Advanced Ways to Enjoy Single-Origin Coffee - Create Your Own Signature Coffee Blends

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The Art of Coffee Blending

While blending coffee beans may serve various purposes, the ultimate goal is to create a balanced new flavor profile.

Signature Blends: The Heart of Every Café

Blended coffees with distinct flavor profiles have become signature offerings at various coffee shops.

Whether it's specialty coffee shops with various coffee beans, merchants selling coffee beans, or general cafés that are less particular about coffee types, almost all have their "house blend" considered as the shop's signature. Each shop's flavor profile is different, but if the signature coffee doesn't taste good, it's quite embarrassing for the establishment!

The Purpose and Benefits of Coffee Blending

For shop owners, using blended coffee beans (also known as formula beans) can mask the shortcomings of individual coffee beans and present flavors that appeal to most people. From a business perspective, blended beans are products that mix different-priced beans to adjust the selling price. Additionally, as a "signature coffee," a balanced flavor profile is essential, ensuring customers can enjoy the same taste whenever they visit. In situations where sourcing the same coffee beans consistently isn't guaranteed, blending coffee beans to consistently recreate the same aroma is also crucial.

Getting Started with Coffee Blending

Step 1: Begin with Blending Roasted Beans

Shop owners need to consider many limitations when blending formula beans, but when making blends at home, it's simply about pursuing and creating flavors you personally enjoy, making it a very enjoyable process. Let's now look at the actual steps for blending coffee!

The most basic method is to mix roasted beans before grinding and brewing. If you mix raw beans first and then start roasting, it's easy to get uneven roasting since you're simultaneously roasting raw beans of different sizes and moisture content. As for large enterprises or factories that need to produce large quantities of blended coffee, they sometimes use the method of mixing raw beans first then roasting, since roasting different types of raw beans in separate batches is time-consuming, labor-intensive, and costly. However, this is only achievable with large equipment and many other conditions, and is generally not done this way.

Measuring by Volume for Green Bean Blending

When mixing raw beans, quantity is usually calculated by "volume" rather than weight. For home blending, you can use measuring spoons as a reference. For a 1:1 ratio, use 1 spoon each of 2 types of raw beans; for a 2:3 ratio, use 2 spoons of one type and 3 spoons of another. It's important to note that the smaller the quantity of raw beans, the greater the variation in the final product of the same formula. Considering subsequent adjustments or reproducibility, maintain a certain quantity when mixing raw beans. Even during the experimental ratio phase, blend enough raw beans to brew several cups of coffee.

Alternative Blending Methods

Mixing Coffee Extracts to Measure Flavor Changes

If you want to enjoy blended coffee at home, another easy and enjoyable method is mixing coffee grounds.

For an even simpler and faster approach, mixing brewed coffee extract is also a good method. You don't need to brew cup by cup, and you can quickly try various combination formulas and observe the changes in different formulations. However, compared to tasting the finished product, this method should be considered a technique for thinking about blending ratios. Additionally, the blending ratio of coffee liquid is not equivalent to the mixing ratio of coffee beans. When using ratios found through liquid blending to recreate with coffee beans, some adjustments must be made.

A Step-by-Step Approach to Finding Your Perfect Blend

Start with mixing coffee extracts to taste the changes in coffee bean types or ratios. After deciding on the blending direction, move to the stage of mixing coffee grounds. After multiple adjustments to formula ratios, then upgrade to the stage of mixing roasted beans. Taking it step by step and tracing back to the source might be a way to avoid detours and find what you like.

Coffee shops have different purposes for blending coffee. The smallest unit benchmark for home coffee bean blending is 1 measuring spoon. Mixing brewed coffee extracts allows easy changes to blending ratios, so why not consider this as the first step in coffee blending!

Mastering the 4 Essentials of Coffee Blending

When first attempting this, simply mixing randomly won't produce the desired flavor. Below are the key points and suggested formulas to master when making blended coffee.

Success Factors for Making Blended Coffee

First, decide on the base bean

Add coffee beans with contrasting personality characteristics

Mix 2-4 types of coffee beans

Combine and blend coffee beans with the same roast level

Determining Base Beans for Personality and Depth

When blending coffee, the first step is to "decide on the base bean." Beginners can choose coffee beans with good flavor balance like Brazilian or Colombian.

Next, add coffee beans with contrasting personalities or from different origins. This allows their respective advantages to not conflict but rather complement each other's shortcomings, presenting a flavor with depth. Mix about 2-4 types of coffee beans. Too many varieties can blur the main flavor profile. Additionally, start with equal ratios when mixing, as this makes subsequent flavor adjustments easier to handle.

When blending coffee beans, record the bean types, roast levels, formula ratios, and flavor evaluations. This helps you find your preferred direction and improves reproducibility.

The Impact of Roast Levels on Blend Consistency

Roast level is another important factor affecting the taste of blended coffee. Since coffee flavor is largely determined by roast level, remember to consider this when blending coffee. If you're pursuing mouthfeel, choose light roast; if you emphasize aroma and acidity, choose medium roast; if you prefer bitterness and richness, choose dark roast. In summary, it's best to decide on the flavor preference before blending.

Coffee beans with different roast levels are like liquids of different densities that are difficult to mix. Not only is it hard to balance the flavors, but even the upper and lower layers of the same cup of coffee might have uneven flavors. Although some baristas intentionally use coffee beans with different roast levels, it's recommended that beginners choose the same roast level to reduce the chance of failure. Also, even if the roast level indicated on the packaging is the same, different roasters have slightly different roasting standards. Choosing to buy from the same shop can further reduce roast level differences.

Creative Approaches to Coffee Blending

Pursuing Personal Preferences or Breaking from Theory

Another approach to making blended coffee is to use your favorite coffee beans as the base, then supplement with missing aromas. Therefore, it's important to pay attention to the coffee flavors you usually enjoy and understand the characteristics that coffee beans possess.

The Joy of Unexpected Discoveries

Additionally, breaking away from textbook theories and enjoying accidental discoveries is the essence of creating original blended coffee. Simply combining favorite coffee bean varieties doesn't necessarily create a flavor you'll like; conversely, sometimes adding originally disliked coffee beans might unexpectedly create excellent flavors. Interestingly, using different brewing equipment can also change the taste of blended coffee.

Source

Content source = "The Details of Perfect Coffee: From Bean Origins, Cupping Taste, Roasting and Grinding to Brewing Extraction - Every Aspect Precisely Executed," published by Dialect Culture

About FrontStreet Coffee

FrontStreet Coffee: A roastery in Guangzhou with a small shop but diverse bean varieties, where you can find various famous and lesser-known beans, while also providing online store services. https://shop104210103.taobao.com

Important Notice :

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