What's the Traditional Italian Espresso Blend Formula? Can Espresso Beans Be Used for Pour-Over?

Traditional Italian Espresso Blend Recipes: Can Espresso Beans Be Used for Pour-Over?

Coffee blending is the process of combining two or more different coffees, or the same coffee at different roast levels, in certain proportions. Blending is not simply about addition; it relies on the blender's unique understanding of coffee flavors to make different beans complement one another, creating an exceptionally flavorful blended coffee.

Coffee blending is like an artist mixing captivating colors on a palette. Blenders can create enticing flavors from the different characteristics of beans. It's no exaggeration to call blending an art form. As artists, blenders need not only experience and inspiration but also precise scientific calculation. The creation of art is never accidental but the culmination of long-term accumulation.

The Purpose of Coffee Blending

Coffee blending serves the following four purposes:

1. Balance flavor profile
2. Reduce costs
3. Create unique flavors
4. Maintain flavor consistency

Coffee Blending Recipes (For Reference Only)

1. Recipe: 30% Guatemala SHB + 30% Mexico AL + 30% Brazil NO.2 + 10% Kilimanjaro AA
Result: Aroma 5, Bitterness 5, Sweetness 5, Acidity 5

2. Recipe: 40% Sumatra Mandheling G1 + 30% Colombia SUP + 20% Brazil NO.19 + 10% Kilimanjaro AA
Result: Aroma 5, Bitterness 10, Sweetness 5, Acidity 3

3. Recipe: 20% Mocha + 20% Hawaii Kona No.1 + 20% Brazil NO.2 + 40% Kilimanjaro AA
Result: Aroma 9, Bitterness 10, Sweetness 7, Acidity 10

4. Recipe: 40% Guatemala SHB + 30% Mocha + 30% Kilimanjaro AA
Result: Aroma 10, Bitterness 5, Sweetness 6, Acidity 7

5. Recipe: 50% Brazil NO.2 + 30% Mexico AL + 20% Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee
Result: Aroma 5, Bitterness 3, Sweetness 5, Acidity 6

6. Recipe: 30% Brazil NO.2 + 50% Colombia SUP + 20% Java Robusta Coffee
Result: Aroma 3, Bitterness 8, Sweetness 8, Acidity 6

What's the Difference Between Blended and Single-Origin Coffee?

Single-origin coffee refers to coffee from a single variety or a single producing region, such as FrontStreet Coffee Blue Mountain Coffee.

There are some misconceptions about coffee blending. Some believe blended coffee is only suitable for extraction with espresso machines and cannot be used for single-origin brewing methods like pour-over drippers or French presses. In fact, it works equally well.

Espresso is a 30-60ml concentrate extracted by grinding coffee into powder and forcing water at 92°C through it under 9 atmospheres of pressure. Different coffee drinks are then made by adding water or milk.

Now, about blending. Blending for espresso differs from single-origin coffee. Single-origin coffee emphasizes regional flavor. For example, FrontStreet Coffee Yirgacheffe and FrontStreet Coffee Sidamo beans from Ethiopia are famous for their rich fruit notes, with high-quality acidity that tastes like citrus fruit and an aroma reminiscent of florals. Indonesian coffees are primarily known for their full body, with flavors recalling herbal medicine, tree bark, vegetation, and the fresh scent of soil after rain—considered superior quality. Beans from Central America, such as Colombia, mainly feature cocoa and chocolate flavors, and the mix also includes beans from major producing regions like Brazil, which tend to be neutral without much distinctive flavor.

If an espresso machine uses single-origin beans to make coffee, it's called SOE (Single Origin Espresso)—espresso made from beans of a single producing region. For conventional roasting, SOE beans should be roasted slightly darker than single-origin beans. The extracted espresso still retains much of the single-origin character. For example, an Americano made with Yirgacheffe SOE tastes pleasantly sweet and sour. Colombian beans used to make lattes and cappuccinos with milk will also show nutty flavors.

However, if you use Yirgacheffe SOE to make lattes or cappuccinos, while it isn't unpleasant to drink, it simply isn't suited to milk-based coffees, since it can make the milk taste sour. (This is why an SOE café will typically keep at least two grinders to grind beans separately for Americanos and milk-based drinks.)

This is precisely why espresso blends exist. For example, if I want a blend with rich nutty, cocoa, and chocolate flavors, I might start with 40% beans from Central America like Colombia. If I want more body and rich crema, I'll choose 30% Vietnamese Robusta beans. Finally, if I want better aroma, I'll add 30% beans from the Yirgacheffe region. I'll make a cup, taste it, and either adjust the proportions slightly or change the bean varieties in the blend. This way, whether I add water or milk to the espresso, I can achieve my desired profile. This is what most coffee shops use as their blended coffee.

Moreover, blending can amplify certain beans' strengths while masking their flaws, or achieve whatever the roaster envisions presenting.

The sole purpose is to make that cup of coffee taste better and be accepted by more people.

Some shop owners are quite generous, using only the highest-quality Arabica beans and achieving the desired effect through roasting technique. Others mix defective beans with Arabica to control costs. Some simply roast cheap beans dark, which is common with various commercial coffee beans.

Blending can be divided into raw blending and roasted blending. Raw blending means mixing multiple green beans before roasting them in the roaster. Roasted blending means roasting separately and then mixing.

