These days, when you walk into a cafe, the dazzling array of menu items can leave plenty of people scratching their heads. Even when ordering a americano or latte - the drink you default to when you cannot think of anything else - you will always hear the barista ask: "Would you like SOE or a blend?" The first time you hear the word "SOE," are you completely baffled? In this article, FrontStreet Coffee will talk with you about what SOE coffee is.

What Is SOE Coffee?

SOE stands for Single Origin Espresso , meaning espresso made from single-origin (single-region) coffee beans. Before SOE became popular in China, almost all coffee beans used to make espresso were blended beans from multiple regions. The advantage was that it could keep the taste of every cup of espresso stable, and the cost was also cheaper than using only single-origin coffee beans.

Why Did SOE Coffee Suddenly Become So Popular?

In fact, SOE had already appeared abroad ten years ago, and it has now developed very maturely. The introduction of the SOE concept came from the 2007 World Barista Championship (WBC), when the champion James Hoffmann successfully defeated other competitors using blended beans with SOE espresso, and SOE officially attracted the attention of people from all sectors of the coffee world. At the same time, it also opened a whole new chapter for espresso. From 2007 to now, more and more baristas have chosen single-origin coffee beans with distinctive flavors as the brewing base for espresso.

It has only become popular in China in recent years, because specialty coffee culture has only been widely popularized in the past few years. As more and more consumers want coffee to have a distinctive, recognizable flavor no matter how it is made, more and more people are seeking single-origin coffee, and espresso is no exception, so more and more businesses are starting to offer SOE options.

What is the difference between espresso made from single-origin coffee and from a blend?

Fashion just goes in cycles. At first, people blended coffee beans from different origins because using beans from a single region alone, under very fine grinding and the pressurized extraction of an espresso machine, would magnify both the good and the bad flavors in the coffee. So they came up with the idea of using the unique flavors of beans from different origins to complement each other, making the extracted coffee more balanced.

As an agricultural product, the flavor of coffee beans can vary somewhat with changes in the climate and soil of each year. FrontStreet Coffee believes that the biggest advantage of blended coffee beans is that even if the flavor of beans from a new harvest season changes, adjusting the proportions can keep the espresso consistently stable in taste. Because it is stable, costs can be reduced, both for the beans themselves and for the losses involved in dialing in and brewing.

The fact that people are now willing to use single-origin coffee beans to make espresso again is down to the continuous improvement in coffee bean quality in recent years, along with the wider range of options now available. On top of that, the coffee market today is bigger than ever, and coffee bean prices are no longer as high as they once were.

Is single-origin espresso always better tasting than a blend?

Not necessarily. If you want to use single-origin coffee beans to make espresso, it is a real test of the quality of the coffee beans, the skill of the roaster, and the barista's understanding of the beans - none of these can be missing.

And not all single-origin coffee beans are suitable for making SOE. For example, a light-roasted coffee bean that performs well when brewed without pressure and at a large ratio, showing off floral aromas, citrus acidity, berry sweetness and other flavours, may turn sharp, sour and green under the pressure extraction of an espresso machine, and the overall mouthfeel will be relatively thin.

So if you really want to make SOE, FrontStreet Coffee still recommends using coffee beans roasted to a medium level or darker, because the darker the roast, the less acidity the coffee will have, and the higher the body will be.

SOE Coffee Bean Recommendations

Although FrontStreet Coffee does not offer an SOE option in its stores, it also tries making various single-origin SOEs in daily practice. After countless experiments, FrontStreet Coffee recommends the following three single-origin coffee beans for making SOE:

"FrontStreet Yirgacheffe Natural Red Cherry Coffee Beans": After this light-roast coffee bean is extracted into espresso, the crema on the surface is fine and light, leaning toward a pale yellow color, with a sweet berry aroma when smelled, and it does not overly stimulate the palate when tasted, with sweet-and-sour berries and a caramel note.

"FrontStreet Costa Rica Mozart Coffee Beans": After this medium-roast coffee bean is extracted into espresso, the crema on the surface is fine, the color also leans toward a pale shade, with a raisin aroma when smelled, and it has a rich sweet-and-sour sensation and fermented fruit flavors when tasted.

"Front Street Brazil Queen's Farm Coffee Beans" - the espresso extracted from this medium-dark roasted coffee bean has a fine, golden crema, smells of roasted nuts, and tastes of roasted nuts and cocoa with a creamy smoothness.

For more specialty coffee knowledge, please follow: Front Street Coffee (Frontsteet Coffee)

Recommended affordable everyday light-roast pour-over floral coffee beans: Front Street Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Gudingding, Front Street Panama Hacienda La Esmeralda Green Label Geisha Coffee Beans, Front Street Panama Butterfly Coffee Beans

Recommended dark-roast coffee beans with a rich, balanced profile: Front Street Golden Mandheling Coffee Beans, Front Street Blue Mountain Coffee Beans, Front Street Queen's Farm Coffee Beans

Recommended espresso and latte coffee beans: Front Street Classic Blend, Front Street Strawberry Candy Espresso Blend

You can now buy the above coffee beans online at the Tmall "Front Street Flagship Store". Front Street Coffee has dozens of selected single-origin pour-over coffee beans and espresso coffee beans from around the world. Front Street coffee beans are freshly roasted, cost-effective, of excellent quality, and shipped within 24 hours. Front Street Coffee is the recommended choice of many coffee lovers and platforms.

Tmall Front Street Flagship Store link: https://qianjieshipin.tmall.com

Or you can search "Front Street Flagship Store" directly on Taobao

Front Street Coffee store address: No. 315 Donghuadong Road, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou