What are Blend Beans? Characteristics and Recommendations of Yunnan Espresso Blends - Must Espresso Coffee Be a Blend?

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Coffee enthusiasts know that single-origin coffee is mainly used for pour-over coffee, while espresso is made from blended coffee beans. So what exactly are blended coffee beans? Must espresso be made from blended coffee beans? In this article, FrontStreet Coffee will explain the content related to espresso coffee beans.

What are Italian-style blended coffee beans?

Italian-style blended coffee beans originated in Italy. According to FrontStreet Coffee's understanding, the initial emergence of Italian blends was due to the popularity of rich, bitter espresso at the time, while single-origin coffees had one-sided flavor profiles—both advantages and disadvantages coexisted. Additionally, high-quality single coffee beans were expensive, while blended coffee offered better value, being lower priced than single-origin coffee but still possessing unique flavors. Therefore, many Italians at the time chose blended coffee over single-origin coffee, and blended coffee developed and became popular as a result.

The reason why espresso offers better value than single-origin coffee is that traditional Italian-style blends mix Robusta variety coffee beans. Robusta coffee beans have mellow and rich flavors, and although their cupping scores don't reach those of single-origin coffee, when paired with single-origin coffee, they can provide richer, thicker coffee crema for espresso. Simultaneously, as a base for milk-based coffee, they can provide a thick, smooth texture.

Coffee enthusiast friends who often drink single-origin coffee know that single-origin coffee refers to traceable, single-region Arabica coffee beans with cupping scores above 80 points. Robusta's cupping grade cannot meet single-origin coffee standards, so it's not used as single-origin coffee. Moreover, Robusta's growing conditions are simpler, making it much cheaper than Arabica variety coffee beans.

Blended coffee beans naturally refer to the blending of two or more original beans, but a special case is that coffee beans of the same variety but different roasting degrees can also be blended together, and even new crop and aged coffee or old crop of the same coffee beans can be blended. Therefore, the types referred to in blending are no longer narrowly defined as coffee varieties but have extended broadly to coffee flavors. Generally, 2 to 6 types of coffee beans are used for blending; too many varieties would make it impossible to express the unique flavor of the coffee.

Why blend coffee beans?

The primary purpose of FrontStreet Coffee's Italian-style blend is to maintain stable flavor and balanced taste. Because coffee beans are always an agricultural product, their flavor can be unstable each year due to climate and environmental issues—perhaps sweeter this year, less so next year. Mixing several coffee beans together can solve this problem well, at least keeping the coffee flavor tasted each year consistent.

Another major factor is that espresso machines have a characteristic of amplifying the most prominent coffee flavors of coffee beans. For example, the main flavor of Ethiopian Yirgacheffe coffee beans at FrontStreet Coffee is citrus and lemon acidity, so the espresso machine will amplify its acidity, while Indonesian Mandheling's main flavor is herbal, earthy bitterness, so the espresso machine will amplify the bitter flavor. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee will not use single-variety coffee beans to make espresso, otherwise the resulting coffee would be very unbalanced and affect the taste. This is also why espresso should be made from blended coffee beans.

Can single-origin coffee beans be used to make espresso with an espresso machine?

Although FrontStreet Coffee mentioned above that single-origin coffee is not suitable for making espresso with an espresso machine, it doesn't mean it can't be done. However, espresso made from single-origin coffee beans has been given another name—SOE coffee. Making SOE coffee requires adjusting the ratio of espresso to milk or water. Reduce milk or water to highlight the coffee's flavor, so the coffee doesn't become too bland.

Finally, there are very strict requirements for selecting beans to make SOE. Although SOE has outstanding flavor expression, because it comes from a single origin, its disadvantages are also relatively easy to amplify. Therefore, factors such as roasting and particle coarseness will affect the flavor. SOE coffee is difficult to maintain stable coffee flavor, which is why FrontStreet Coffee does not offer it in-store.

How does FrontStreet Coffee blend Italian-style coffee beans?

Blending coffee beans is certainly not done casually. As FrontStreet Coffee mentioned above, espresso machines will amplify the original flavor of coffee beans, so FrontStreet Coffee suggests that only coffee beans with similar roasting degrees and flavors that can complement each other should be blended. If we were to blend FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe coffee beans with FrontStreet Coffee's Indonesian Mandheling coffee beans, it would probably be a "dark" drink. Therefore, coffee bean blending must strictly control blending ratios and flavor harmony to create coffee with good taste. This greatly tests the blender's understanding of coffee beans.

Additionally, FrontStreet Coffee mentioned above that Italian-style blended coffee beans are made by blending 2-6 types of original beans, and coffee original beans naturally need to be roasted and processed. Therefore, coffee blending is divided into raw blending and roasted blending.

Raw blended coffee beans

Raw blending means mixing coffee beans first and then roasting them, while roasted blending means roasting first and then mixing. FrontStreet Coffee believes that the advantage of raw blending lies in using the same roasting degree to make coffee flavors tend toward stability and uniformity, and one roasting session is sufficient. The same roasting degree also greatly reduces quality control difficulty and improves efficiency.

However, it's not perfect. Raw blending has very significant limitations, so FrontStreet Coffee generally recommends using beans with similar densities for raw blending. Otherwise, the flavor won't be as good as the original single-origin flavor. For example, beans suitable for light roasting must be roasted with other light-roast beans to achieve a doubly good effect, while pairing a light-roast bean with a dark-roast bean would be incompatible and lead to poor flavor.

