A proper espresso will have a delicate golden-brown foam floating on its surface, which Italians call Crema. It is the hallmark of espresso, yet it is often mistaken as the sole criterion for judging whether a coffee is good or bad. What exactly this layer of foam is and how it forms are worth discussing carefully. What is Crema? [more…]

As a globally popular beverage, coffee packaging must not only prevent the escape of aroma and moisture absorption, but also address oxidation, odor adsorption, and quality deterioration caused by high temperatures. This article focuses on the packaging needs of regular coffee and instant coffee, systematically outlining key technical requirements such as oxidation prevention, moisture resistance, gas barrier properties, and high-temperature protection, and introduces current mainstream vacuum packaging and gas-flushing packaging processes. In terms of material selection, bags, bag-in-box, metal cans, and glass jars each have corresponding composite structure solutions, while instant coffee mostly uses paper/aluminum foil/polyethylene flexible packaging. The article concludes with a summary of common packaging forms such as bags, cans, and boxes, suitable for reference by coffee enthusiasts and industry professionals. [more…]

Latte art is a romantic expression of a barista's skill, with white milk foam blooming into heart or leaf patterns on the surface of dark brown espresso. Latte art is divided into two types: free-pour latte art and etched latte art created after pouring. The wonder of the former lies in the pattern forming simultaneously with the pour, while the latter offers a wider range of designs because the stable foam allows for leisurely drawing. From a physics perspective, the core of latte art lies in surfactants—molecules that possess both hydrophilic and hydrophobic groups, capable of stabilizing the interface between air and liquid to form lasting foam. Milk proteins and coffee lipids act together as surfactants, enabling the two micron-scale foams to remain clearly separated for a long time after mixing, thereby allowing the pattern to persist. This article will guide you from the basic principles of surfactants to understand espresso's crema, the formation of hot milk foam, and why foam mixing rather than liquid mixing is the key to successful latte art, while also revealing the widespread applications of surfactants in daily life and industry. [more…]

Today Front Street Coffee is here to share a new basic latte art pattern—the "leaf"! This time, the method for this leaf pattern is almost identical to the layered heart: both are formed by swinging the milk pitcher at a steady speed to create regular, symmetrical lines. If you've already mastered the layered heart, then the leaf is as good as in the bag too. Leaf. [more…]

Coffee is more than just a beverage, and a café is more than just a place to drink coffee. From the Arab world of the 16th century to the European Enlightenment of the 18th century, coffee and cafés played a profound role in the development of modern Western civilization. Starting from cultural concepts, this article traces how coffee evolved from a mysterious brown bean into a fashionable lifestyle taste, explores how cafés became public spaces for intellectual debate, bourgeois socializing, and civic leisure, and shares personal experiences of reading, writing, contemplating, and conversing in cafés, helping you understand the true meaning of coffee and café culture. [more…]

For more specialty coffee knowledge, please follow our WeChat official account: Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee). Dirty Coffee, with its rather playful name, is a unique coffee style; visually, the coffee looks as if it has tainted the white fresh milk, and the blend of hot and cold brings a distinctive layer. [more…]

To make latte art look good, choosing the right milk is very important! Front Street Coffee's daily in-store milk coffee offerings all use full-fat fresh milk, because it is rich in protein, lactose, and milk fat. The protein in milk is what makes the milk foam stable. [more…]

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account cafe_style). For more specialty coffee beans, please add private WeChat Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee), WeChat ID: qjcoffeex. Coffee latte art is coffee [more…]

For more specialty coffee knowledge, please follow our WeChat official account: Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee). To make beautiful latte art, choosing the right milk is very important! Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) uses this for its daily milk coffee offerings: [more…]

Dirty coffee is espresso extracted over iced milk, creating a beautiful layered look. As time passes, the coffee liquid on top slowly encroaches on the pristine white milk, forming a lovely gradient inside the transparent glass, as if the pure white milk has been dirtied. Put simply, a Dirty coffee is a visually striking drink that [more…]

Whether we go to Luckin Coffee or Starbucks, or an independent café, we always see coffee with the word "white" on the espresso menu. Everyone calls this coffee differently: Luckin calls it Aoruibai, Starbucks calls it Furuibai, and independent cafés call it Australian White Coffee. These are actually all the same espresso- [more…]

A deep understanding of the essence of crema will be of great help to baristas in making a delicious espresso. Today, the instructor of the Chongqing Barista Coffee Training Course will give you a detailed analysis of crema to help you understand espresso and improve your coffee-making skills. In searching for a cup that is not bitter and has excellent flavor, a rich [more…]

When making espresso, the golden-brown foam on the surface of the cup directly affects both the visual appeal and the mouthfeel on entry. If you want a pronounced, rich crema, you can start by judging the roast level: the darker the color, the easier it usually is to form a thick foam and a full-bodied mouthfeel; lighter-colored beans, on the other hand, emphasize floral and fruity aromas, sweetness, acidity, and clarity. Neither direction is superior to the other, [more…]

In the Arabica variety lineage, Bourbon is one of the two great ancient foundational varieties, alongside Typica. It emerged from the ancient forests of Yemen, crossed the seas to settle on Réunion Island, and then spread to Brazil, Central America, and East Africa, evolving along the way into a series of differently colored branches such as Red, Yellow, and Pink. For enthusiasts, getting to know [more…]

Latte art almost always uses espresso as its base, and when brewing espresso, there are actually tricks to make it more suitable for latte art. So, which kind of coffee beans is more suitable for latte art? Front Street Coffee is here today to give the answer. Recommendations for choosing latte art coffee beans. To make perfect latte art, we first [more…]

Latte art in espresso coffee is the best expression of the fusion between hot milk and coffee liquid. At Front Street Coffee, when making milk coffee, there are always customers who request latte art. In latte art, steaming milk is crucial—only by creating smooth, silky milk foam can the flavor of milk coffee be fully expressed. [more…]

Front Street Coffee has previously shared detailed knowledge about steaming milk foam. However, recently a friend sent some videos of steaming milk foam and asked Front Street Coffee for some advice. These problems happen to be quite common among beginners steaming milk foam, so we'll specifically discuss a few points to pay attention to when steaming milk foam. First category, after steaming. [more…]

“Why can't my latte produce a beautiful pattern? Why is it that when others casually wiggle the milk pitcher, they can make a heart or leaf with lines! But when I wiggle, it always just looks like a blob… Is there something wrong with my hands?” No! Maybe it's your pitcher-holding posture that's wrong~ What is the principle behind latte art? Why can wiggling produce a pattern? Espresso [more…]

Customer: "Boss, I'd like a coffee with some nice latte art!" Front Street: Okay, would you like a latte, a flat white, or a cappuccino? Customer: "An americano!" Front Street: ... Latte art, to be precise, should be called "Latte Art," which translates to "latte art" (milk art). [more…]

Many novice friends often have some questions after drinking the coffee they brewed themselves. Clearly, the beans, parameters, and brewing methods they used were exactly the same as those in the café, so why can't they brew coffee as delicious as the coffee shop's? So, a friend came to the Front Street Coffee store with this question, and as a result, discovered that the problem [more…]