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Some people believe that espresso made from single-origin coffee beans (SOE/Single Origin Espresso) must be higher quality than espresso made from espresso blend beans, and must be more expensive than blend espresso. Actually, these are misconceptions~ In this article, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) will discuss the pros and cons of single-origin espresso and blend espresso.
What isSOE Single Origin Espresso?
SOE appeared abroad ten years ago and has now developed very maturely, only becoming gradually popular in China in the past two years. If you still don't know what SOE is, you really should learn about it, as this term will appear more and more on cafe menus in the future.
The SOE that became popular in 2007 has gradually matured since 2010. The most typical example is that those of us who follow the WBC will notice that most competitors in the WBC (World Barista Championship) use SOE coffee, which is single-origin coffee.
For example, consider two coffee beans A and B. A uses Brazil and Mandheling, while B uses Mandheling. Then A is a blend in the broad sense, while B is considered SOE. The label of SOE being very expensive is just a misconception; it can also be very affordable and accepted by the general public. As long as there are beans with exciting flavors, the formula for espresso beans doesn't need to be very complex—a single bean can also be made wonderfully. Of course, this is also a major trend in modern coffee.
Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) believes that SOE is increasingly popular for one reason: competitors in major coffee competitions are all using single-origin coffee beans to make espresso, leading many coffee professionals and enthusiasts to understand that SOE is superior to blend espresso, and it has also become one of the ways to highlight one's professionalism.
Another reason is that with the continuous spread of specialty coffee culture, consumers are gradually seeking to experience the inherent taste and flavor layers of coffee when extracted in conventional ways without adding any ingredients, and single-origin coffee beans better meet this demand. Therefore, regardless of the extraction method, more and more people will pursue the use of single-origin coffee beans.
Although espresso made from single-origin coffee beans is delicious, not all single-origin coffee beans are suitable for making espresso. One reason is that coffee, as an agricultural product, has its flavor quality affected by the climate of its origin, so it cannot maintain a stable coffee flavor over a long period.
The other reason is that espresso is a coffee beverage made by grinding coffee very finely and rapidly extracting a highly concentrated coffee liquid under high pressure and temperature through a machine, so all the flavors inherent in the coffee beans are concentrated and amplified. Some acidic/mellow substances can easily exhibit sharp sourness and astringency, with a thin body and unbearable burnt bitterness.
Therefore, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) does not recommend everyone blindly try using single-origin coffee beans to extract espresso. If you really want to drink SOE, you can directly purchase coffee beans specially roasted for SOE/choose coffee beans with a medium roast level or above.
What isBlend Espresso?
Blend espresso is the most common espresso we encounter and the default espresso practice in most coffee shops. It is usually made from a blend of coffee beans from 2 origins, characterized by a mellow flavor, rich and solid body, low acidity with a strong sweet aftertaste, but with less flavor complexity than SOE.
The emergence of blend coffee beans was to alleviate the issue where single-origin coffee beans overly exhibit their own defective flavors during high-pressure espresso extraction, while also lacking stable flavor performance over time. Therefore, coffee professionals began to blend coffee beans from different origins in different proportions, complementing each other's strengths, to create blend coffee beans that can consistently deliver a stable and balanced flavor profile year after year.
Therefore, if it's for a coffee shop's offerings, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) more strongly recommends using blend coffee beans as the default bean for espresso, and adding SOE coffee bean options if needed.
Currently, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) sells 4 espresso blend coffee beans. To let everyone enjoy the most complete coffee flavor, all coffee beans sold by Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) are shipped within 5 days after roasting is completed.
"Warm Sun Blend Coffee Beans" consists of Ethiopian natural red cherry coffee beans (30%) + Honduran sherry barrel coffee beans (70%), with a rich wine aroma, vanilla cream, berry sweetness and acidity, and roasted nut flavors.
"Front Street Specialty Blend Coffee Beans" consists of Colombian washed coffee beans (30%) + Brazilian semi-washed coffee beans (70%), with nut, dark chocolate, and caramel flavors.
"Front Street Commercial Blend Coffee Beans" consists of Robusta washed coffee beans (10%) + Colombian washed coffee beans (30%) + Brazilian semi-washed coffee (60%), with nut, cocoa, and caramel flavors.
"Front Street Dark Cocoa Blend Coffee Beans" consists of Yunnan washed small-bean coffee beans (30%) + Brazilian semi-washed coffee beans (70%), with soft fruit acidity, caramel, and nut flavors.
Is SOE more delicious than blend espresso?
There are many factors that determine whether a cup of coffee is delicious, such as coffee bean quality, freshness, roasting, coffee machine, preparation process, personal taste preferences, etc. SOE simply refers to espresso made with single-origin coffee beans, and the coffee beans used are not necessarily better than those used in blend coffee.The other factors also greatly affect coffee quality, so whether a certain coffee is delicious cannot be generalized~
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