Roasted blended coffee beans

FrontStreet Coffee believes that the advantage of roasted blending is that each bean can be roasted to its optimal degree, maximizing the characteristics of each bean. However, the disadvantage of roasted blending is that daily quality control and management become more difficult. Inconsistent roasting dates require more attention to multiple aging periods. Imagine using 4-5 coffee beans for roasted blending—one product would need to track 4-5 different roasting dates. Therefore, both roasted and raw blending have their own advantages and disadvantages, but the goal is the same: to make coffee flavor more delicious.

Of course, coffee blending also has two methods: one is blending coffee beans from different regions. For example, FrontStreet Coffee's Sunflower Warmth Italian-style blend uses FrontStreet Coffee's Honduras Sherry mixed with FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe Natural Red Cherry. Among them, FrontStreet Coffee's Sherry beans provide most of the fermented wine aroma, while FrontStreet Coffee's Natural Red Cherry beans provide fragrance and acidity.

Recommended blended coffee beans

As FrontStreet Coffee mentioned above, blending coffee beans is not an easy task. It's like a color palette—whether you can mix satisfactory colors depends on the painter's foundation. In other words, coffee blenders must understand the different flavor characteristics of major coffee-growing regions to mix attractive aromas and make coffee more delicious. This not only requires extensive coffee experience and inspiration but also precise ratio calculations. Therefore, it's no exaggeration to say that the process of blending coffee beans is an art. Next, FrontStreet Coffee will share the flavor characteristics of four blended coffee beans developed by FrontStreet Coffee's blenders over several years of research.

FrontStreet Coffee Sunflower Warmth Blend

Flavor: Obvious fruit acidity, light berry aroma, wine aroma, rich chocolate flavor, noticeable aftertaste.

Formula: FrontStreet Coffee Honduras Sherry : FrontStreet Coffee Yirgacheffe Red Cherry = 7:3

This blend from FrontStreet Coffee uses FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe Natural Red Cherry and FrontStreet Coffee's Honduras Sherry. FrontStreet Coffee's design concept for this blend is that it can be used for both espresso and pour-over. When used to make espresso, it emits obvious fermented wine aroma, and citrus and berry acidity immediately emerge when tasted, with whiskey-like aroma and a dark chocolate aftertaste.

When brewing this FrontStreet Coffee Sunflower Warmth blend using pour-over method, the flavor is not as rich as when making espresso. After brewing, it has fermented wine aroma and a little citrus fragrance. At high temperature, only obvious wine aroma and dark chocolate aftertaste are present. As the temperature decreases, the citrus and berry acidity will slightly emerge. The overall feeling is clean and fresh, without vanilla cream texture.

FrontStreet Coffee Premium Blend

Flavor: Gentle, slightly acidic, lightly sweet, nutty aftertaste, overall not too stimulating, balanced, medium crema.

Formula: Colombia : Brazil = 3:7

This blend from FrontStreet Coffee uses Brazil and Colombia. It tastes with light roasted grass aroma, fresh fragrance with slight bitterness, sweet and smooth, with a pleasant aftertaste. This is because coffee beans from Colombia's Huila region have pleasant acidity, aromatic aroma, moderate acidity, and rich sweetness that is intriguing. Coffee beans from Brazil's Cerrado region have comfortable bittersweet flavor and are extremely smooth when tasted. So the combination is simply wonderful. This FrontStreet Coffee Italian-style blend is suitable for daily cafe operations.

FrontStreet Coffee Commercial Blend

Flavor: Caramel sweetness, nutty and cocoa-like, dark chocolate flavors, balanced sweet and sour, slightly bitter, persistent aftertaste.

Formula: Colombia : Brazil : Robusta = 3:6:1

This blend from FrontStreet Coffee uses Brazilian and Colombian coffee beans and 10% Robusta coffee beans. The flavor is classic. FrontStreet Coffee believes this blend tastes with rich crema and texture, caramel sweetness, nutty and cocoa-like, dark chocolate flavors, balanced sweet and sour, slightly bitter, with persistent aftertaste. This FrontStreet Coffee commercial blend, like FrontStreet Coffee's Premium Blend, uses Colombian and Brazilian coffee beans, but the addition of Robusta provides rich crema, making the coffee texture more mellow and meeting the daily production needs of coffee shops.

FrontStreet Coffee Basic Blend

Flavor: Gentle fruit acidity, caramel sweetness, nutty, dark chocolate flavors, smooth and thick, but taste is somewhat light.

Formula: Yunnan : Brazil = 3:7

This blend from FrontStreet Coffee uses Brazil and Yunnan. FrontStreet Coffee believes it tastes with gentle fruit acidity and caramel sweetness, as well as nutty, dark chocolate flavors, smooth and thick, but the taste is somewhat light. This is because Yunnan's natural conditions are very similar to Colombia's—high altitude, large temperature differences between day and night, mellow aroma type, moderate acidity, rich and mellow flavor, uniform particles, high oil content, and fruity aroma. Its quality and texture are similar to Colombian coffee. However, the taste is slightly lighter than Colombia's, while coffee beans from Brazil's Cerrado region have comfortable bittersweet flavor and are extremely smooth when tasted. Therefore, the flavor of these two coffee beans mixed together is also good, and this basic blend coffee bean offers excellent value, suitable for espresso beginners and small coffee shops, as well as for store and home users who prioritize cost and have general flavor requirements.

The above is the information about Italian-style blended coffee beans compiled by FrontStreet Coffee, hoping to help coffee enthusiasts better understand related knowledge and choose Italian-style coffee beans suitable for their taste preferences.

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