from others online, we found that people's methods generally fall into two categories: the assembly method and the ice-shake method. Today we'll make one cup of each.

Assembly method — plum cream latte coffee:

The assembly method, as the name suggests, is simply combining all the ingredients in sequence.

First take a 300–400ml cup, add 80g ice cubes, scoop in two tablespoons (about 20g) of plum syrup over the ice, then pour in 25ml of light cream and 150ml of fresh milk;

Use 19g of Front Street Coffee Brazil Cerrado coffee grounds to extract 38g of espresso within 28–32 seconds, pour it into the cup, and stir well before drinking.

The plum cream latte made this way starts with a subtle salty-sour sensation on the palate, a bit like sea salt. The milk aroma and coffee aroma fill your whole nasal cavity, sweet first then bitter. And because the espresso is added last, the crema floats better on the surface, making it more photogenic too.

Ice-shake method — plum cream latte coffee:

The ice-shake method requires an extra cocktail shaker. First add 80g ice cubes, then scoop in two tablespoons of plum syrup;

Likewise, use 19g of Front Street Coffee Brazil Cerrado coffee grounds to extract 38g of espresso, pour it into the shaker along with 25ml of light cream, close the lid tightly, and shake hard to create a dense foam;

Pour the shaken coffee liquid into a glass, then finally add 150ml of fresh milk, until the glass is about 80–90% full, and it's done.

This method allows all the elements of the plum cream latte to fully blend, making it smoother to drink. The plum syrup contributes both sweet-and-sour flavor and a richer layering to the whole cup, leaving a lingering fragrance after you finish.

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