Which coffee beans process works for a balanced coffee combo?

Any coffee bean can be used for a coffee combo, because a combo is simply one espresso split into two or three portions, each turned into a different drink. The cup that falls short usually traces back to roast level, processing method, dose and extraction, or the ratio of coffee to milk and water rather than to the bean itself.

To make a combo with a clear aroma or a memorable trait, treat roast level and coffee beans process as the starting points. Medium and medium-dark roasts hold up in milk, while washed beans give cleaner separation between cups. Adjust dose and extraction for the split, then balance milk or water so no single cup tastes bitter or weak.

In recent years, Coffee combos have become increasingly common in coffee shops—splitting a single espresso into two or three portions, each made into a different type of coffee, and then served together as a set. This approach allows customers to taste multiple expressions of the same bean in one sitting, and since the cups are small, they don't leave you feeling full, which is why it has won over many coffee enthusiasts. However, many people find in practice that one cup in the combo always falls short—either too bitter, or weak in flavor and lacking aroma. Is the problem in bean selection or in the preparation details? This article will discuss the principles of bean selection and preparation considerations for Combos, covering key aspects such as roast level, fermentation processing methods, dose and extraction adjustments, and the ratio of coffee to milk or water, and will share several coffee beans from Front Street Coffee that are well-suited for making Combos, along with their flavor characteristics.

Dividing the extracted espresso into 2–3 portions, then making each into a different type of coffee, and finally serving them together as a set—this is the currently popular format in coffee shops known as a Coffee combo.

Because you can taste multiple "works" made from the same bean in one go, and each cup is small enough not to fill you up, Combos have won a large following. For this reason, more and more coffee shops are starting to offer Combos (Front Street Coffee is not among them).

Although it doesn't look complicated, many friends find after actually trying it that one cup in the set always leaves something to be desired. It's either too bitter, or tastes weak and bland with insufficient aroma. So some friends, when shopping for coffee beans online on Taobao, ask Front Street Coffee's customer service: is it because the beans weren't chosen correctly?

To be fair, any coffee bean can be used to make a Combo, because as Front Street Coffee says, a Combo is simply splitting one espresso into two or three portions and making each into a different type of coffee. In daily life, the vast majority of espresso drinks are made this way, which is why Front Street Coffee says all coffee beans can be used for Combos.

But if you have specific requirements for your Combo—for example, you want it to have a particular aroma or a memorable distinguishing feature—then bean selection becomes a matter of some deliberation. For instance, it needs sufficient aroma and sufficient flavor, which is also the common characteristic of beans most coffee shops choose for making Combos today. Today Front Street Coffee will discuss what kind of coffee beans are suitable for making Combos!

1. Roast level should not go to extremes

If you want to make a Combo with rich aroma and prominent flavor, it's best not to choose extremely dark-roasted coffee beans. Because prolonged roasting makes the coffee taste heavy or even bitter, while masking some of the softer flavors, making it difficult for us to taste the characteristics of specialty beans.

Of course, overly light-roasted coffee beans are equally unsuitable! Espresso is a pressure-based extraction, and beans roasted too light are harder in texture, making it difficult to achieve full extraction in a short time; moreover, compared to dark-roasted beans, they haven't undergone enough caramelization, have less crema, and lack sweetness, so the flavor tends to become thin when milk is added.

Therefore, when making a Combo, it's best to choose medium-roasted or medium-dark-roasted single-origin coffee beans. If you prefer a balanced taste, Front Street Queen's Estate SOE and Front Street PWN Golden Mandheling are top choices—these beans retain plenty of flavor while, thanks to just the right degree of caramelization, delivering both sufficient sweetness and the ability to stand up to the taste of milk.

2. Deeper fermentation level

If you want the coffee to have a sufficiently prominent flavor expression, you can also narrow down the processing method. For example, choose coffee beans that have undergone deeper fermentation processing—such as natural, anaerobic, or honey-processed beans.

In previous articles introducing processing methods, Front Street Coffee mentioned that different processing methods cause coffee beans to undergo different degrees of fermentation. The deeper the fermentation, the richer and more prominent the coffee beans' aroma. Natural, anaerobic, and honey processing can all allow coffee beans to ferment deeply enough to develop very rich flavors.

So, if you want to make a Combo with outstanding flavor expression, coffee beans processed these ways would be a good choice.

What beans meet both of the above criteria?

There are actually quite a lot of coffee beans that satisfy these two conditions! For example, in Front Street Coffee's bean list, more than half meet both conditions: just the right roast level and rich, prominent aroma. Among them, several beans are favorites among many coffee shops when producing Combos—their aromas are all very rich and distinctive, so you can use them as a reference~

The first is Front Street Ethiopia·Huakui SOE, which produces coffee with mango, pineapple, citrus, and magnolia notes; the second is Front Street Fenzhijie Estate·Xizhua SOE, with flavor notes of grape, passion fruit, floral, and fruit wine; the third is Front Street Coffee's frequently shared Front Street Geisha Blend·Strawberry Candy, which produces coffee with prominent flavors of strawberry gummy, white floral, and citrus~

Key points to note when making a Combo

Once you have suitable coffee beans, the next step is to start making the coffee. When it comes to Combos, there are many things to pay attention to during preparation.

① Dose used: Since the espresso needs to be split into multiple portions to make different coffees, unless the dose you normally use is already large, it's best to increase the dose appropriately. This is because we generally extract at a ratio of about 1:2. If the dose is on the low side, then each portion after dividing evenly won't yield much coffee liquid, and the resulting cup size will be on the small side. (This is something coffee shops need to note when serving; home users can do as they please~)

② Espresso extraction: After dialing in the espresso extraction parameters during the morning calibration at a coffee shop, the barista will also deliberately make a latte to verify whether this espresso is suitable for making lattes. Why? Because a tasty espresso isn't necessarily suitable for making a latte!

When the espresso's flavor intensity isn't high enough, or the acidity is too prominent, the resulting milk coffee won't taste as good. It may lack coffee flavor, or taste jarring. For a latte, which requires a large amount of milk, the espresso base needs a certain amount of bitterness to make a richly flavored milk coffee, whereas black coffees like Americano don't require this. So during morning calibration, we also need to make an extra latte to check whether this espresso is suitable for lattes (one of the reasons).

Therefore, many coffee shops, when making a Combo, deliberately let the espresso portion used for the latte extract a bit more liquid. This effectively enhances the coffee's bitterness and improves the balance of flavor, thereby producing a latte with a prominent taste.

③ Ratio between coffee and ingredients: Lastly, there's the ratio issue. Since the beans used for making Combos are generally lighter than those used for regular espresso, we should adjust the ratios appropriately. For example, the coffee-to-water ratio in a Combo Americano and the coffee-to-milk ratio in a Combo latte can both be increased somewhat.

Taking Front Street Coffee as an example, when Front Street uses the medium-dark-roasted Front Street Classic Blend from its bean list to make a regular latte, the coffee-to-milk ratio is 1:5, meaning 40ml of espresso with 200ml of milk.

But if using the medium-light-roasted Front Street Fenzhijie·Xizhua from the bean list to make the latte in a Combo, the coffee-to-milk ratio would be about 1:4–4.5. The reason is the same as Front Street Coffee mentioned earlier: because the roast isn't as dark and the flavor intensity isn't as high, naturally you can't add too much water or milk to dilute the coffee's taste.

The above are some considerations for making Combos and choosing coffee beans. Of course, Front Street Coffee is only providing a reference here; in actual practice, you still need to adjust flexibly according to the specific situation.

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