Why Espresso Coffee Beans Should Be Blended: Is It Really Because Single Origin Beans Are Too Expensive?

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Understanding Espresso and Italian Coffee

To understand what beans are best for making Italian coffee, we must first understand what Espresso is and what requirements and effects it has on Italian coffee beans:

Espresso is a strict brewing method—specific water pressure, water temperature, extraction time, and more. Only coffee made through these specific methods can be called espresso.

Italian coffee refers to various coffee products that use espresso extracted by an Italian coffee machine as the base. The steam pressure extraction machine was invented by Italians. The concentrated coffee made by steam pressure coffee machines is espresso.

With espresso as the base, combined with milk, milk foam, chocolate, ice cream, and various other combinations, the resulting fancy or creative coffees are all called Italian coffee. The core keywords are Italian coffee machine and espresso. All coffees in this system are called Italian coffee.

Therefore, Italian coffee is a system—a system based on concentrated coffee quickly extracted by steam pressure coffee machines.

Examples and Coffee Varieties

Before blending beans, you need to understand the different flavor profiles of coffee varieties from around the world. Beans have different characteristics based on their origin. Different coffee beans have distinct personalities due to different varieties and origins, with subtle differences in acidity, bitterness, sweetness, aroma, and body. Single-origin coffee beans often focus on showcasing the unique characteristics of a particular coffee type.

Blended coffee, also called mixed coffee, is created by combining various single-origin coffee beans to fully utilize the strengths of each variety, complementing each other's weaknesses, creating or enhancing complementary flavors, and producing a richer new taste experience. To emphasize heavy flavors, Colombian beans with full body and moderate acidity are preferred as the base, complemented by balanced Brazilian beans and rich, heavy-bodied coffee with prominent bitterness. If you want to add some sweetness, you can appropriately add some coffee beans with softer bitterness.

Brazil

Brazil - South Minas region: Coffee green beans have high moisture content and good quality.

Brazil's flavor characteristics: Comfortable bittersweet taste, extremely smooth on the palate; with a faint grassy aroma, fresh fragrance with a slight bitterness; sweet and smooth, with a pleasant aftertaste.

Moisture content: 11.7%

Brazilian coffee generally grows at altitudes of 1000-1300 meters, so its density is relatively low. Bourbon varieties are mostly processed using natural or pulped natural methods; moisture content is moderate, beans are relatively soft, and the thickness from the outer layer to the core is relatively thin, so they are not suitable for very high-temperature roasting, as the roaster's inner wall temperature can burn the outer layer, creating burnt bitterness.

At the same time, to highlight nutty, milk chocolate, and better body characteristics, and to serve as a blending base, we use a medium-heat bean-dropping method, maintaining heat until the dehydration stage, making fine adjustments as temperature rises after first crack begins, promoting more complete caramelization reactions, and increasing temperature until just before second crack when beans can be discharged.

Colombia - Huila

Flavor characteristics: Rich and solid mouthfeel, with pleasant acidity, aromatic and mellow aroma, moderate acidity, and rich sweetness that is intriguing. Due to low price and small bean size, suitable for blending mixed coffee. Coffee has strong flavor and relatively heavy texture.

Its nutty, chocolate, and caramel aromas and suitable acidity make it high-quality specialty coffee, suitable for single-origin or espresso blending base.

Product name: Colombia Huila

Moisture content: 12.5%

Colombian coffee plays many roles in the market and is suitable for espresso blending. Colombia generally grows at altitudes of 1500-1800 meters; mostly Caturra variety, washed processing method, high density, uniform bean size, and full beans (thicker from core to outer layer).

Based on the green bean flavor characteristics, I want to express its nutty, chocolate, and caramel aromas.

Roasting method: Extend the roasting time longer, so adjust heat once when dehydration is complete, open the air damper to maximum when roasting reaches first crack, and discharge beans when approaching second crack.

Roasted Beans: Commercial Colombia and Commercial Brazil

Brewing Analysis

Seven days after roasting,

this blended bean was extracted using espresso method respectively.

Blended bean formula: Brazil + Colombia

Flavor description:

What is SOE?

The term SOE is an abbreviation for Single Origin Espresso, which translates to "single-origin espresso coffee."

Single-origin coffee refers to coffee products made from only one type of coffee bean. For example, Kenya NDUMA AA, Colombia NARINO, etc. The "single" in single-origin coffee refers to traceable items, not varieties, because many coffee bean items actually contain multiple varieties. Single-origin more often refers to a single origin region. For example, Yirgacheffe typically has citrus flavors, Kenya has fruit flavors, and even if RUIRU11 variety beans are added, Kenya is still called single-origin.

Single-origin coffee can also be used to make Italian coffee, and Italian coffee can also use specialty coffee beans, commonly known as "SOE."

So why did this concept emerge? The entry point is the term "specialty coffee."

Example explanation:

SOE refers to espresso made from coffee beans of a single variety, single origin, and single roast level. So the question arises, for example, using natural-processed Yirgacheffe to make SOE:

Coffee origin: Ethiopia Yirgacheffe WOKA

Roast level: city+

Espresso flavor: Tropical fruit flavors, wine-like aroma, floral finish

Milk coffee: Toffee, milky fruit, smooth, soft acidity, persistent finish

This is a typical SOE product. As mentioned above, because it uses single-origin coffee beans, its flavor characteristics are very typical. Additionally, espresso itself amplifies the coffee's flavor, so compared to pour-over, the flavors are more prominent.

SOE Misconceptions

Misconception 1: SOE tastes better than blended coffee

Many factors determine whether a cup of coffee tastes good, such as coffee beans, roasting, coffee machine, brewing process, personal taste preferences, etc. SOE only refers to espresso made from single-origin coffee beans. The coffee beans used are not necessarily better than those used in blended coffee. Other factors also greatly influence coffee quality, so we cannot generalize about what makes good coffee!

Misconception 2: The term "SOE blended coffee" is non-standard

SOE beans are single-origin coffee beans, while blended beans are combinations of two or more single-origin coffee beans. Since they are blended beans, they cannot be called SOE beans. The contradictory term "SOE blended beans" does not exist!

How to Properly Taste Espresso and SOE

1. Typically, coffee shops serve espresso/SOE with a glass of water. First, drink a glass of water to adjust your taste buds to their cleanest, most original state.

2. Observe: the color and state of the crema, smell the rich coffee aroma emanating from the espresso. Your olfactory and visual nerves tell your brain that you're about to begin a perfect coffee tasting journey.

3. You need to take a small sip of espresso/SOE first, not rushing to swallow it. Like drinking red wine, let it linger between your lips and teeth for a while. Feel the relationship between its acidity and bitterness and its body, then swallow and wait for the aftertaste.

4. Most people are accustomed to finishing a cup of espresso/SOE in three sips, but if you prefer to savor it slowly, that's fine too. If you're used to adding sugar, that's not a problem either.

Italian Coffee Bean Brand Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee's roasted Italian coffee beans guarantee both brand and quality. More importantly, they offer extremely high value for money. Take the commercially recommended model—commercial blended coffee beans—as an example: one pack is one pound (454 grams), priced at only about 60 yuan. Calculating based on 10 grams of coffee powder per single shot of espresso, one pack can make 45 cups of coffee, with each cup costing less than 1.5 yuan. Even using double shots for each Italian coffee product (20 grams per serving), a double shot espresso costs no more than 3 yuan. Compared to certain famous brands selling packages for hundreds of yuan, this is truly a conscientious recommendation.

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