Blends – Unleashing coffee’s full potential

What is a coffee blend? It is simply a mixture of two or more single origin coffees. Blends are created by combining coffees from different countries, regions, and roast levels to create interesting flavors and aromas not found in any single-origin coffee. Coffee industry professionals like to say that coffee is part art and part science. This is the “art” part.

Why blend? Simply put…to create new and wonderful flavors. Just as a chef combines a wide range of different flavors and ingredients to prepare a delicious meal, blending single origin coffees with various characteristics creates a medley of new flavors and aromas. Blending different coffees heightens desirable attributes and creates flavor complexity that is not available in any one single origin.

Blending coffees is not a process that takes sophisticated training or complicated tools. You just need to be adventurous and love coffee. Experimenting is half the fun of creating new coffee blends. Think about your signature dish…the one that all your friends and family request. The one you’re most proud of serving. Way back when you probably started with a recipe and followed it closely. Over time, you experimented…adding and subtracting various ingredients until you made the recipe all your own. Blending coffee follows the same path, just with less ingredients.

The fun and exciting part of coffee blending is the tasting process and identifying each coffee’s flavor…the chocolate notes from a Tanzania coffee, the crisp citrus flavor of coffee from Papua New Guinea, the sweetness of a Guatemalan coffee. Understanding each coffee’s flavor allows you to tailor a blend to precisely match your preferences by choosing coffees that complement and enhance each other, allowing you to create unique, personalized coffees with a specific flavor profile. The overall goal of blending is to create a new coffee that is more than the sum of its parts. In essence, making 1+1=3. Do you find Ethiopian Natural coffee too fruity and floral? Add some dark roasted Sumatra to provide earthiness to balance the blend and create a flavor that is pure bliss.

What is the best coffee blend? It is the one that you prefer. Blending allows you to individualize your coffee drinking experience and create the best coffee for you.