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I believe many friends who have drunk coffee may not necessarily understand or even have heard ofSOE coffee, but seasoned coffee connoisseurs definitely know SOE coffee. Does mentioningSOE coffeeleave friends who are new to coffee or even new to espresso rather unfamiliar? Still, SOE sounds like it's quite premium.

If you haven't heard of or don't understand this kind of coffee, there's really no need to feel like you must try it, because SOE coffee is simply espresso—or even milk coffee—made using single-origin coffee beans as the raw material. Put that way, it doesn't seem particularly noble, but SOE still has its characteristics, such as a relatively high price... just kidding. SOE isn't complicated, but it can highlight regional flavors, and you can also learn about the historical background behind this kind of coffee.

　　What isSOE coffee

　　SOE coffeeis an English abbreviation, with the full name "Single Origin Espresso," meaning single-origin espresso, or more simply, single-origin espresso. The characteristic of this coffee is that it can showcase the flavor diversity of different regions. To put it simply, if you want to drink something acidic, it's recommended to use single-origin coffee beans like Front Street Yirgacheffe to make it; while friends who want a rich mouthfeel can choose Front Street Mandheling single-origin coffee beans to make it. This is SOE coffee.

Compared with traditional blends, SOE can better highlight the flavor of a certain country or a certain coffee-producing region—this is the characteristic of SOE. SOE is already a very mature system abroad, because it has been popular overseas for over a decade, and the SOE coffee culture in China was also introduced from abroad. However, since China's coffee culture is not as mature as that abroad, coffee in China is still a niche culture. Therefore, unless someone is a seasoned coffee fan, most coffee friends don't know the meaning of SOE, and when entering a café they won't directly ask whether they want SOE.

　　The advantages of SOE coffee are obvious: it can highlight regional flavors. Its drawbacks are equally obvious: besides a relatively high price, there is also a lot of uncertainty. First of all, SOE coffee is a seasonal product. Because coffee is an agricultural product, and the climate changes differently every day, when a batch of this coffee made into SOE can make you feel amazed, the next batch made into SOE may not necessarily give you that same experience. Moreover, SOE is a human choice, and if a café uses micro-lot coffee beans to make SOE, then the output is even smaller.

　　So why drink SOE? In a 2007 WBC (World Barista Championship) competition, that year's champion won using SOE, which seems to show that judges around the world recognized the strength of SOE. Because of this move, SOE caused a sensation worldwide, and for a long time afterward SOE received unprecedented attention. The biggest drawback of SOE is what was mentioned above: it cannot guarantee the flavor performance of every batch of coffee beans, so the coffee flavor of each batch varies greatly, and therefore the flavor of every cup of SOE coffee is unique.

　　The difference between SOE coffee beans and single-origin beans

　　So here comes the question: since SOE is made using single-origin coffee beans, what is the difference between SOE coffee beans and ordinary single-origin coffee beans?

　　1. Roast level:The roast level must be set according to the brewing method. Light, medium, and dark roasts each present different flavors, and the roast level used for pour-over and for espresso-based preparation is different. This is because making SOE not only needs to highlight the flavor characteristics of the producing region, but also needs a certain amount of crema to support the presentation of flavor. Because the crema of espresso is the source of the coffee's flavor—that is, the aroma you smell—while the coffee liquid beneath the crema is what the palate feels. Therefore, if you simply use ordinary single-origin beans to make SOE, you'll find that the crema is very thin and dissipates quickly. SOE made with Yirgacheffe tastes sharply sour, because Yirgacheffe is originally light-roasted. Using single-origin beans of this roast level to make SOE is very likely to cause splattering (channeling), and it will only be very hard to drink.

　　2. Extraction method:This is linked to roast level. The brewing equipment to be used must be considered before the roast degree can be set, and extraction is also related to differences in solubility. The solubility of pour-over is lower than that of espresso, and next is flavor presentation. Light-roasted coffee beans made into espresso will definitely be so sour that it's hard to drink, while pour-over indeed has fruity acidity and sugar-like sweetness. SOE's controllability is relatively poor; to make a good cup of SOE based on the stability of the machine, you clearly need an extremely stable espresso machine.

　　Just like Front Street's Warm Sun blend, when this dual-use coffee bean was blended at the time, an unchanged roasting method was used and it was directly made at the original roast level. As a result, the crema was very thin, stability was very poor, and it was sour and astringent, hard to drink. The above is today's content, so next let's use Front Street coffee to make a comparison between SOE and single-origin.

　　Taking Ethiopia Red Cherry natural as an example

　　Region: Yirgacheffe

　　Altitude: 2000 meters

　　Variety: Heirloom

　　Processing method: Natural

　　Roast level: Light roast

　　SOE parameters

　　Coffee dose: 20g  Coffee liquid yield: 40g Extraction time: 30–33 seconds Grind setting: Q18, 1.8 marks

　　SOE coffee flavor description:Medium acidity, medium-low bitterness, medium-low sweetness, syrupy mouthfeel, berry juice flavor, slightly noticeable tea-like quality, long finish; poor crema stability, fast dissipation.

　　Pour-over parameters

　　Water temperature:91°C  Coffee-to-water ratio 1:15 Dripper: V60 Grind: fine granulated sugar / 80% pass rate with No. 20 sieve  Pulse pouring

　　Brewing:Bloom with 30g of water for 30s, pour in a small stream in circles up to 115g for the first pulse, then pour in three circular pulses up to 225g and stop pouring. Extraction time 2:00

　　Flavor description:Tropical fruit, strawberry, berry, honey

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.