“How do you taste citrus in coffee?” Quite a few friends say they envy baristas for being able to casually name the specific flavors in coffee. Some friends also say, I can taste that the coffee is acidic, but that’s far from the citrus you’re talking about. Still others say flavors are all just nonsense. Front Street, in its daily online [more…]

"This coffee has a rich fruity profile, with notes of citrus, lemon, oolong tea, and jasmine!!!" For someone who has just been introduced to specialty coffee, this might sound unbelievable—how can you taste so many flavors in one cup of coffee! (Are they just making it up?) In this installment of Barista Growth Diary, we'll share a little [more…]

If you want to learn how to brew coffee, you must first learn how to drink coffee. Of course, "learning to drink coffee" here does not mean being able to describe gorgeous flavor notes; it is more about being able to judge whether a cup of coffee is good or bad—that is, whether it tastes good or not. Whether a coffee tastes good or not, subjectively and objectively, depends to a fairly large extent on personal preference. [more…]

Many customers have told Front Street Coffee that they actually can't taste the flavors in coffee, and even after watching many coffee tasting tutorials, they only "understand it while watching, but don't know where to start when it comes to actually doing it." If this sounds like you, you might want to take a look at some of Front Street Coffee's insights on coffee tasting. Tasting coffee ≠ describing flavors. Many [more…]

Coffee today is no longer just a "functional drink" used to wake you up; it is also a medium that holds a wealth of experiences. Thanks to the spread of the concept of specialty coffee, which has brought about a leap in coffee quality, we can now taste the terroir of different places through a single small cup of coffee. For example, [more…]

As coffee has gradually become more widely recognized, specialty coffee promotion in cafés has emerged in response, and we too have begun tracing things back to their roots—we have come to treat coffee as culture. The rise of specialty pour-over coffee undoubtedly reflects the demands of the market and the needs that cafés have identified. Café counters have also begun to lower their "status," no longer featuring the early design of a bar raised a foot high. [more…]

On the journey of learning about specialty coffee, I believe everyone is especially impressed by a colorful ring. It is the SCAA 2016 Coffee Flavor Wheel that has tormented you countless times. Of course, this is already a "simplified" version; the first edition of the flavor wheel in 1995 had two, one on the front. [more…]

A large part of the reason the coffee flavor wheel was created was to meet the tasting standards that emerged after coffee became more specialty-oriented. It also drew on wine tasting and cupping, gradually evolving from vague, general flavor descriptions into a detailed, logical flavor wheel. The first version of the coffee flavor wheel was released in 1995, [more…]

随着咖啡文化在国内日益普及，越来越多的人投身咖啡师这一职业。咖啡师不仅是饮品的制作者，更是生活美学与匠人精神的践行者。然而，面对琳琅满目的国际认证体系，许多从业者常常感到困惑：究竟有哪些权威的咖啡资格证书值得考取？本文将系统梳理当前主流的几大国际咖啡认证机构——包括美国SCAA、欧洲SCAE、英国City & Guilds以及意大利IIAC——及其对应的课程与资质要求，帮助咖啡师理清职业进阶路径，找到适合自己的认证方向。 [more…]

After years of development, specialty coffee has formed a scientific system. From cultivation and processing at the green bean stage, to roasting, and then to brewing and tasting, there is a very complete body of knowledge. The improvement of green bean quality, roasting, and brewing quality ultimately serves to give us a better experience when tasting coffee. [more…]

There always is such a group of people who have obtained a code for self-reference due to the particularity of their profession. Even in the seemingly not vast field of coffee, there is also such a profession. After the concept of specialty coffee wa [more…]

Friends who frequently buy coffee beans will surely notice that most coffee bean names are followed by English suffixes such as AA and AB. This is especially true for Kenyan coffee beans—Kenya AA, Kenya AB, Kenya PB, Kenya AA+, Top, and so on. "So what do these suffixes mean? [more…]

The scoring criteria for coffee cupping. The cupping of coffee beans was initially to ensure whether the quality of the coffee beans that are about to enter the trade is qualified. With the passage of time, after the concept of specialty coffee was b [more…]

Customers and friends often chat about coffee-related topics at Front Street Coffee's stores, such as coffee origins, brewing parameters and steps, or coffee flavors. Then occasionally, some friends bring up more niche topics, for example—the liquor color of coffee. "Liquor color" is a professional term borrowed from tea evaluation. [more…]

The content of defective beans directly affects coffee quality and grade classification. Taking Brazil as an example, the local system uses a "deduction method," grading based on the number of defective beans per 300 grams of main beans. In addition, coffee usually requires hand sorting during processing, and only by fully mastering the types and characteristics of defective beans can they be effectively removed. So exactly how many types of defective beans are there? This article will use illustrated explanations to introduce ten common defective beans one by one, including shell beans, stones, moldy beans, fermented beans, dead beans, immature beans, shell beans, insect-damaged beans, black beans, and cocoa beans, explaining their causes, appearance characteristics, and negative effects on coffee flavor, laying the foundation for subsequent learning about defective bean selection. [more…]

There are about 40 species in the Coffea genus, but only three native species—Arabica, Robusta, and Liberica—have real commercial value. They differ markedly in appearance, flavor, disease resistance, suitable altitude, and cultivation conditions: Arabica is elegant yet delicate, Robusta is hardy and intense, while Liberica is limited to localized trade in West Africa. Starting from botanical characteristics, this article systematically sorts out the origin distribution, climate and soil requirements, the complete cultivation process from sowing to harvesting, and the grading systems that producing countries have formed based on altitude, screen size, and defect bean ratios. Whether you are new to specialty coffee or want to understand the logic of origins more deeply, this foundational knowledge will help you more clearly judge the variety and terroir code behind the flavor in your cup. Front Street Coffee will also combine the key points in this article to recommend directions for your everyday purchases. [more…]

When evaluating whether a cup of coffee is good, Front Street believes that in addition to its flavor evaluation, we should also pay attention to its mouthfeel. Flavor mainly "serves" our sense of taste and smell, while mouthfeel "serves" our sense of touch. This texture is actually what we call the coffee's Body. When evaluating a cup of coffee's Body [more…]

Professional barista exchange, please follow Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee). Many friends have asked Front Street's baristas: "Can you really taste so many flavors in the beans? How do you taste them?" First, this is about personal sensory perception. As everyone grows up, [more…]

For more specialty coffee knowledge, please follow: Front Street Coffee (Frontsteet Coffee). Cold brew coffee is so popular for one reason: whether in a coffee shop or at home, its brewing method is extremely simple. Another reason is the flavor that cold brew coffee delivers, which has not only won over many coffee connoisseurs [more…]

Without adding sugar or milk, how to hand-brew a delicious and distinctive cup of coffee is a difficult challenge for many enthusiasts just starting out in coffee. Pour too much water and the coffee will be weak; pour too little and it will be very strong and harsh on the throat. Therefore, you must pay attention to the coffee-to-water ratio. So exactly how much water should be used to brew a cup of coffee? The coffee-to-water ratio is probably what every [more…]