What is the meaning of single coffee in different times? what is the charm of single coffee?

Professional barista communication, please pay attention to coffee workshop (Weixin Official Accounts cafe_style)

The word "single-serve coffee" has different meanings in different times.

In the old days, single-serve coffee was synonymous with black coffee.

Black Coffee: Just coffee, no milk, sugar, syrup, etc. This is the interpretation of "vegetarian coffee" in Cantonese and "clear coffee" in the mouth of Shanghai noble women.

Perhaps because the coffee of the old era, without added sugar milk, is difficult to swallow after all, so that the definition of single-item coffee has been extended some later, when it is produced, it is still a cup of black coffee, with sugar milk for guests to add by themselves.

In this era, flannel filtration is more common, coffee is just coffee, it is difficult to find out where it comes from.

"In the middle of the era", single-item coffee began to emphasize "quality", not necessarily "single".

At this stage of the menu, American coffee belongs to the Italian coffee category, single coffee is another category. American coffee is priced lower than single.

Colombia, Brazil, Mantinen, Mamba, Blue Mountain (Blue Mountain flavor) and Siphon Pot are the signature products of this era.

Some people say that the consensus in the industry at that time was that Italian coffee was made with blended beans, and coffee made with blended beans could not be called "single product" of course. However, at that time,"Mamba","Gobba" and even "Gobamba" were so popular that they were classified as single items. Therefore, I am afraid that the above reasons cannot be established.

Do you think that Italian coffee has a distinct fast-food temperament and cannot be associated with "taste", so whether it is price or classification, it must be distinguished from manual slow-motion?

At this point, the author has a bold guess that Italian coffee blends often add Robusta beans, so subconsciously, practitioners will distinguish them from single-serve coffee, after all, the Arabica beans used to make single-serve coffee must be more superior.

In the new era, single-item coffee is clearer and more precise.

Different from the system beans, producing beans, and fight with beans relative. Focus on local flavor.

The current "single item" is the largest range of single estates or cooperatives. Some large estates were divided into lots, which in turn gave rise to single lots, even microlots, and so on. Encouraged by various green bean competitions and policies, coffee farmers go to great lengths to plant and process like groups of independent experiments.

In this way, there is a bit of shirtless fighting between various "single items". It not only emphasizes the meaning of "single", but also has more pertinence. Geology, year climate, varieties, planting methods, treatment methods, can be compared and discussed.

At this point, single-source coffee, English called "Single Origin"(free translation: single source) is more flesh and blood. It refers to roughly uniform and single treatment of planting environment and method.

Some people have translated "Single Origin" into "Single Production Area", which is too wide and inappropriate. After all, the size of many production areas is consistent with the administrative areas at the provincial level.

Some people have suggested that many estates still grow multiple varieties, such as Panama's flower butterfly, which consists of three varieties: rose summer, kadura and kaduai. Can it be regarded as a single product?

It is reasonable to consider a single product as a "single variety", but such a definition may be a bit harsh. For example, Ethiopia's beans, as the birthplace of coffee, are rich in genes and difficult to distinguish varieties one by one, so they are labeled as native species, while native species are hybrid species.

The author believes that it is sufficient to interpret a single item as a "single source", and that the area range, altitude range, particle size, harvest period, treatment method, etc. will not affect the "consistency"(the definition of consistency in the cup test table). The scope is too narrow, it seems a little bit boring.

From my experience in buying raw beans, bourbon seeds, rose summer seeds, iron pickup seeds, pacamara seeds, laboratory varieties, etc. will mostly be planted singly. Cultivated varieties and geographical conditions have a great relationship, more is the impact of altitude. And we often see mixed varieties planted, there will be some more fixed combinations.

(1) Kadura, Kaduai (Honduras, Panama and other Central American countries)

(2) Castillo, Cadura, Carduai (common in Colombia)

SL28, SL39 (Kenya)

(4) Pacas, Bourbon (El Salvador)

The meaning of mixed planting, some for the unique flavor, the common mixed planting of participating estates; some for planting ecology, tall trees for dwarf trees shade, etc.

Single-item coffee is not limited to production methods. Foreigners are very straightforward to derive the following series of nouns for Single Origin+ production methods (appliances).

Single Origin Espresso (SOE)

Single Origin AeroPress

Single Origin Pour-over / Single Origin V60 /Single Origin Chemex

……

Of course, they prefer to divide it simply into Single Origin Espresso and Single Origin Filter.