Research on Espresso Blends: Why Blend? The Relationship Between Flavor and Espresso Blend Formulas

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FrontStreet Coffee · The Art of Blend Coffee Beans - Espresso Blend Coffee Bean Formula Sharing

What are espresso blend beans?

Many people love drinking lattes, and I'm no exception. Before I was introduced to specialty coffee, I only loved drinking lattes and only knew that lattes are espresso mixed with milk. I didn't know that espresso is made from several types of coffee beans blended together. The key to a good latte is the espresso coffee bean formula. How to create a delicious espresso blend involves significant expertise!

Why blend beans?

1. To create a distinctive coffee single origin by combining different beans with various roast levels according to different proportions.

2. To balance costs.

3. To create espresso formulas.

Blending Theory:

I generally categorize coffee beans into 3 types: white, gray, and black. White beans mainly provide fragrance and acidity in the front taste, gray beans mainly provide sweet base notes, and black beans mainly provide bitterness in the aftertaste. Then I configure them according to the characteristics of different beans and suitable roast levels. The suitable ratio is 3:5:2. Some beans might fall between white-gray or gray-black categories, and experimentation is needed to find the best classification position to achieve the most perfect blend.

White (front-end fragrance and acidity) Light roast - Kenya, Guatemala, Yirgacheffe...

Gray (mid-range body and sweetness) Medium-dark roast - Brazil, Costa Rica honey process, El Salvador...

Black (back-end bitterness and aftertaste) Dark roast - Mandheling, Kenya, Guatemala...

Gray-black - Colombia (medium-dark roast) - trending toward bitter aftertaste.

Espresso formulas mainly emphasize sweetness, and sweetness pairs well with milk. A little white + more gray + medium black can be tried: Guatemala + Brazil + Kenya.

You can first categorize the coffee beans by their front-end aroma, mid-range body, or back-end aftertaste sweetness, then blend and taste them one by one.

Espresso Blend Reference Solutions:

1. Kenya AA (medium roast) + Mandheling G1 (medium-dark) + Guatemala Antigua - Flora de Oro (extremely light roast) - Has sweetness, body, and subtle floral aroma, with good texture and delicious taste. Some people feedback that the coffee flavor isn't strong enough.

2. Kenya AA (medium roast) + Mandheling G1 (medium-dark) + Ethiopia Yirgacheffe (washed) (light roast) - Sufficient sweetness, heavier body, subtle floral and fruit acidity notes, delicious taste. The coffee flavor is still not strong enough.

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