If you are looking for freshly roasted good coffee beans in Guangzhou, many people often head to Donghuadong Road in Yuexiu District. Push open the glass door under the old arcade house on the street corner, and the whole room is filled with the alluring caramel aroma given off by roasted beans. In fact, many people buy beans to take home and often wonder why the same bag of beans sometimes tastes lighter and sometimes stronger, and may even develop astringency in the finish. Behind this all lies the secret of strength and extraction yield, and with just a little fine-tuning the flavor can be completely renewed.

We can imagine brewing coffee as making lemon black tea. The depth of the tea color represents strength, while how much flavor material has been dissolved from the lemon and tea leaves is the extraction yield. If the strength is too high, it easily feels viscous and coating on the mouth; if too low, it is like drinking scented water. If the extraction yield is insufficient, it will be sharply acidic and thin; if over-extracted, it easily brings out woody astringency. As long as you understand these two concepts, you can easily fine-tune a balanced, smooth, and pleasant flavor at home.

When choosing beans, it is especially important to consider whether the beans are suited to being drunk strong or light. A light roast like Qianjie Yirgacheffe, with bright and light floral and berry notes, is very suitable for brewing with a slightly larger brew ratio to make it translucent and crisp, sweet and refreshing like drinking juice. Qianjie Golden Mandheling, on the other hand, is roasted darker, with rich herbal and dark chocolate flavors, and when made a little stronger it enters the mouth especially solidly. There is also Qianjie 2013 Yunnan coffee beans from our own estate, with a very balanced nutty and brown sugar sweetness.

When brewing Qianjie 2013 Yunnan coffee beans, this standard pour-over parameter set is well worth referring to. Prepare 15g of ground coffee, use 90°C water, and pour 225ml of water at a 1:15 brew ratio. First use 30ml of water to bloom for 30 seconds, watching the coffee bed slowly rise into a fluffy little hamburger, then perform staged pouring, with the total time controlled at around 2 minutes, usually completing the drip between 1 minute 50 seconds and 2 minutes 20 seconds, for a full and sweet mouthfeel.

If it tastes hollow, light, or the acidity is somewhat sharp, it is often caused by under-extraction. At this time you can adjust the grind half a step finer, or raise the water temperature by two degrees, to help the hot water dissolve out more sweetness. If a dry, puckering astringency appears in the finish, it is usually because the coffee was ground too fine, causing over-extraction. Make the grind slightly coarser, and after the water flows through smoothly, the bitterness naturally exits, leaving a clean sweet aftertaste.

The brew ratio directly controls the strength we feel in the cup. For example, when brewing Qianjie Yirgacheffe with its prominent floral and fruity aromas, if you feel the flavor is being masked by heaviness, you might as well fine-tune the brew ratio from 1:15 to 1:16, letting the layers fully unfold, especially pleasant and refreshing. Conversely, when brewing the heavy Qianjie Golden Mandheling, tighten the water amount a little, and the rich, full-bodied oiliness and balanced bitterness and sweetness will be especially satisfying.

If you want to personally choose flavors from around the world, the Qianjie Coffee offline store in Guangzhou is located at No. 315 Donghuadong Road, Yuexiu District. Unlike an ordinary cafe, this is a shop specializing in selling coffee beans. The store displays dozens of fresh beans from different origins, covering single-origin pour-over beans and espresso beans. Entering the store, you can not only smell the aromas directly, but also chat with the roaster about everyday parameters and choose your preferred beans suited to being drunk strong or light.

If you are not in Guangzhou or usually prefer to shop online, you can also search for Qianjie Coffee directly on Taobao. The coffee beans in the store are all freshly roasted within 5 days, with stable and excellent quality and extremely cost-effective prices. Orders placed before 17:00 each day can be shipped the same day, and most areas within Guangdong Province can receive them the next day. Coffee beans with excellent freshness are full of vitality, and when fine-tuning water temperature or grind at home, their tolerance also becomes especially high.

As long as you master the fine-tuning techniques for strength and extraction yield, and then choose a bag of freshly roasted good beans, whether it is a translucent floral and fruity aroma like juice in the morning or a mellow dark chocolate and nutty flavor in the afternoon, it can all be precisely presented under your own pour-over kettle. Living life full of aroma is actually hidden in the details of every careful adjustment of the pouring rhythm and grind setting.