Songs to match your Frequency beans
Among the long list of things I have been missing during the lockdown is the music played at Frequency. Oh, to sit again on those wooden benches and look out a window that is not in my own house!
But we’re all making do with homebrew at the moment – whether you’re grinding beans or buying filter papers to pour the perfect V60, you’re probably learning more about your own preferences for different coffee beans and flavours (and let’s ignore the hot mess that is Dalgona coffee for now).
More time making coffee for myself has got me thinking, can we recreate Frequency’s aural ambience at home? Justo, the owner of Frequency, is a musician himself, so he knows the importance of setting the right mood with a well-selected song. He wouldn’t want us to simply plug and play a coffee-themed Spotify playlist.
So, the important question: what song pairs perfectly with the flavour profiles of each of Frequency’s four house coffees?
Burundi Microlot Kayanza
The first coffee to try is the Burundi Microlot Kayanza. Kayanza is a northern province of Burundi, a small nation in East Africa. This particular coffee bean has a combination of acidic, fruity, lemony flavours but also a toffee-like smoothness
Pair this with: Baby by Four Tet
Peru – Cajamarca
The second coffee is the Peru – Cajamarca. Cajamarca is one of the best areas for Peruvian coffees. At a high altitude, the area grows coffee beans for a refreshing coffee. The specific flavour notes are caramel, orange and grape.
Pair this with: Norway by Beach House
Brazil – Carmo de Minas
This third coffee comes from Carmo de Minas, southeast Brazil, an area with a long history of coffee-growing. The coffee bean has a distinctive flavour, including cocoa, cherry and peanut, and a heavy mouthfeel.
Pair this with: Only One by Molly Burch
Molly Burch sings these lilting ballads, mostly about heartache, which seem to pair well with flavours like cocoa and cherry. ‘Only One’ is archetypal - a little dark at times but also warm and luxurious. Perhaps an acquired taste but dreamy if you’re into it. It’ll fit the Carmo de Minas, with its heavy chocolatey flavour, perfectly.
Honduras – Comayagua
The final coffee grows in Comayagua, an important coffee region in Honduras. The beans from here have a flavour that is sweet with tart fruit acidity and a sugary mouthfeel. It has toffee, caramel and chocolate flavours. These beans are my personal favourite for a V60!
Pair this with: Go Gina by SZA
This album has so many great songs and many of them fit the profile for Honduras – Comayagua, because they balance a lightness (keyboard) with warmth and toffee sweetness (SZA’s voice). ‘Go Gina’ in particular has a sugary feel to it which will fit the profile for this coffee nicely.
So there you have it, my pairing choices, as your dedicated coffee+song sommelier. But try your own at home and let me know what you think! In the meantime, keep enjoying Frequency at home – at least until we can meet again drinking coffee and listening to tunes with other strangers at Frequency.
This is a guest post by our wonderful friend Aarushi Sahore. For more Frequency music recommendations you also checkout our playlists.