What is S.O.E? How should Single Origin play?

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Single Origin (S.O) is very popular now. When you go to boutique cafes, there are often S.O.Espresso or S.O cappuccino on menu.

So, what exactly does Single Origin mean? What's so special about it? How on earth should I play? Let's take a good look at it today.

one

The significance of Single Origin

The Chinese translation of Single Origin is a single producing area: in the process of brewing coffee, only coffee beans from the same producing area are used for brewing.

This idea is relative to Blend blending beans: coffee is brewed with a mixture of beans from multiple producing areas during coffee brewing.

But people who drink coffee more often will ask: isn't the single coffee sold in cafes a single producing area? What's so special about that? Why should special emphasis be placed on S.O?

The answer is indeed, most of the siphon, hand flush, Philharmonic pressure are using Single Origin beans, the use of matching beans are relatively few.

Therefore, the current discussion of Single Origin is mainly aimed at the brewing method of Italian coffee machine, that is, Single Origin Espresso: espresso in a single producing area.

No matter which method of brewing, as long as the coffee bean is a single producing area, it conforms to the definition of Single Origin.

two

Single Origin Espresso

Generally speaking, the espresso of coffee shops use more blended beans for many reasons, but the core point is: cooperate with dairy products, suitable for long-term supply, and make their own characteristics.

However, with the enhancement of baking technology, bar technology, the quality of raw beans and, most importantly, the taste of guests, using single-region beans to make espresso and fancy coffee has become a great choice.

As the domestic concept of individual coffee has been initially established, Single Origin mainly focuses on espresso

three

Unlimited choice and diverse flavor

In the past, most of the Blend mixed beans in a store would not be too much, at most 3.4, and only one of them might be used for fancy style that day, so consumers had relatively few choices.

If you use S.O Espresso, you can greatly increase the possibility of Espresso, and the tonality of each Espresso will be completely different, some super fruit, some strong flowers, and even the whole cup is full of chocolate. Etc., for consumers who love Espresso, it is a very enjoyable thing.

Imagine making an espresso drink with a super high-quality 90 + Panama perci. It's like injecting a whole cup of floral essence into the body, which is comparable to taking drugs (smirk. Jpg)

At present, many high-quality single-producing area manor beans can be bought in China, which can be made into S.O Espresso. It is conceivable that a large number of different flavors of espresso and cappuccino were born, which is a very fresh choice for gluttons. after all, drinking a variety of different flavors is the core of boutique coffee.

But of course this is the ideal state of Single Origin Espresso, but there are actually many technical problems to overcome!

Behind a new S.O espresso, there are countless variable adjustments and baristas' interpretation of flavor.

Dreamy Single Origin Espresso can make unlimited variety of flavors, but this ideal is limited to players who play by themselves (there is no quality requirement for their own drinking), and there are a lot of technical difficulties for stores that are really in operation.

And to overcome these difficulties in front of you and the perfect performance of S.O espresso/cappuccino is very commendable, the super test of bakers, baristas ideas and skills ah.

So, how should Single Origin play?

Adjustment 1: Single Origin baking degree adjustment

After being boiled at high temperature and high pressure in an Italian coffee machine, the various flavors of coffee beans are concentrated and magnified into espresso, and the whole cup may be so sour that it makes the scalp numb or bitter to vomit blood.

Especially the coffee beans with low roasting degree, which have strong sour taste and low body, are not so suitable for espresso machine environment, so the roasting degree must be changed.

Generally speaking, the baking degree is slightly higher than that of normal siphon and manual baking. When the sweetness is increased and body is thickened, the entrance espresso has a better sense of balance.

And this tests the bean baker's delicate mastery. After all, if you bake too deep and lose the flavor that Single Origin wants to show, you will put the cart before the horse.

Of course, you can also follow the original low baking degree of hard drying, the bad flavor must be corrected from the variable of the Italian press.

In order to balance the flavor of S.O Espresso and taste well, the bean baker must adjust the baking degree to Italian extraction.

