In 2020, Luckin Coffee launched a specialty SOE limited series - Yirgacheffe SOE Americano and Latte, which immediately drew the attention of general consumers. On the one hand, many people were curious about the term SOE; on the other hand, compared with regular Americano and Latte, why did SOE deserve a separate launch by Luckin?

What is SOE?

Most of the espresso-based coffee products we drink every day use blended coffee beans. Blends are not meant to hide the poor quality of coffee beans; rather, when using an espresso machine to brew under pressure, if you use beans from a single origin alone, it is easy to highlight the beans' own shortcomings, or the flavor may be too thin or monotonous, and it also cannot better stabilize the flavor influence of each year's origin beans caused by terroir.

Therefore, in the past, in order to give espresso a long-term stable performance, people made up for each other's weaknesses through the characteristics of coffee beans from different origins, so that the extracted coffee flavor could be more stable.

SOE coffee, on the other hand, is the opposite of blending, focusing on using coffee beans from a single origin. Why go to great lengths to make blended coffee beans, and now return to using single-origin coffee beans? Because of the influence of specialty coffee culture, some people in the industry believe that a good cup of coffee should be made with single-origin coffee beans, so much so that people began researching how to use single-origin coffee beans to make a delicious espresso.

What I want to say here is that it is not necessarily true that blended coffee beans are bad, or that single-origin coffee beans are good; more than anything, it depends on how the coffee tastes after extraction. No matter which type of coffee beans is used to make espresso, the ultimate goal is for everyone to drink a delicious, balanced cup of coffee.

Does Luckin Yirgacheffe SOE coffee taste good?

Luckin Yirgacheffe SOE coffee uses coffee beans from the Yirgacheffe region of Ethiopia. Because it has to ensure consistent output at every store, it is given a dark roast, but at the same time some of the citrus acidity characteristic of coffee beans from this region is retained.

Since Luckin Coffee does not offer espresso on its own, FrontStreet Coffee also tried, at its store, extracting a dark-roasted Sun-Dried Red Cherry coffee bean also from Yirgacheffe; the flavor profile showed citrus, berries, caramel and nuts.

After it is made into an Americano, the taste is actually a little thin, so it drinks somewhat watery. And after it is made into a latte, there is a flavor of American berry milkshake, but the taste of coffee is no longer very obvious.

So overall, this series of coffees tends to be relatively mild and mellow, making it a good fit for those who want to drink coffee but do not particularly enjoy the bitterness of coffee. If you want a stronger coffee flavor, products made with blended coffee beans are still more recommended.

Actually, making the same SOE at home as you get in a cafe is not that complicated. As long as you choose the right roast level for the coffee beans, that is the key first step. Based on the experience of baristas at FrontStreet Coffee, choosing a coffee bean suitable for SOE extraction not only lets you easily make a good-tasting espresso, but the americano or latte made after adding water or milk will also come out much better with half the effort. On the FrontStreet bean list, two single-origin coffees are offered in SOE versions: one is the strawberry-scented Huakui, and the other is Konga with the classic Yirgacheffe flavor. We just need to check the espresso roast option when placing an order.

The espresso machine at the FrontStreet store is the commercial single-group "Lelit Bianca", which can adjust extraction by changing the pressure, with a maximum pressure of 11bar. A home espresso machine only needs to reach 9bar of pressure to satisfy the functions of extraction and steaming milk foam, paired with an espresso grinder.

SOE coffee extraction parameters shared

Coffee beans: Ethiopia natural Yirgacheffe · Konga espresso beans

Coffee dose: 20g

Coffee liquid yield: 40g

Ground coffee to liquid ratio: 1:2

Extraction time: 26 to 33 seconds  

Grind setting: Galileo 2.0 mark

Qianjie uses the capacity of a double basket, with a dose of roughly 18 to 20 grams; for its output, Qianjie uses 20 grams of coffee grounds.

Usually the ratio of coffee grounds to espresso liquid falls between 1:1.5 and 1:2.5. Qianjie's extraction ratio is 1:2, meaning 20 g of coffee grounds yields 40 g of espresso liquid. Time is related to the flow rate of the coffee grounds; a single extraction is generally kept to 20-35 seconds, because within 20 seconds the coffee usually tastes thin, while over 35 seconds it is prone to over-extraction and a burnt, bitter flavor. Most of Qianjie's espresso falls within the 28-30 second range.

Qianjie first wipes the filter basket dry, turns on the grinder, grinds a double dose of coffee grounds, and places them on a digital scale to add or remove until reaching 20 g. Next, use a tool to distribute the grounds evenly, then tamp the coffee puck firmly to ensure more stable extraction. Then turn on the extraction switch to release water, wetting the brew head while washing away the stuck coffee grounds, gently lock the portafilter onto the brew head, and start the extraction. When the digital scale shows 40 g of espresso liquid at around 28-33 seconds, you can switch off the extraction, and a cup of SOE espresso is ready. We can add an appropriate amount of ice water or 80°C hot water to our liking to make a cup of Yirgacheffe SOE americano.

When making Qianjie Yirgacheffe SOE hot latte, Qianjie uses a 1:6 ratio, adding 40 g of espresso liquid to a preheated coffee cup, then using an espresso machine's steam to froth 240 g of milk, with the milk temperature ideally kept between 50-65°C, so that it forms a dense milk foam of moderate thickness, and then blending it evenly with the espresso liquid. The resulting Yirgacheffe SOE latte tastes like eating a lemon-flavored cookie on the palate, rich, fragrant and smooth, and after drinking it you feel warm all over.

Best value everyday light-roast pour-over floral coffee beans recommended for purchase: Qianjie Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Gudingding, Qianjie Panama Hacienda La Esmeralda Green Label Geisha coffee beans, Qianjie Panama Butterfly coffee beans

Rich and balanced dark-roast coffee beans recommended for purchase: Qianjie Golden Mandheling coffee beans, Qianjie Blue Mountain coffee beans, Qianjie Queen's Estate coffee beans

Espresso and latte coffee beans recommended for purchase: Qianjie Classic Blend, Qianjie Strawberry Candy Espresso Blend

The above coffee beans can now be purchased online at the Tmall "Qianjie Flagship Store". Qianjie Coffee has dozens of selected single-origin pour-over coffee beans and espresso coffee beans from around the world. Qianjie coffee beans are freshly roasted, offer great value for money and excellent quality, and ship within 24 hours. Qianjie Coffee is the recommended choice of many coffee lovers and platforms.

Tmall Qianjie Flagship Store link: https://qianjieshipin.tmall.com

Or you can search "Qianjie Flagship Store" directly on Taobao

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