What determines the sour and bitter of coffee? How much effect does roasting have on the flavor of coffee beans?

Whenever a customer hesitates in the face of a full blackboard bean list, the front street will ask at the right time: "do you need to recommend it? do you usually like to drink sour or bitter?"

I have met a guest who has just come into contact with coffee and asked Qianjie: "Why is the coffee sour and bitter?" what determines this? it seems that you have few choices of bitter coffee. "

In our impression, the coffee beans of Ethiopia and Kenya are sour, while those of Blue Mountain and Manning are bitter. But in fact, the sour and bitter of coffee are not limited by region, but related to the degree of roasting.

In coffee roasting, there is a technical term called "development period", which refers to the period from the beginning of an explosion to the time when the coffee flavor, acidity, aroma and alcohol thickness are formed, which determines the final flavor trend of the coffee. The shorter the time, the shallower the baking degree, the more sour the coffee flavor; in contrast, the longer the development period, the longer the caramelization reaction, the deeper the baking degree, and the more bitter the coffee trend.

But sour and bitter are only the main tone of the flavor, if only the simple sour or bitter taste of coffee is unpleasant, its real charm lies in its sweetness and aroma.

Take chestnut: Kenyan coffee beans are as popular in the consumer market as light roasting as deep roasting. The light-baked Kenya shows the acidity as bright as black plum and baby tomato, while the deep-baked Kenya shows the sweetness and bitterness of dark chocolate.

Some friends may wonder, isn't it sour coffee that is popular now? Why do coffee such as Manning and Blue Mountain still bake deep? Is it because the beans are of poor quality that they have to go to deep baking bitterness?

In the process of the spread of coffee, the roasting degree of coffee changes with the improvement of market preference, popularity, bean quality, baking equipment and technology. Boutique coffee pays attention to the origin of coffee beans and tastes the "local flavor" of beans. In order to implement this concept and reduce the effect of Maillard reaction on the taste of beans during baking, the degree of baking is mainly shallow baking that shows the sour aroma of flowers and fruits.

Although it is undeniable that deep baking can cover up the defects and characteristics of raw bean quality through more saccharification and distillation reactions, as long as it is roasted to the level of black carbon, the coffee taste is very similar, that is, an unforgettable bitterness. Just like we roast chicken wings, if we accidentally scorch the skin, it will only taste bitter.

But it is clear that whether it is Blue Mountain or Manning, the taste of these deep-baked beans is not simple bitterness, but a mellow taste and a charming experience with sweetness in bitterness. Moreover, deep baking does not solve all the quality problems of raw beans, and the feedback on the taste will make it impossible to hide. The taste of good beans will not get worse even if they are baked deep.

Coffee beans such as Blue Mountain, Manning and Kona (Hawaiian coffee beans) were famous before the rise of light-roasted coffee. Mellow, balanced and rich were the labels of these coffee, and Blue Mountain was once considered the standard "coffee flavor". In this case, maintaining the same flavor quality is exactly what these coffee beans insist on. Of course, under the tide of "boutique coffee", in some coffee shops that dare to try and innovate, you can still drink the shallow baked Blue Mountains and Manning, which show the sour aroma.

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Front Street Cafe

No. 10 Baoqian street, Yandun road, Dongshankou, Yuexiu district, Guangzhou, Guangdong province