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?

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Coffee blending refers to the process of combining two or more different varieties of coffee, or the same variety of coffee with different roasting levels, in certain proportions. Coffee blending is not simply about addition; instead, it relies on the blender's unique understanding of coffee flavors to make different coffee beans complement each other, creating an exceptionally flavorful blended coffee.

Coffee blending is like an artist mixing captivating colors on a palette. Blenders can create enticing flavors based on the different characteristics of coffee beans. It's no exaggeration to call blending an art form. As artists, blenders need not only experience and inspiration but also precise scientific calculations. The creation of art is never accidental but rather 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 that blended coffee is only suitable for extraction methods with espresso machines and cannot be used for single-origin coffee brewing methods like pour-over drippers or French presses. In fact, it's equally suitable.

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

Let's talk about blending. The blending in espresso differs from single-origin coffee. Single-origin coffee emphasizes regional flavors. For example, FrontStreet Coffee Yirgacheffe and FrontStreet Coffee Sidamo coffee beans from Ethiopia are famous for their rich fruit notes, with high-quality acidity tasting like citrus fruits. The aroma resembles floral notes. Indonesian coffees are primarily known for their full body, with flavors reminiscent of herbal medicine, tree bark, vegetation, and the fresh scent of soil after rain - considered superior quality. Beans from Central America like Colombia primarily feature cocoa and chocolate flavors, but also include beans from major producing regions like Brazil, which tend to be mediocre 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 characteristics. For example, Americano made with SOE from Yirgacheffe beans tastes pleasantly sweet and sour. Colombian beans used to make lattes and cappuccinos with milk will also have nutty flavors.

However, if you use Yirgacheffe SOE to make lattes or cappuccinos, while it's not unpleasant to drink, it's just not suitable for milk-based coffees as it can make the milk taste sour. (This is why an SOE café will typically have at least two grinders to separately grind beans for Americanos and milk-based drinks.)

This is precisely why espresso blends exist. For example, if I want to create a blend with rich nutty, cocoa, and chocolate flavors, I might start with 40% beans from Central America like Colombia. If I want the coffee to have 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 adding water or milk to the espresso, I can achieve my desired profile. This is what most coffee shops use as their blended coffee.

Moreover, coffee blending can amplify the strengths of certain beans while masking their flaws, or achieve what 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 desired effects through roasting techniques. Others mix defective beans with Arabica beans 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 coffee beans. In Italy, a bag of coffee 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 coffee beans of unknown origin. In reality, blended beans can also be made entirely from specialty coffee beans and can be excellent to drink.

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

The Rise of Single-Origin Espresso Trend

SOE represents Single Origin Espresso. While not necessarily equivalent to specialty coffee, if you choose single-origin coffee beans with easily identifiable flavors for SOE, you can create distinctive and typical flavored 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 specific characteristics more prominent compared to pour-over. However, while SOE performs exceptionally well, because it comes from a single origin, its flaws are also relatively easier to amplify. Factors such as roasting and grind size all affect the flavor, so it's not 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 degrees were used, but the differences weren't significant enough to affect extraction.

I conducted several blend tests with these three roasted beans in different proportions. The blended beans scored higher in cupping than the three individual roasted beans, so I determined the ratio: 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 the wine-like characteristics.

Kochere accounts for 30%, and its bright acidity combines with Elida's sweetness to make the entire 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 each one's characteristics, consider their pros and cons, then blend. This is more troublesome than blind blending and cupping, but it's an indispensable step for the final product.

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

• You can also blend using a single variety with multiple roast degrees to improve the drawback of single-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, featuring layered flavors.

• Selecting complementary coffees for blending can achieve a 1+1>2 effect, but pay attention to proportions to avoid losing balance. The common "Blue Mountain style" is made from Brazil + Colombia + Mandheling. These three coffees have complementary and enhancing acidity, bitterness, and sweetness. Proper proportions can create 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 V60 has many ribs and drains quickly, pausing during pouring can extend extraction time.

Important Notice :

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Tel:020 38364473