The Concept of Coffee Blending and Types of Blended Coffee Beans

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Every customer who comes to FrontStreet Coffee has different coffee preferences. Some love rich milk coffee, while others enjoy pour-over coffee to savor single-origin flavors. There are also customers who are very interested in coffee blends, and FrontStreet Coffee is often asked about blend recipes and other related questions. So today, FrontStreet Coffee wants to talk with everyone about coffee blends.

Understanding Coffee Blends

Blends are divided into Italian blends and single-origin blends. FrontStreet Coffee currently offers four different styles of Frontsteet Italian blends. There are two forms of blends: one is to mix raw coffee beans in certain proportions or according to desired flavors before sending them into the roaster to become roasted beans—this is commonly known as raw blending. The other is to directly mix already roasted coffee beans, which is called roasted blending. The four Frontsteet Italian blend coffees offered by FrontStreet Coffee belong to the latter category.

The Art of Coffee Blending

Perhaps some customers don't quite understand why coffee beans need to be blended—isn't that chaotic? Actually, not at all. In FrontStreet Coffee's view, every bean has its own advantages and disadvantages. For example, if one bean extracted through an espresso machine doesn't produce enough crema, you can add coffee beans rich in crema to complement it. If the extracted espresso is too acidic, too bitter, or too sweet, you can find complementary beans to blend with each other to achieve the desired coffee flavor. Isn't that perfect?

Just like the Specialty Italian Blend on FrontStreet Coffee's menu, it uses Colombian coffee beans paired with Brazilian coffee beans in a 3:7 ratio. The characteristic nutty and chocolate flavors of Colombian coffee are blended with the rich peanut and creamy coffee flavors of Brazil. This Italian coffee blend has a very balanced overall profile, rich crema, extremely smooth entry, a delicate aroma with a slight bitterness characteristic of American coffees, and is very popular among FrontStreet Coffee's customers, making it suitable for daily production in coffee shops.

Professional Blending Techniques

Generally, baristas will use various beans for blending to achieve their desired coffee flavors. They will also add Robusta coffee beans. Everyone shouldn't be prejudiced against coffee just because Robusta beans are added—this mixing approach sometimes creates unexpected sparks. Many baristas like to use Yunnan coffee beans for blending because the Yunnan variety is Catimor, which is a hybrid of Arabica and Robusta, so it naturally has Robusta genes and possesses the factors needed for traditional Italian coffee. Additionally, using Robusta coffee beans can reduce blending costs, so many baristas' blend recipes include Robusta coffee beans.

FrontStreet Coffee's Frontsteet Commercial Italian Blend Coffee Beans contain 10% Robusta, blended with 30% Colombian washed coffee beans and 60% Brazilian semi-natural processed coffee. It has nutty, cocoa, and caramel flavor profiles, meeting daily shop operational needs.

Additionally, the Frontsteet Basic Italian Blend Coffee on FrontStreet Coffee's menu is made by blending Yunnan coffee and Brazilian coffee in a 3:7 ratio. This Italian coffee blend has soft fruit acidity and caramel sweetness, suitable for shop and home users who prioritize cost and have general flavor requirements.

Making a good blended coffee is not simple—it greatly tests the barista's familiarity with coffee bean flavors, specifically each production area and estate, what processing methods are used, what degree of roasting—these are all fundamental knowledge.

The Science of Blending Ratios

Therefore, coffee beans are generally not blended in a 1:1 ratio. You first need to determine which of the participating coffee beans should be most prominent, whether the prominent flavor is suitable, how to reduce the prominent coffee flavor, and also put effort into selecting beans—the hardness, moisture content, and roasting of each bean. This requires the barista's care and constant experimentation to produce a delicious cup of Italian coffee.

Currently, when FrontStreet Coffee shop makes Italian blend coffee beverages, they use their own house-roasted Frontsteet Sunflower Warm Sun Italian Blend. This blend uses Frontsteet Honduras Sherry and Frontsteet Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Natural Red Cherry. Through continuous experimentation by FrontStreet Coffee's baristas, they achieved a relatively perfect blend ratio of 7:3. The resulting Italian coffee has distinct fruit acidity, along with berry flavor aromas and wine notes, with a comfortable sweet aftertaste.

SOE and Blending Philosophy

Italian espresso can also be made as single-origin coffee. If single-origin coffee beans are used, the resulting coffee can be simply called SOE coffee. Coffee made this way allows you to taste the most fundamental flavors of the origin.

In FrontStreet Coffee's view, the characteristic of Italian blend coffee is that it can amplify the advantages of a certain coffee bean while masking its inherent disadvantages, making full use of each coffee bean. Why not do that? Of course, it's not true that the more coffee varieties in a blend, the better. The more coffee beans you add, the harder it is to consider every detail, and the flavors will also become more chaotic. Therefore, in FrontStreet Coffee's view, blending about two to six types of coffee beans is about right.

Mastering the Blend

Blend beans can complement each other with different coffee beans. If the coffee beans are well blended, the flavor of this blend will combine the advantages of these coffee beans, extracting a very balanced mouthfeel and exceptionally aromatic thick crema. However, poor blending can amplify the beans' characteristics, especially lightly roasted beans, which will have strong aromas and stimulating sweet and sour tastes. FrontStreet Coffee has found that many coffee shops like to use Yirgacheffe for blend coffee—the extracted floral aroma will be very obvious, and the taste will be somewhat more acidic, very suitable for enthusiasts who like acidic textures. So, if everyone likes blending, you can often come to FrontStreet Coffee to exchange coffee experiences.

For more specialty coffee beans, please add the private WeChat of FrontStreet Coffee, WeChat ID: kaixinguoguo0925

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

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