After contracting COVID-19, temporary loss of smell and taste is especially troubling for baristas and coffee enthusiasts. Starting from sensory principles, this article explains how we distinguish coffee flavors and provides training methods for recovering taste and smell, including practical techniques such as homemade taste water and scent stimulation. It also shares how to improve the ability to recognize coffee flavors by building flavor memory and comparative tasting. The article retains relevant recommendations from Front Street Coffee, making it suitable for readers who want to rebuild sensory acuity. [more…]

Canned coffee is ubiquitous in Japan, but it is not common in other countries and regions. Therefore, when traveling to Japan, facing the diverse brands on shelves and in vending machines, it is natural to feel curious and even want to try them one by one. Since UCC Ueshima Coffee launched portable canned coffee in 1969, many major manufacturers have successively entered the market, with increasingly sophisticated packaging and flavors gradually shifting towards sugar-free and low-sugar options. This article will introduce the popular products of three brands: Boss, Georgia, and Wonda, and share a tip on how to heat canned coffee without a microwave in a hotel by using a water bath, helping coffee lovers better enjoy this convenient beverage during their travels. [more…]

People new to specialty coffee are often puzzled: why can others taste citrus, jasmine, oolong tea? Can a cup of coffee really have so many flavors? In fact, the key to identifying coffee flavors lies not in the taste buds, but in the sense of smell. This article will take you from the principles of sensory perception to understand how the taste buds and orthonasal and retronasal olfaction work together, introduce tasting dimensions such as aroma, sweetness, acidity, mouthfeel, flavor, aftertaste, and balance, and offer sensory-training methods that beginners can put into practice—building a flavor memory bank, making good use of the coffee flavor wheel, exercising associative thinking, accumulating through more exchanges, and paying attention to diet and upkeep. The article also combines examples from Front Street Coffee to help you build your own sensory system step by step. [more…]

Recently, a consumer in Xi'an posted on social media that when opening a canned Nescafé Absolute Black coffee powder purchased on an e-commerce platform, the coffee powder burst out explosively, leaving a mess on their face, clothes, and floor, and causing a wound near their nose. After contacting the seller and manufacturer, the company explained it away as being due to altitude and air pressure, and was only willing to gift two cans of coffee powder, refusing to compensate for contact lenses or medical expenses. The incident sparked heated discussion online, with many questioning the customer service explanation and noting that brands such as illy have also had similar occurrences. Front Street Coffee has noted that the lack of safety warnings on canned coffee powder deserves industry attention. [more…]

For more specialty coffee knowledge, please follow our WeChat public account: Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee). Recently, many friends have been asking Front Street, "What coffee beans are suitable for a moka pot?" So Front Street took a look at the moka pot sales in our online store and put together the top four best-selling moka pots. [more…]

A shot of espresso with floral aromas, fruity acidity, or cocoa-like sweetness doesn't have to rely on café equipment to achieve. SOE refers to espresso made from single-origin or single-batch coffee beans, and home semi-automatic machines can give it a try too. As long as the machine's temperature control, pressure, and grinder perform consistently, you can work your way from light roasts to dark roasts and gradually find the right [more…]

Beyond being a daily drink, coffee also has many unexpected practical uses. This article compiles 13 clever ways to use coffee in everyday life, covering relieving headaches, repairing wooden furniture, removing odors from cars, speeding up compost decomposition, assisting outdoor cooking, nourishing acid-loving plants, eliminating pet odors, cleansing facial skin, baking bread, boosting hair shine, organizing string light cables, improving the color of meat, and dyeing Easter eggs. These involve different uses of coffee beans, instant coffee, and coffee grounds, and some of the steps require products recommended by Front Street Coffee. Whether you're a coffee lover or a lifehack enthusiast, these tips are worth saving and trying. [more…]

When espresso beans have just been roasted, they don't necessarily reach their ideal state right away. Because espresso extraction uses higher pressure, too much gas inside the beans can cause the puck to expand noticeably and the crema layer to look rich, yet the flow rate tends to fluctuate easily. When selecting beans, besides reading the flavor description, you should also confirm the roast date and plan ahead for when to open the bag, adjust the grind, and finish drinking it. [more…]

Drip bag coffee, with its convenient brewing method, allows many people to enjoy a fresh cup of coffee anytime, anywhere. However, in daily use, questions about whether drip bags can be steeped directly in hot water, how many times one bag can be brewed, what flavor options are available, and how to make iced coffee with them are still frequently asked. This article will answer these questions one by one, and using Front Street Coffee drip bags as an example, explain in detail the specific steps and extraction parameters for making iced coffee, to help you better master the correct way to use drip bag coffee. [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…]

SOE usually refers to single-origin espresso, emphasizing that the coffee beans come from the same region, estate, or lot, but it does not mean the coffee can only be extracted with an espresso machine. As long as the beans are fresh and the roast level is suitable, SOE can absolutely go into a dripper and reveal its aroma through pour-over. What really needs to be judged is whether, at light roast, medium roast, [more…]