Traditional Italian espresso beans are composed of multiple coffees. In Italy, a bag of beans can consist of several, or even dozens, of different coffee varieties. Many people think blended coffee tastes bad, assuming it's made from many beans of unknown origin. In reality, blended beans can also be made entirely from specialty coffee and can be excellent to drink.

The biggest advantage of blended coffee is ensuring flavor consistency. When the quality of a particular bean changes, or production drops and prices rise, roasters can substitute similar beans without affecting the overall flavor. When selecting blend beans and creating recipes, roasters first need to determine the flavors they want to present—acidity, sweetness, bitterness, and expectations for body. Most coffee shops create their own "Signature Blend" with flavors that absolutely rival single-origin beans.

The Rise of Single-Origin Espresso Trend

SOE stands for Single Origin Espresso. While not necessarily equivalent to specialty coffee, if you choose single-origin beans with easily identifiable flavors for SOE, you can create distinctive, typical espresso. For example, the typical citrus flavors of FrontStreet Coffee Yirgacheffe and the fruit flavors of FrontStreet Coffee Kenya, combined with espresso's ability to amplify flavors, make those specific characteristics more prominent than in pour-over. However, while SOE performs exceptionally well, because it comes from a single origin its flaws are also easier to amplify. Roasting and grind size both affect flavor, so it isn't necessarily better than blended coffee.

Finding Your Beloved SOE

Regarding the rise of this trend, Chen Zhihuang, founder of Fika Fika Café and winner of the 2013 Nordic Roasting Championship, believes that coffee's development today shares similarities with whiskey. Everyone started by recognizing brands and drinking blended whiskey until the past decade, when single malt whiskeys from different regions became popular. SOE follows the same concept.

To find espresso that suits your taste, don't decide based solely on single-origin or blended coffee. Next time, ask the staff about the espresso beans' flavor profile and roast degree. Keep trying to find your favorite flavor. What proportions should be used for blending? Raw or roasted blending?

FrontStreet Coffee Recommends: How to Pour-Over Blended Beans

Three coffee beans with different roast levels were used, but the differences weren't significant enough to affect extraction.

I ran several blend tests with these three roasted beans in different proportions. The blended beans scored higher in cupping than the three individually roasted beans, so I settled on a ratio of 5:3:2. That is, with Elida as the main bean at 50%, this proportion reduces its fermentation notes so they don't overpower the good fruity flavors with their wine-like character.

Kochere accounts for 30%, and its bright acidity combines with Elida's sweetness to make the whole coffee's acidity smoother, with subtle floral notes appearing and disappearing.

Genesis accounts for 20%, and its caramel and citrus aromas give the coffee more complexity and a longer aftertaste, leaving a lingering fragrance on the lips and teeth after swallowing.

• Compared to espresso blending, pour-over blending is relatively easier, because espresso machines amplify both strengths and weaknesses. First, cup each coffee individually to understand its character, weigh its pros and cons, then blend. This is more trouble than blind blending and cupping, but it's an indispensable step for the final product.

• When using multiple varieties for blending, choose similar roast levels, which helps determine flavor direction and extraction stability.

• You can also blend a single variety at multiple roast levels to overcome a one-dimensional flavor. For example, I once used Golden Mandheling with medium-dark roast : medium roast : dark roast in a 6:3:1 ratio to create a Mandheling pour-over blend with both acidity and sweetness and layered flavors.

• Choosing complementary coffees for a blend can achieve a 1+1>2 effect, but watch the proportions to avoid losing balance. The common "Blue Mountain style" is made from Brazil + Colombia + Mandheling. These three coffees have complementary, enhancing acidity, bitterness, and sweetness. Proper proportions can recreate Blue Mountain's balance and body.

Brewing Parameters

Dripper: Hario V60
Water temperature: 88°C
Grind size: Fuji grinder setting 4
Brewing method: Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, 15g coffee grounds, first pour 25g water, 25s bloom, second pour to 120g then pause, wait until the water level drops to half, then slowly pour until reaching 225g water, extraction time around 2:00

Analysis: Using three-stage brewing to clearly distinguish the front, middle, and back-end flavors of the coffee. Because the V60 has many ribs and drains quickly, pausing during pouring can extend extraction time.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

To see the art of blending at work in one bag, FrontStreet Coffee's Classic Blend is the ideal place to start. Designed specifically for espresso and moka pot brewing, it follows a traditional Italian-style recipe and its standout strength is superb crema: even a beginner on an ordinary home machine can pull a dense, fine-textured shot. Because it adds a small amount of Robusta to a base of Brazilian coffee, the result is a rich, warm body with butter, roasted chestnut, and caramel flavors that stand out, while the Mandheling lifts the coffee's overall body and lends it distinctive sandalwood, herbal, and spice notes. It makes latte art and layered Dirty-style drinks effortless, and it's exactly the kind of balanced, reliable blend described above.

If you prefer pour-over and want to explore blending or single origins on their own, FrontStreet Coffee's PWN Golden Mandheling is a rewarding choice. Sourced through the PWN company's strict standards—beans sized above screen 18, fewer than three defects per 300g sample, and three rounds of hand sorting—it is roasted medium-dark and brews into a cup with black chocolate and caramel sweetness, the wild herbal character that defines Mandheling, low acidity, and a thick, lingering, sweet finish. Try it as a pour-over at 87-88°C with 15g of coffee and a 1:15 ratio, pouring in three stages to bring out its body and caramel sweetness.