Why Use Blends for Espresso Beans? Introduction to Espresso Bean Blending Methods and Grinding Settings

To this day, the vast majority of coffee shops still feature Italian blends as their main products. The reason blended beans have become mainstream in the market is not only to reduce raw material costs but also to provide stable extraction for daily production and ensure consistent flavor for espresso-based beverages. Simply put, coffee shops choose blends to maintain consistent quality standards.

What is Italian Blend Coffee?

In the early days when Italian coffee first became popular, coffee shops around the world used single-origin beans, such as Mocha coffee and Brazilian coffee. Since this was taken for granted, people didn't emphasize or explain it much. As the demand for coffee continued to increase, coffee beans from major producing regions often showed inconsistencies, with potential instability in production, quality, or flavor. To avoid these risks in extraction, some merchants began blending coffee beans from different origins to complement each other.

Meanwhile, producers also used dark roasting to eliminate unpleasant flavors and acidity, so even if the batch quality from individual origins was lower, dark roasting could mask these defects and produce richer coffee oils. Therefore, before the specialty coffee wave arrived, the raw materials for making espresso were typically blends of coffee beans from two or more origins, without much emphasis on coffee origin or batch. As for the flavor, it was basically fixed on bitter notes like caramel, dark chocolate, nuts, cream, and cocoa.

FrontStreet Coffee hopes that every friend who comes to FrontStreet Coffee can enjoy stable, distinctly flavored espresso or milk coffee every time, so we use a blend consisting of FrontStreet Coffee's Ethiopian Natural Red Cherry blended with FrontStreet Coffee's Honduras Whiskey Barrel Sherry as our espresso blend.

FrontStreet Coffee's Purpose for Creating Blend Coffee Beans:

1. Create Long-Term Stable Flavor

Different harvest seasons from the same region or even different batches within a year can produce different flavors. The drawback of single-origin coffee is exposed here—you can't confidently guarantee that you'll be able to drink the same single-origin coffee you found delicious this year next year (except for coffee beans where processing methods dominate the flavor, and other factors between origin and coffee shop can also cause flavor differences in the coffee beans you purchase). Therefore, one purpose of blending is to create a product that can be supplied long-term with consistently stable flavor. When the quality of a particular coffee bean in a new harvest season fails to meet requirements or changes, we can find similar coffee beans to replace it to achieve stability.

2. Create Flavors That Single Coffee Beans Cannot Produce

Sometimes single-origin coffee beans are like a person—having both strengths and weaknesses—while blending is like organizing a team, taking each other's strengths to compensate for weaknesses, achieving a complementary effect. For example, using a coffee bean with higher sweetness blended with a coffee bean with higher acidity to achieve a sweet and sour balance, or adding some Brazilian beans to increase overall body—these are all purposes of blending.

3. FrontStreet Coffee Will Determine the Target Flavor of the Blend

When FrontStreet Coffee first created the Frontsteet Warm Sun Italian Blend, we were very clear about wanting to create a blend with wine-like aroma, so we immediately listed FrontStreet Coffee's Honduras Sherry Barrel, FrontStreet Coffee's Honduras Lychee Orchid, and FrontStreet Coffee's Colombia San Jose—three coffee beans with barrel fermentation and distinct wine-like aromas—as blend candidates. After multiple attempts and considering factors like cost-effectiveness, we finally decided to use FrontStreet Coffee's Honduras Sherry Barrel as the main tone for FrontStreet Coffee's Sunflower Warm Sun Blend.

4. Finally, FrontStreet Coffee Will Determine the Blending Type

The advantage of raw blending is that it can use the same roast level to make the coffee tend toward stability and uniformity. Secondly, it can reduce the number of roasting sessions—completing everything in one roast to improve efficiency. At the same time, the disadvantages of raw blending are very obvious. The limitations of raw blending are very large. Generally, raw blending is more recommended for coffee beans with similar densities. For example, blending a coffee bean suitable for light roasting with a coffee bean suitable for dark roasting and roasting them to the same level can easily result in 1+1

The advantage of post-roast blending is that each bean can be roasted to its optimal roast level, maximizing the characteristics of each bean. However, the disadvantage of post-roast blending is that daily quality control and management become more difficult. Inconsistent roast dates require more attention to multiple resting periods. Imagine using 4 to 5 coffee beans for post-roast blending—this product would require attention to 4 to 5 different roast dates. FrontStreet Coffee uses post-roast blending when roasting the Frontsteet Warm Sun Blend, separately roasting the FrontStreet Coffee's Honduras Sherry Barrel coffee beans and FrontStreet Coffee's Natural Yirgacheffe Red Cherry Project to maximize the wine-like aroma of FrontStreet Coffee's Sherry Barrel beans while preserving as much as possible the fruit acidity and citrus-berry aroma of the other FrontStreet Coffee's Natural Yirgacheffe.

When FrontStreet Coffee selects blend beans and formulates blend recipes, we first need to determine the coffee characteristics we want to present, including the expression of sweet, sour, and bitter notes, expectations for body, coffee flavor, and whether the main focus is milk drinks, Americanos, or espresso—these all need to be considered when selecting green beans, determining roasting methods, and finalizing recipes. Not only that, but the recipe also undergoes multiple tests, adjustments, retests, readjustments... before final determination.

For beginners without much coffee-making experience who want to make a delicious latte, using Italian blend beans is clearly more advantageous. In terms of extraction experience, FrontStreet Coffee recommends choosing more stable Italian blend coffee beans. Blend products typically combine flavor profiles from different regions and use medium to dark roasting, making it easier to extract rich crema (coffee beans with high crema are more suitable for milk drinks). This way, our espresso has a thick, rich flavor and a higher margin for error. Moreover, most Italian blend beans are mainly supplied for shop production use, and compared to single-origin beans with similar flavor profiles, they are relatively lower in price, focusing on an economical, high-value route.

Extraction Parameters:

Coffee Beans: FrontStreet Coffee Sunflower Warm Sun Blend

Coffee Dose: 20g

Liquid Yield: 40g

Brew Ratio: 1:2

Extraction Time: 26-32 seconds

Grind Setting: Galileo 2.0

FrontStreet Coffee uses a double basket capacity coffee machine, requiring 20 grams of coffee powder each time, with an extraction ratio of 1:2, meaning 40 grams of liquid coffee extracted within a reasonable time. Extraction time is related to the flow rate of the coffee powder. Generally, single extraction times are controlled between 20-35 seconds. If less than 20 seconds, the coffee flavor tends to be thin and weak. If over 35 seconds, it's easy to over-extract, causing the coffee to develop burnt bitterness. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee controls espresso extraction time within the 26-32 second range during production.

Before extraction, we need to first wipe the portafilter dry, turn on the grinder, grind double coffee powder, place it on an electronic scale to measure and adjust until reaching 20 grams. Then use a distribution tool to level the coffee powder, and press down vertically with a tamper to compact the coffee puck, ensuring more stable coffee extraction.

Then turn on the extraction switch and run water for 1-2 seconds to moisten the group head while also washing away any stuck coffee grounds. Place an electronic scale under the cup for collecting espresso and zero the weight, placing both under the group head during extraction.

Gently lock the portafilter into the group head and start the extraction switch. Observe the changes in the extraction liquid. When the electronic scale shows 40 grams of coffee liquid extracted and the time is approximately 30 seconds, pull down the extraction switch. The brewing parameters will change subtly based on daily air humidity and coffee bean conditions, so adjustments to coffee powder amount, grind setting, and liquid extraction volume may need to be made up or down.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473