FrontStreet Coffee's Espresso Recipe Guide: How to Blend Espresso? What Are the Tips for Espresso Blend Beans?

Introduction

Blend coffee, also known as mixed coffee, involves combining various single-origin coffee beans to fully leverage the unique characteristics of each bean. Blended beans are created by mixing coffee beans from different origins to achieve a more balanced flavor profile. For example, if one coffee bean is smooth but lacks aroma, another bean with rich aroma can be added to complement each other's strengths and weaknesses, creating or enhancing complementary flavors to produce a richer new taste experience. Sometimes the beans are mixed before roasting, known as raw blending; sometimes they are mixed after roasting, known as roasted blending.

Whether pre-mixing green beans or mixing individually after roasting, both methods depend on the characteristics of the coffee in the formula and are acceptable. Mixing after roasting allows for different degrees of roasting for each bean, enabling each component to perform at its best.

Before blending beans, one must understand the different flavors of coffee varieties from around the world, as beans have distinct characteristics based on their origin. Different coffee beans have unique personalities due to different varieties and origins, with subtle differences in acidity, bitterness, sweetness, aroma, and body. Single-origin coffee beans often emphasize the unique characteristics of a particular coffee type. Blended beans are commonly used for espresso-based drinks such as Espresso, Americano, Latte, or Cappuccino, providing more balanced, smoother, and more stable flavors that appeal to a broader audience.

The main purposes of blending different coffee beans include:

1. Stable Flavor

Because coffee beans are agricultural products, even the same type of coffee bean will have different flavors each year. Therefore, mixing several coffee beans together effectively solves this problem, allowing the taste to remain basically consistent year after year.

2. Balanced Taste

Since espresso machines have the characteristic of amplifying the most prominent flavor characteristics of coffee beans, we almost never use single-variety coffee to make espresso. Otherwise, if the coffee bean is quite bitter, the resulting espresso will be exceptionally bitter; if it's acidic, it will be very acidic. Therefore, we need to balance various flavors through blending.

Blending coffee is never a simple addition, but rather an attempt to have different coffee beans complement each other's strengths and weaknesses through the blender's unique understanding of coffee flavors, creating exceptionally flavored blended coffee beans.

The Rise of Single Origin Espresso (SOE) Trend

SOE has recently become popular, representing Single Origin Espresso. While not necessarily equivalent to specialty coffee, if single-origin coffee beans with easily identifiable flavors are selected as SOE, uniquely characteristic espresso can be created. For example, the typical citrus flavors of Yirgacheffe, the tropical fruit flavors of Kenya, etc. Since espresso amplifies coffee flavors, specific flavors become more prominent compared to pour-over. However, although SOE performs outstandingly, because it comes from a single origin, its disadvantages are also relatively easy to amplify, so factors such as roasting and grind size will affect the flavor, meaning it's not necessarily better to drink than blended coffee.

How Do We Blend?

(1) FrontStreet Coffee's Premium Blend Coffee Beans:

Colombia: Brazil, ratio 3:7;

Colombia Huila Region

Located in southwestern Colombia, it is one of the main coffee cultivation areas. Colombia generally has an altitude of 1500-1800 meters, mostly Bourbon and Caturra varieties, using washed processing. The beans have high density, uniform size, and full shape (thicker from bean core to surface). Because famous coffee cultivation areas are scattered throughout the Huila region, the names of various small areas have become brand names and are circulated. Although the cultivation conditions in this region are also very good, the cultivation infrastructure of coffee farms and surrounding conditions is not well-developed. Green bean drying equipment or washed processing facilities are not yet complete, which is quite regrettable. Coffee from the Huila region has strong flavor and heavier texture. The nutty, chocolate, and caramel aromas of Huila region coffee, along with suitable acidity, can be called high-end specialty coffee.

Flavor characteristics: Rich and solid taste with pleasant acidity, aromatic aroma, moderate acidity, and rich sweetness that is intriguing. Due to its low price and small beans, it's suitable for blending coffee. The coffee has strong flavor and heavier texture. Its nutty, chocolate, and caramel aromas with suitable acidity can be called high-end specialty coffee, suitable for single origin or espresso blending base.

