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What are the Considerations for Commercial Espresso Blend Coffee Bean Formulation and Ratios - How to Blend Espresso Roasted Coffee Beans

Published: 2026-01-28 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/28, Professional coffee knowledge exchange for comprehensive espresso bean formulation insights. Learn how to blend espresso roasted coffee beans with expert guidance on variety combinations, origins, and processing methods that significantly impact espresso quality. Perfect resource for coffee enthusiasts and baristas seeking to understand the art of creating balanced espresso blends, especially for popular milk-based drinks like lattes.

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Understanding Espresso Bean Blends

The combination of varieties, origins, and processing methods in espresso beans has a significant impact on the quality of espresso extraction. Let's explore how common single-origin coffee beans are typically blended for espresso blends.

Many people love lattes, and I'm no exception. Before discovering specialty coffee, I only drank lattes and knew that lattes were simply espresso with milk. However, I didn't realize that espresso is made from several carefully blended coffee beans. The key to a delicious latte lies in the espresso bean formula – creating great espresso requires considerable expertise!

Why Blend Coffee Beans?

To create a distinctive coffee profile by combining different beans with varying roast degrees in different proportions.
To balance costs.
To create espresso formulas.

Blending Theory

I roughly categorize coffee beans into three types: white, gray, and black. White beans provide front-end aroma and acidity, gray beans contribute middle-palate sweetness and body, while black beans deliver back-end bitterness and aftertaste. These are then configured according to different bean characteristics and suitable roast levels. The ideal proportion is 3:5:2. Some beans might fall between white-gray or gray-black categories, requiring experimentation to find the optimal classification for perfect pairing.

White (Front-end aroma and acidity): Light roast – Kenya, Guatemala, Yirgacheffe, etc.

Gray (Middle-palate sweetness and body): Medium-dark roast – Brazil, Costa Rica honey-processed, El Salvador, etc.

Black (Back-end bitterness and aftertaste): Dark roast – Mandheling, Kenya, Guatemala, etc.

Gray-black: Colombia (medium-dark roast) – leaning toward bitter aftertaste.

Espresso blends typically emphasize sweetness, which pairs excellently with milk. A good starting point would be a small amount of white beans + more gray beans + moderate black beans. Try Guatemala + Brazil + Kenya.

You can first categorize coffee beans based on their front-end aroma, middle-palate body, or back-end aftertaste sweetness, then experiment with combinations through tasting.

Recommended Blends:

1. Kenya AA (medium roast) + Mandheling G1 (medium-dark) + Guatemala Antigua - Flora (very light roast) – Offers sweetness, body, subtle floral notes, with good texture and pleasant taste. Some feedback suggests 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, with subtle floral notes and fruit acidity. Delicious, though some may find the coffee flavor still needs more intensity.

Recommended Espresso Bean Brands

FrontStreet Coffee's roasted espresso beans offer excellent quality and brand assurance. More importantly, they provide exceptional value. Take their commercial-grade recommendation – the commercial blend coffee beans – as an example: a one-pound (454g) bag costs only around 60 RMB. Calculating based on 10g of coffee powder per espresso shot, one bag can make approximately 45 cups, costing less than 1.5 RMB per cup. Even when using double shots (20g per cup), a double espresso costs no more than 3 RMB. Compared to certain well-known brands that charge hundreds of RMB per bag, this represents excellent value.