Friends who are just starting to explore pour-over coffee are often puzzled: which bean should I choose? Faced with different regions, varieties, processing methods, and roast levels, how do you find the flavor that suits you? This article systematically sorts through representative coffee beans from classic regions such as Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Yunnan, China, including Front Street Yirgacheffe, Kenya Asaliya, Brazil Queen Estate, PWN Golden Mandheling, Hacienda La Esmeralda Geisha, and Front Street 2013 Yunnan Typica, and also shares key pour-over details such as water quality, grind size, coffee-to-water ratio, and dripper selection, helping coffee lovers build their own flavor memory library. [more…]

Yunnan, as the core coffee-growing region in China, nurtures small-bean coffee that is rich but not bitter, aromatic but not harsh, with a slight fruity note, thanks to its low latitude, high altitude, and abundant rainfall. The most common variety on the market is Catimor, but a small amount of Typica is still grown—for example, Front Street Coffee's estate in Lincang cultivates Typica. This article systematically reviews the variety classification, morphological characteristics, main producing regions, processing methods, and brewing parameters of Yunnan coffee, and includes flavor descriptions of Front Street Coffee's washed Yunnan small-bean, natural Catimor, and 2013 natural Typica, helping enthusiasts gain a comprehensive understanding of Yunnan coffee's past and present. [more…]

Many people know that coffee generally falls into two taste categories: sour and bitter. However, some coffee enthusiasts seek a balanced flavor—neither sour nor astringent, sweet but not bitter. With this in mind, today Front Street Coffee brings a few selected coffee beans for everyone to choose from based on their preferences~ 1. Balanced flavor: Front Street Coffee Bird of Paradise [more…]

For more specialty coffee knowledge, please follow: Front Street Coffee (Frontsteet Coffee). The world's three major beverages are cocoa, tea, and coffee. Among them, coffee was only introduced to China just over a hundred years ago, but it is only in recent years that coffee's development in China has grown increasingly massive, and the number of coffee drinkers has [more…]

Geisha, hailed as the most legendary coffee variety of the 21st century, has become an undisputed star in the specialty coffee world thanks to its stunning cupping performance and ever-rising auction prices. But where exactly did Geisha come from? Is it the same bean as Huakui? How do you distinguish between the Red Label, Green Label, and Volcanic Rock lots from Panama's Hacienda La Esmeralda? How does the product line from Gesha Village in Ethiopia differ? This article, led by Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee), will systematically trace Geisha's rise to fame, its varietal characteristics, and its flavor expression across different producing regions, along with practical brewing suggestions to help coffee lovers gain a comprehensive understanding of this legendary variety. [more…]

When it comes to SOE coffee beans, we should start with the actual taste in the cup. For everyday bean purchases, you need to consider how quickly you'll drink them, how much to buy at once, and whether you mainly make black coffee or milk coffee at home. The roast level of the coffee beans determines the basic taste, the origin and processing method bring differences in aroma, and the equipment you use will change the concentration, so when choosing beans you need to take all these factors into account. [more…]

To understand making milk coffee with SOE beans, you need to translate flavor descriptions into sensations you can actually taste. When buying beans day to day, consider how quickly you'll drink them, how much to buy at once, and whether you mainly make black coffee or milk coffee at home. Floral notes, fruity acidity, nuts, and cocoa aren't a ranking of better or worse—they're just different directions, and only the category that suits you is the right one. [more…]

When it comes to the acidity of SOE Americano, first consider how you plan to drink it every day. For everyday bean purchases, you need to think about how quickly you'll go through them, how much to buy at a time, and whether you mainly make black coffee or milk coffee at home. If you mostly drink black coffee, you can pay more attention to aroma and aftertaste; if you often add milk, you need to consider whether the strength and body can hold up. [more…]

Since the fifteenth century, coffee has served as a common beverage and a pick-me-up tonic. It was not until the rise of the third wave of specialty coffee that roasters began to favor lighter roast profiles, and the distinctive acidity and aroma in coffee won over one group of coffee drinkers after another. Many who have just come to appreciate [more…]

When it comes to coffee beans with a balanced sweet-and-sour profile, start by thinking about how you'll drink them every day. For everyday bean purchases, you need to consider how quickly you'll go through them, how much to buy at a time, and whether you'll mainly make black coffee or milk coffee at home. If you mostly drink black coffee, you can pay more attention to aroma and aftertaste; if you often add milk, then consider whether the intensity and body can hold up. [more…]

For more specialty coffee knowledge, please follow our WeChat official account: FrontStreet Coffee. Everyone's perception of and preference for coffee flavors is different. Some friends think of coffee as that rich, aromatic bitter drink, while others love sour coffee, and still others [more…]

The moka pot isn't only for blend beans—using single-origin estate beans for moka pot extraction lets you experience another side of regional flavors in espresso form. Flavors that are soft and bright in pour-over become more concentrated and thicker under the moka pot's pressure extraction, making them even more recognizable. Central and South American estate beans perform smoothly in the moka pot [more…]

Using a moka pot to brew estate-grade single-origin beans strikes many people as a waste of good coffee: shouldn't good beans be used for pour-over? But if you look at it from another angle, the moka pot is a very low-barrier high-concentration extraction device for home use, and expressing estate beans in a different way often reveals a side you can't see in pour-over. This round of experiments is about taking a few [more…]

The acidity in coffee beans does not refer to pH value, but is one of the basic taste characteristics that, together with body, aroma, sweetness, bitterness, and aftertaste, make up the overall flavor. Acidity is generally related to the roast level of the coffee beans and is also somewhat connected to the flavor of their growing region. Many people do not accept coffee that is too acidic because they find the taste too harsh. So [more…]

Most of China's coffee is produced in Yunnan Province, which borders coffee-rich countries such as Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam. Front Street has previously covered the history of Yunnan coffee, but let's go over it again here to help refresh everyone's memory. In 1904, a French missionary named Tian Denerg introduced some plants to Yunnan, hoping to drink a [more…]

Pour-over enthusiasts who are used to drinking beans from popular regions like Ethiopia, Kenya, and Colombia sometimes want to change things up. In fact, there are some lesser-mentioned regions whose flavors are just as distinctive, and whose prices are relatively friendly—worth setting aside a spot for and trying slowly. Bolivia is a high-altitude origin that has gradually gained attention in recent years [more…]

Domestic Yunnan coffee has become one of the topics we frequently discuss, especially regarding the quality and taste of Yunnan coffee. If you are not familiar with Yunnan coffee, you might want to start with Front Street Yunnan Arabica coffee beans, which best represent the flavor of the Yunnan growing region. It has a nutty aroma and a herbal, chocolate taste on the palate, [more…]

In today's society, everything has to be high-end—whether it's food or drink, as long as you add the word "specialty," its value instantly skyrockets. But whether it's truly worth it depends on individual choice. As one of the world's three major beverages, coffee has its own unique history and culture, and likewise across the globe [more…]

The emergence of drip bag coffee is undoubtedly a boon for enthusiasts who love specialty coffee but don't want to buy all the equipment needed for pour-over brewing. Many people have questioned the rise of drip bag coffee, saying it's not professional. Front Street Coffee believes there's no need to belittle drip bag coffee this way—after all, for a delicacy to enter the mainstream, [more…]

Many friends have messaged Front Street privately, asking Front Street to introduce some representative good coffee beans. Front Street thought about it, and the most representative coffees are the more distinctive coffee beans from each major producing region. For this reason, Front Street has recommended 10 coffee beans from different producing countries. 1. Front Street Coffee (FrontSt [more…]