Brazil Cerrado Region

Brazilian coffee generally grows at altitudes of 1000-1300 meters, so its density is relatively low. Mostly Bourbon variety, using natural processing. Moderate moisture content, softer bean texture, and thinner thickness from bean surface to core, making it unsuitable for roasting at too high temperatures, as the inner wall temperature of the roaster will scorch the bean surface, creating burnt bitterness.

At the same time, to express the characteristics of nuts, milk chocolate, and good body, and as a blending base, we use medium heat bean insertion, maintaining heat until the dehydration stage, making fine adjustments as temperature rises after first crack begins, promoting more complete caramelization reactions, and can discharge beans when temperature approaches second crack.

Flavor characteristics: Comfortable bittersweet taste, extremely smooth entry; with light grassy aroma, fresh and slightly bitter; sweet, smooth and pleasant, with a refreshing aftertaste.

Blended flavor: Sweet and aromatic taste. Using medium-dark roasting, when making espresso, the taste will have soft, slight acidity, clear sweetness, nutty aftertaste, overall not too stimulating, balanced, with moderate crema, meeting the daily production needs of coffee shops.

(2) FrontStreet Coffee's Commercial Espresso Blend:

Colombia: Brazil: Robusta; ratio 3:6:1, raw blending;

[Robusta] beans have strong disease and pest resistance and high yield. Usually not as acidic as Arabica beans, often with a slight woody aroma. Caffeine content of 2.2% is higher than Arabica's 1.2%, and chlorogenic acid content is also higher, making it quite bitter. Usually used for commercial beans, costing less than Arabica beans.

In terms of flavor from individual beans, commercial beans produce coffee taste that is much inferior to specialty coffee beans. Generally, commercial beans are chosen for blending. Through blending, excellent-tasting coffee can also be produced, suitable for making lattes, cappuccinos, and other espresso drinks. Our commercial blend for espresso, because of Robusta beans, will have richer crema, classic taste, with caramel sweetness, nut and cocoa-like, dark chocolate flavors, balanced sweet and sour, slightly bittersweet, with persistent aftertaste, suitable for daily coffee shop production.

(3) FrontStreet Coffee's Basic Espresso Blend Coffee Beans:

Yunnan AA: Brazil; ratio 3:7, roasted blending;

Our Yunnan AA is [Typica], the oldest native variety from Ethiopia, originating from southeastern Ethiopia and Sudan. All Arabica varieties derive from Typica. The top leaves are copper-colored, called red-topped coffee, with elegant flavor but weak constitution, poor disease resistance, susceptible to leaf rust, and low fruit yield. Typica has four slender branches in an spreading posture, with a tilt angle of 50-70 degrees. Opposite leaves are long elliptical, with smooth leaf surfaces, long terminal branches, few branches, and white flowers growing at the base where petioles connect to branches. Mature coffee cherries look like cherries, bright red in color.

It requires more shade when planted, with harvest only about every two years. Yunnan's excellent geographical and climate conditions provide good conditions for coffee growth, with planting areas in Lincang, Baoshan, Simao, Xishuangbanna, Dehong and other regions. Yunnan's natural conditions are very similar to Colombia, with high altitude and large day-night temperature differences. The flavor is mellow and aromatic, with moderate acidity, rich and mellow taste, uniform particles, high oil content, and fruit aroma. Its quality and taste are similar to Colombian coffee.

Blended flavor: With soft fruit acidity, caramel sweetness, nut and dark chocolate flavors, smooth and viscous, but taste is rather light. This cost-effective espresso blend is suitable for shop and home users who prioritize cost and have general flavor requirements.

When blending, there should be primary and secondary distinctions to create a more wonderful taste than single-origin coffee. Before formulating a blending plan, first envision suitable combination methods, then blend through appropriate roasting, and determine the best plan through cupping and后期 adjustments. Hope this helps everyone~

Important Notice :

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