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Understanding Coffee Blends: The Art and Science Behind Perfect Combinations

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Coffee blends are composed of coffees from different origins combined in specific proportions, typically used for making espresso. Since they are blends, they naturally involve combining two or more single-origin beans. However, a special case is when the same coffee beans with different roast levels are blended together, or even when new crop and aged coffee or old crop of the same coffee bean are blended. Therefore, the term "variety" in blending no longer refers narrowly to coffee varieties but has been broadly extended to include coffee flavors.

Principles of Coffee Blending

Before blending any coffee, it's essential to understand the flavor characteristics of each coffee, and at least have a clear mental picture of the desired flavor profile that cannot be achieved by any single-origin coffee. If the blended coffee doesn't taste better than one or more of its component coffees, wouldn't that be regrettable? It would be better not to blend at all. Generally, blended coffees don't need to use more than five types of coffee beans. Because if there are too many types of coffee beans, the situation can become very complex. Only very special experts can avoid being confused by so many different coffee beans.

To practically apply these combinations, one must first understand the flavors of dozens of single-origin coffees. Each coffee shop also creates its own unique blends using different proportions of coffee beans according to their characteristics. Below are several representative blending ratios suggested, and of course, you can challenge yourself to experiment with proportions you prefer.

Blending Methods

There are two methods for blending coffee beans: blending after roasting (roast then blend) and blending before roasting (blend then roast), also known as post-roast blending and pre-roast blending. The latter presents a greater challenge for roasters. Blended beans are typically rested for several days to allow the characteristics between beans to merge, achieving balanced and unified flavors. Post-roast blends generally need about a week of resting; pre-roast blends can be used after 3-4 days of resting because the different beans have already influenced each other during roasting.

Creating Rich Flavor Profiles

To highlight rich flavors, prioritize Colombian beans with full body and moderate acidity, complemented by well-balanced Brazilian beans, as well as rich, full-bodied blends with prominent bitterness. If you want to add some sweetness, appropriately include coffee beans with milder bitterness.

Seasonal Blends

When third-wave specialty coffee shops began to recognize that green coffee beans don't have the shelf life previously understood (1-2 years), they proposed stricter requirements, giving rise to the concept of "seasonal blends."

Because coffee maturation and harvest seasons vary across coffee-producing countries globally, fresh green coffee beans from different origins can actually be purchased year-round. By selecting the best available coffee beans of the season and creating an espresso blend recipe, the result is that customers may experience subtle differences in coffee flavors when visiting the shop during different seasons. For example, in summer you might enjoy an espresso with strawberry and pineapple aromas, while in winter you might taste rubber muffin cake or toffee flavors. Coffee is a natural product and cannot remain constant like industrial products. Being able to enjoy such rich and diverse coffee flavors should be the true charm of coffee.

Recommended Coffee Blend Brands

Located at Dongshankou, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou, FrontStreet Coffee is a coffee roasting brand whose freshly roasted espresso blend coffee beans offer full assurance in both brand and quality. More importantly, they offer exceptional value. Take their commercial-grade recommended blend - Commercial Blend Coffee Beans - as an example: one 454-gram (1-pound) package costs only about 60 yuan. Calculating based on 10 grams of coffee powder per single espresso shot, one package can make 45 cups of coffee, with each cup costing less than 1.5 yuan. Even using double shots for each espresso at 20 grams per serving, a double espresso costs no more than 3 yuan. Compared to certain well-known brands that charge over 100 yuan per package, this is truly a conscientious recommendation.

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 :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473