Pu’er Coffee

 When you’re out visiting cafés, have you noticed that many of them now prefer using zhukou cups for milk-based drinks? They’re especially popular for flat whites. Whether in terms of volume or latte art control, zhukou cups just seem to work beautifully. As a result, the term “zhukou cup” has quickly become a hot search keyword in online shopping. Simply put, the defining characteristics of a zhukou cup are that it’s short, sturdy, and compact. The walls usually go straight up or taper slightly inward at the rim. Most are made of ceramic with relatively thick walls. Visually, they look squat and charming—almost like a small barrel. The walls are nearly vertical, the base is wide, and the opening is generous. These are cups you naturally cradle in your hands, and they’re essentially designed as professional vessels for showcasing milk drinks with latte art. So why is this shape such a perfect match for milk coffee? Let’s break it down. If you’re currently debating which cup to u...

 I’ve talked before about “coffee on airplanes,” and anyone who’s been on a long-haul flight knows the feeling—at some point, you just want a decent cup of coffee to stay awake. Unfortunately, what you usually get onboard is instant coffee, to the point where most people have completely given up hope. For a long time, I assumed this was simply airlines trying to cut costs, or maybe a result of limited cabin space that made it impossible to install proper coffee machines. Either way, I never felt I had a truly convincing explanation. Carrying that bias with me, I eventually started digging into the topic. After looking into the details, I finally found some solid reasons that answered a question I’d wondered about for years. So today, let’s talk about why it’s basically impossible to brew fresh coffee with a coffee machine on an airplane. I’m sure many people share this professional—or at least emotional—curiosity. The idea of sipping a freshly brewed coffee at 35,000 feet sounds i...

 You bought beans with a great reputation — so why does your coffee taste off when you brew it at home? Don’t blame the beans first. Most likely the problem is in the brewing steps. Drip-bag coffee looks simple — just pour boiling water, right? There’s a lot more to it. Those drips that come out creamy and smooth with bright fruit or nutty notes weren’t made by chance. Here are four of the most common brewing mistakes, each with practical fixes. Follow them and your next drip-bag brew will taste noticeably better. Mistake 1: Judging water temperature by feel? Boiling water kills the flavor Pouring boiling water straight onto the grounds is a common habit. You might think hotter water brings out more flavor, but the result is often bitter, burnt-tasting coffee that feels harsh on the throat. That’s not the beans’ fault — the high temperature is extracting the “bad” compounds. There are two key groups of compounds in coffee grounds: one group contains the aromatic and fruity/aci...

 Recently, Front Street noticed that quite a few bloggers have been sharing tips on using milk instead of water to brew coffee, claiming that the resulting coffee tastes great. Because of this, many friends often message Front Street asking what parameters they should use when brewing coffee with milk. Honestly, Front Street already covered this topic last year, and even shared the feasibility of using milk to brew drip bags earlier this year. And the conclusion of all these posts is exactly the same: using milk makes it very difficult to brew good-tasting coffee . The reason is simple — milk is simply not suitable for brewing coffee. (Note: only for brewing) Why isn’t milk suitable for brewing coffee? Why does Front Street claim it isn’t? Because when we brew coffee with milk, we face a lot of limitations. The biggest challenge is that milk does not have enough extraction efficiency. It simply cannot, like water, extract the flavor compounds from coffee within a short amount of t...

 An Americano is one of the simplest black coffees you can make—just add a certain amount of water to a shot of espresso. No rare ingredients, no complicated steps. It’s so easy that many people think there’s nothing to it. And honestly… they’re not wrong. But if you want your Americano to taste good —balanced, flavorful, and enjoyable—then there are a few things that matter. Everything from your ingredients, to how you brew, to how you mix them affects the final cup. Each choice may look small, but it can make or break the taste. Today, let’s break down the three key things you need to pay attention to when making a great Americano. 1. Choose the Right Ingredients Most people assume that the only thing that matters is the coffee beans. And yes, beans are incredibly important. But when it comes to an Americano, water matters just as much . Water may look and taste neutral, but not all water is created equal. You’ve probably noticed that different bottled water brands have diff...

 Whenever I brew a pour-over for a customer, if the coffee bed balloons noticeably during the bloom phase, there’s a good chance someone will ask: “Why doesn’t my coffee bed swell up like that when I brew at home?” This is actually one of my favorite topics to discuss. Strictly speaking, the size of the bloom doesn’t directly reflect how the coffee will taste. But it does reveal a lot of other information — such as the condition of the beans and the brewing parameters used. These factors are precisely what determine how much the coffee bed puffs up. So today, let’s break down how these factors affect the size of the bloom — and why, in the end, a bigger bloom doesn’t necessarily mean better coffee. 1. Bean Freshness and Roast Level First, we need to understand why the bloom happens. The main reason is carbon dioxide (CO₂) . During roasting, coffee beans accumulate a large amount of CO₂, which is slowly released after roasting. When the ground coffee comes into contact with h...

 Sometimes you might just want a small cup of coffee—maybe for a special blend, or simply to enjoy a few sips without going all in. Every now and then, friends tell me they want to “brew a small cup using just a few grams of beans.” But if you’ve actually tried it, you’ll probably agree: brewing a good cup with a small dose of coffee is much harder than brewing with a regular amount. Just recently, a friend told me he tried making coffee with only 5 grams of beans, but no matter what he did, it just didn’t taste right. The flavor and body were completely different from what he’d get using a normal dose. So, why is it so hard to brew coffee with such a small amount of beans? The short answer: the smaller the dose, the more brewing challenges you’ll run into. Why Small-Dose Brewing Is Tricky In a previous post, I mentioned that each dripper design has its own “sweet spot” for optimal coffee dose. For example, the Hario V60 01 dripper works best with about 10–20 grams of coffee, ...