When you bring a De'Longhi coffee machine home, many people run into the same bean-selection dilemma: everyday beans are about consistency, something you can drink daily without guilt; adventure beans are about variety, a change of pace for the weekend. Rather than going back and forth between these two demands, it's better to split the line outright, pairing each with its own beans so both weekdays and weekends can be enjoyed comfortably—this dual-track approach is worth [more…]

Home espresso enthusiasts all reach a point: once you've settled into a comfortable daily blend, you start wanting to see farther horizons. This article lays out a progressive bean list route, with nine beans arranged by style progression, each step having a clear flavor goal. The starting station is the depth of blends. Commercial blends and specialty blends solve the "easy everyday drinking" [more…]

The coffee beans used for mainstream espresso in today's coffee shops are essentially of two types: blends or single-origin espresso SOE. So, what is the difference between these two types of coffee beans when made into espresso? Let's first talk about traditional Italian espresso, which is what we usually call Espresso, referring to a type with a strong taste. [more…]

Recently, a fan of Front Street Coffee has fallen in love with brewing coffee using a moka pot, especially enjoying a strong cup from the moka pot in the morning. However, this fan is unsure whether their method of using the moka pot is correct, so they approached Front Street Coffee to discuss this issue. Front Street Coffee believes that as a standard household coffee device, the moka pot should not have too many rigid standards. [more…]

A milk coffee is made up of nothing but espresso and milk, so choosing the right coffee beans and milk is crucial. Not only do different ingredients create differences in flavor, but different ratios also affect the final strength of the coffee. As for what milk is suitable for a latte, let's start with milk—it makes up at least three-quarters of a latte. [more…]

The biggest characteristic of espresso is its rich and mellow flavor. Even after adding milk/water, the coffee taste remains prominent. Additionally, because espresso machines use a pressurized extraction method with a short extraction time, freshly roasted medium-dark roast blended coffee beans are preferred. These not only provide ample crema but also bring rich roasted aromas to the espresso, thereby [more…]

The same coffee, prepared differently, can show a big difference in flavor. For example, the same medium-dark roasted Indonesian Mandheling coffee, when used for pour-over, shows a mellow but not harsh mouthfeel, with notes of caramel, herbs, and spices; while when extracted as espresso with a coffee machine, it has a rich layer of crema, not [more…]

For home espresso making, determining the freshness and flavor preferences of blended coffee beans is most crucial. Espresso blends are also called mixed coffee; simply put, they are coffees made by a barista professionally blending different coffee beans together to achieve a specific flavor. The more traditional blending goals are nothing more than achieving a flavor better than [more…]

Since it is a blend, it naturally refers to a combination of coffee beans from two or more origins, but coffee beans of the same type roasted to different degrees can also be blended together. Therefore, the "types" referred to in blending are no longer a narrow combination of varieties, but broadly extend to coffee flavors. When blending, 2 to 6 types of coffee are generally used. [more…]

We rarely drink espresso on its own, but the Americanos and various milk coffees we enjoy all come back to espresso. Baristas also know well that the quality of espresso, good or bad, directly affects the espresso-based drinks we consume, and determines whether a cup of espresso [more…]

The origin of the green beans and the roast level of the beans will affect the flavor of a coffee. Although single-origin coffees have their own various pleasures, creating new tastes by blending coffee beans with different flavors is another kind of enjoyment. 01 What is [ Espresso ] Espresso is also called Es [more…]

Espresso is mostly made with blended beans, because espresso made from typical single-origin coffee beans may taste less mellow and have a sharp acidity—even with milk or sugar added, it will still taste sour. In addition, because coffee beans are an agricultural product, they will more or less vary from year to year, so the coffee produced [more…]

I believe many people's first encounter with coffee begins with espresso-based drinks, such as lattes made with espresso and milk, or Americanos made with espresso and water, which are deeply loved by people. Many are curious: is it necessary to use dark-roasted beans to make espresso, and if making espresso at home [more…]

For home coffee machines, it is generally recommended to use coffee beans, because only freshly ground and freshly brewed coffee can deliver the best aroma, while also giving you a richer crema. Nowadays there are many coffee bean brands, and with each brand offering countless different varieties, where can you buy cheap, generous, and great-tasting coffee beans for home use? Home coffee [more…]

The AeroPress is a coffee brewing device born out of a desire for simplicity, created by an inventor weary of cumbersome brewing routines. By combining immersion, stirring, and pressing, it allows users to obtain a rich, flavorful single-origin coffee in a very short操作 time. The AeroPress is highly versatile: it can be used with the officially recommended upright (standard) method, or with the inverted method by flipping the chamber, and by adjusting grind size, water temperature, coffee-to-water ratio, and stirring time, a wide variety of brewing recipes can be developed. Interestingly, although the official recommendation is the upright method, most enthusiasts prefer the inverted method. Front Street Coffee will explain in this article what upright and inverted mean, and discuss why the inverted method is more popular. [more…]

Moving from an entry-level De'Longhi to a mid-to-high-end model is a rite of passage for many home users. After the upgrade, grinding is finer and more controllable, extraction temperature is more stable, and in theory the ceiling for what you can produce is higher. But if you're still stuck with the commercial blend you grabbed on a whim back then, the new machine's capabilities go to waste. Upgrading is exactly the moment to re [more…]

Treating a De'Longhi as a window rather than an appliance — this is the shift in mindset many veteran home coffee enthusiasts have adopted. With the same machine, rotating through beans by origin is like bringing a world coffee map into your kitchen. This article documents a set of origin rotation bean selections that have been tested and proven on a De'Longhi. The starting point for the rotation is Brazil. The reason is very [more…]

Because espresso has a very strong flavor, many people add granulated sugar or milk to balance its bitterness, which in turn sparked the trend of using espresso as a base. Fancy espresso drinks are blended with syrups, cream, spices, and various other flavorings to create a coffee taste with diverse and layered flavors, such as con panna and macchiato. [more…]

Another meaning of specialty coffee is single-origin coffee, which refers to coffee beans from the same region that have distinct regional characteristics—for example, Ethiopian coffee has floral and fruity notes, Colombian coffee has chocolate notes, and Indonesian coffee has herbal notes… This is the influence of terroir. So when drinking pour-over coffee, one tends to choose beans from a single [more…]

Whether you're just getting ready to set up a semi-automatic espresso machine at home or preparing to open a small coffee shop, choosing beans is an unavoidable step. Dark-roast blends are stable, tasty, and highly versatile—almost a safe bet for espresso-based drinks. Today we're going to talk about three blends from Front Street Coffee that are very suitable for cafés and home use. [more…]