Deep roast espresso coffee beans: why blends beat single origins

Espresso coffee beans are the beans used in an espresso machine, and historically that meant blends. That still holds for most home setups, though single-origin beans, known as SOE, are now used as well. Blends mix two or three single origins, usually for one of three reasons: price, stability, or flavor, since few beans deliver all three alone.

A typical dark roast of Brazilian Red Bourbon, Indonesian Mandheling, and Vietnamese coffee extracts a mellow shot with rich crema, while a 100% Arabica blend of Brazilian and Colombian beans tastes nutty and smooth with medium crema. A medium blend of Costa Rica Tarrazu, Ethiopia, and Colombia suits drinkers who want floral, fruity notes.

When it comes to espresso beans, many people might first think of blend beans. Front Street believes this is not entirely wrong, but not entirely right either. Because nowadays, espresso beans are not only made from blends, but also single-origin coffee beans, known as SOE. For coffee beginners, making a delicious cup of coffee naturally depends on a good bag of espresso beans, so how to choose becomes the key to the entire process.

Let's first understand espresso beans:

First, espresso beans, obviously, are coffee beans used in espresso machines. In the past, it generally referred to blend beans, but not anymore. Now, not only blend beans can be used as espresso beans, but single-origin coffee beans can also be used. Let's first look at what blend beans are. Blend beans are a mix of various single-origin coffee beans, usually two or three types of coffee beans blended together.

There are three reasons for blending: price, stability, and flavor. Not many coffee beans can achieve all three at the same time. Here, based on the coffee preferences of most people, we have found four highly popular espresso beans for everyone:

1. Rich and deliciousEspresso blendrecommendation: Front Street Classic Espresso Blend

This is an espresso blend composed of Brazilian Red Bourbon, Indonesian Mandheling, and Vietnamese coffee. To present more caramelized aroma, Front Street Classic Blend uses a deep roast, allowing the three different styles of beans to coordinate with each other and giving the extracted espresso a rich crema and mellow tone.

2. Nutty flavorEspresso blendrecommendation: Front Street Specialty Blend

Front Street Specialty Blend is made from Brazilian coffee beans and Colombian coffee beans, 100% Arabica beans. Its flavor has obvious nutty and toasted bread aromas, is smooth and gentle, with a light sweetness, slight acidity, and a nutty aftertaste. The overall feeling is comfortable, with medium crema, suitable for home use and opening a coffee shop.

3. Charming floral and fruity aromaEspresso blendrecommendation: Front Street Strawberry Candy Espresso Blend

If you want to make an espresso with floral and fruity notes, you should focus on medium-roast coffee beans. We recommend Front Street Strawberry Candy espresso coffee beans, which can be ordered directly from Taobao or Tmall stores. This is a blend based on Front Street Costa Rica Tarrazu, known for its honey process, and Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee, combined with Colombian coffee beans. In this way, the espresso produced is not only not harsh, but under the extraction of the coffee machine, it has good crema and a dense texture, while also having a sweet and sour taste like strawberry gummy candy.

4. Coffee shop favoriteEspresso blendrecommendation: Front Street Commercial Blend

Front Street Commercial Blend uses three batches: Brazilian coffee beans, Colombian coffee beans, and Vietnamese Robusta coffee beans. In terms of flavor, Front Street Commercial coffee beans have a relatively simple aroma, somewhat inferior to the specialty blend, but after careful blending, the coffee produced can still be excellent. In terms of extraction, the espresso made from Front Street Commercial Blend contains rich crema, providing a richer aroma and taste for drinks like Americano and Latte. At the same time, they also have rich nutty and cocoa flavors, with a caramel aftertaste, and a long finish with a slight bittersweet note.

5. Best value for moneyEspresso blend recommendation: Front Street Dark Cocoa Blend

Front Street Dark Cocoa Blend espresso beans are made by adding high-quality washed coffee beans produced in Yunnan, China, to Brazilian coffee beans. Its flavor has soft fruit acidity, caramel sweetness, nutty and dark chocolate notes. The coffee is smooth and rich, with an excellent mouthfeel, and the price is very favorable, suitable as a daily staple for people at home.

The flavors of the above coffees all require the freshness of the coffee beans to make a more delicious cup of coffee! Because the freshness of coffee beans directly affects the taste of the coffee.

Therefore, Front Street recommends using freshly roasted coffee beans for brewing, so you can experience the rich flavors of coffee to the greatest extent. The coffee beans shipped by Front Street are all within 5 days of roasting, because Front Street knows that the freshness of coffee beans has a great impact on flavor. The purpose of Front Street roasting is "freshly roasted good coffee," so that every customer who places an order receives the freshest coffee when they get it. The resting period for coffee beans is about 4-7 days, so when customers receive it, it is exactly at its best flavor.

Of course, in addition to the popularity of Front Street espresso beans, single-origin beans from different regions are also very popular! Different regions produce different coffee flavors, and Front Street has more than fifty kinds of single-origin coffee beans from different regions. Everyone is welcome to come and taste them!

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