Adjustment 2: Single Origin Espresso variable adjustment

To determine the baking degree means that you have set the flavor you want to show, but you have to go through the test of the espresso machine.

The variables (pressure, ratio of powder to water, temperature, degree of grinding) required for cooking espresso with different baking degrees and densities of beans. (etc.) are different, and must be very accurate, otherwise even if you use God beans, the extracted espresso will still be very miserable, absolutely not with the same variables, beans can be changed for that simple.

So you can imagine that before sending a responsible Single Origin Espresso to the table, the barista has to adjust all the variables N times until the ideal S.O espresso is extracted, and even adjust the pressure, grinding degree, etc., which is a huge and brain-consuming project.

Therefore, there are usually more S.O espresso in a store between 2 and 3, and it may take a long time to change. The main reason is that it is troublesome to adjust the variables of a cup of S.O espresso.

The grinding degree of different S.O Espresso is also different, so you need two bean grinders to come up with two flavors, otherwise it will be troublesome to keep grinding.

Adjustment 3: from S.O Espresso to S.O cappuccino

Espresso is the basis of fancy coffee, such as cappuccino, latte, macchiato, mocha … Each has its own proportion of deployment. If you use Single Origin Espresso, it will not be compatible with dairy products and other raw materials, which is a big question.

For example, the S.O Espresso made of medium-baked Kenya AA must be extremely sour, and the body is not enough. Making cappuccino may be too sour and the concentration is not enough, so you may not be able to produce the cup, or you may need to adjust the amount of espresso, such as 1.5 shot espresso or reduce the proportion of milk. Wait, to meet the concentration of cappuccino.

Of course, it is inconclusive whether S.O cappucino must achieve the concentration of general bean style, or even if the card is a little sour, it may not be bad to taste (Xiaobian drank fruit milk-like kabu, very powerful *), but in short, the adjustment is inevitable, or limit some types of fancy that S.O espresso can match, instead of randomly using S.O espresso to make all the styles, the possibility of not tasting will be greatly increased.

Therefore, at present, most of the fancy patterns made by S.O espresso are mainly made of card cloth, the main reason is that the card cloth can express the flavor of S.O espresso, especially with single origin. After all, the latte mainly drinks milk, so it's a pity to use single origin to make it.

Even S.O cappuccino is troublesome, adjusting the ratio of coffee to milk, adjusting the amount of milk foam, and even going back to the baking degree. Wait.

The presentation of S.O cappuccino is a test of the matching of flavor and milk in the producing area.

Adjustment 4: consumers' perception of S.O.

As a boutique coffee shop, it still bears the responsibility of educating consumers, so if we can accurately communicate with consumers about the performance of our products, we can meet consumers' expectations.

For example, as mentioned above: the sour cappuccino is great, but it is completely different from the general cappuccino, which requires a little hint and guidance, otherwise it may stifle the goodness of S.O.

In addition, there is the problem of the price of S.O., S.O is usually more expensive than ordinary blend mixed beans. It is very normal for a cup of S.O cappuccino made of Rosa or 90 + to sell 50 or more. After all, the price of raw beans is several times higher than that of ordinary beans, and it does not take into account the cost of adjusting the energy of baristas for half a day, but of course, you have to communicate with consumers about the value of the expensive kabu.

Shallow baked S.O espresso may have insufficient or over-sour crema, so it is a bit troublesome to make a fancy style.

Last

S.O espresso and S.O cappucino are both fascinating concepts, and their operation is really delicious, and it also represents a boutique coffee shop's trust in a single-producing area and its insistence on flavor. Encourage people to try and talk to baristas about their ideas on flavor, which is usually interesting and you can also understand the concept of a store.

But there is no need to be overly superstitious about S.O espresso/S.O cappucino. Blending bean espresso is also one of the ways to show the power of boutique coffee shops. Each has its own advantages and skills, and the focus is on whether the final flavor is presented, whether it meets your expectations and the money you pay.