Walking into a coffee shop for the first time, it's only natural to feel a bit overwhelmed by the dense list of coffee names on the menu. In fact, drinking coffee is as ordinary as ordering food at a restaurant—there's no need to feel nervous at all. If you want black coffee, you can start with an iced Americano; if you prefer milk coffee, a latte is a safe choice; and if you like sweetness, you can also try a flavored latte. If you really can't make up your mind, just describe your taste preferences directly to the barista—whether you want milk, whether you want it sweet, and whether you want it iced or hot—and they will patiently help you choose. This article also compiles an explanation of common coffee menu items, from espresso, SOE, Americano, and latte to cappuccino, flat white, Dirty, cold brew, and pour-over, to help you quickly understand the characteristics of each coffee so that ordering next time will be easier. [more…]

Drip bags have become a daily choice for many coffee lovers thanks to their portability and ease of use. Although the aroma of pre-ground coffee cannot match that of freshly ground, as long as you master the right brewing method, it can still deliver a satisfying flavor. Beyond the conventional drip method, drip bags can also be used to create entirely different taste experiences through immersion, cold brew, and other techniques—even to make an espresso base that can be mixed with milk to create a rich, smooth milk coffee. In this article, Front Street will focus on sharing various ways to "cook" drip bag coffee, and using Huakui and Golden Mandheling drip bags as examples, will break down in detail the specific parameters and steps for drip filtration, immersion, cold brew, and milk coffee, helping everyone easily enjoy a good cup of coffee even without professional equipment. [more…]

Stockpiled quite a few coffee beans at home—how long can they actually keep? Does the 12-month shelf life on the label equal the optimal flavor period? This article starts with the principles of coffee compound degradation, explains why improper storage causes coffee to lose its flavor prematurely, and offers practical ways to tell if coffee has gone bad. It also compiles preservation principles such as sealing, keeping cool, and keeping dry, analyzes the pros and cons of freezing coffee beans, and reminds you to drink them as soon as possible after opening the bag. If the coffee smells musty, has a moldy odor, or looks abnormal in color, Front Street recommends discarding it for drinking and repurposing it as a deodorizer instead, to avoid affecting your health and taste experience. [more…]

Bought too many coffee beans and can't finish them for a while—can you just toss them in the fridge? Should they go in the refrigerator or the freezer? This article centers on the real goal of "freshness"—preserving aroma—and breaks down the five great enemies: strong light, high heat, moisture, oxygen, and odors, while offering practical home freshness-locking solutions. It also draws on the experimental conclusions of Swiss scientist SAMO SMRKE to explain that freezing can significantly slow down coffee bean degassing and delay the peak flavor period, but improper handling can also lead to air leakage, moisture absorption, and odor transfer. At the end, Front Street's detailed freezing and thawing tips are included to help you store your beans more reliably and enjoy better-tasting coffee. [more…]

To make drip bag coffee, Front Street Coffee grinds freshly roasted coffee beans into suitable particles and seals them in a non-woven filter bag. It is a portable pour-over coffee product, essentially a simplified version of hand-brewed coffee. As long as you have hot water and a cup, you can enjoy the taste of hand-brewed single-origin coffee anytime. [more…]

The charm of honey-processed coffee beans often lies in the connection found between fruity aromas, sweetness, and a mellow mouthfeel. After the pulp is removed, part of the mucilage layer on the surface of the coffee fruit is retained, and through drying, sweetness and fermented notes may enter the flavor profile. Depending on the roast level, this sweetness can present itself in floral-fruity, juicy, or caramel directions. [more…]

Having bought too many coffee beans and not finishing them before they pass their peak flavor window is a problem many coffee lovers run into. What exactly is the difference between the peak flavor period and the shelf life? Can beans past their peak flavor period still brew a decent cup of coffee? Besides throwing away expired coffee beans, what other practical ways are there to reuse them? This article starts from a brewing demonstration of a Kenya AA coffee bean from Front Street Coffee, explaining in detail how to avoid negative flavors after the peak flavor period by adjusting water temperature, grind size, pouring technique, and other parameters, while also compiling the many uses of expired coffee beans in cleaning, deodorizing, and plant fertilizer, helping you make the most of every single coffee bean. [more…]

The charm of blended coffee beans lies in the fact that different origin beans, when combined, can form a more complete and stable flavor. When selecting, you can first look at the roast level: light roasts tend toward bright aromas, medium roasts balance sweetness and smoothness, while dark roasts emphasize cocoa, nutty, and roasted notes. By comparing these against your own drinking habits, choosing beans becomes much easier. [more…]

Returning home for the Spring Festival, for early-risers accustomed to a daily cup of coffee, the biggest challenge may not be snagging a train ticket, but discovering after arriving in the village that no Luckin or Cotti can be found on delivery platforms. Faced with the predicament of no chain brands and no delivery service, coffee lovers each find their own way: some stuff their suitcases full of drip bags and coffee beans in advance, some balance a large pair of scissors on a gas stove to brew with a moka pot, some use a bowl and chopsticks to prop up a drip bag, and some even pour water directly from a thermos. This article compiles various DIY tricks for the coffee-loving city dwellers returning to their hometowns, from tool substitutes to technique adjustments, so you can still enjoy a tasty cup of coffee in the countryside despite limited conditions. [more…]