Differences Between Single Origin, Specialty, and Blend Coffee Beans - What is Espresso Blend

Single origin coffee is pure coffee made from beans ground from a single origin, typically consumed without milk or sugar.

Single Origin is defined in contrast to Blended Coffee. Simply put, single origin can refer to coffee from a single producing country, a single growing region, or even a single estate.

An important characteristic of single origin coffee is its traceability, allowing coffee enthusiasts to know that these high-quality coffees come from specific estates, and that the flavors represent the origin, growing region, and bean variety.

Coffees like FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain, FrontStreet Coffee's Kenya, FrontStreet Coffee's Colombia, and FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe all belong to single origin coffees. Each variety develops unique flavors due to climate differences in their origin regions. Without milk or sugar, you can fully appreciate the original taste of coffee. We typically refer to them uniformly as "black coffee."

With the arrival of the third wave of coffee, more and more coffee enthusiasts pursue knowledge about coffee, such as brewing methods and origin flavors, which has contributed to the popularization of single origin coffee.

What is Specialty Coffee?

Single origin coffee can be further divided into specialty grade coffee beans and commercial grade single origin coffee.

There is a clear definition for specialty coffee:

Only when grown under the most favorable microclimate and soil conditions can unique-flavored specialty coffee be produced. Moreover, only coffee scoring 80 points or above according to the SCA (Specialty Coffee Association) is considered specialty coffee. Coffee scoring below 80 points cannot be considered specialty coffee and is classified as commercial grade single origin coffee.

Single origin coffee is generally extracted using brewing methods such as siphon or pour-over, and can be chosen according to personal taste preferences.

The advantage of single origin coffee is its ability to better preserve the original flavor of the coffee.

What are Blended Coffee Beans?

Blended coffee beans are created by roasters or baristas who mix coffee beans from different origins to achieve a more balanced flavor profile.

For example, if a coffee bean is smooth but lacks aroma, another bean rich in aroma can be added to combine the advantages of different coffee beans. Sometimes the beans are mixed first and then roasted, while other times they are roasted separately and then blended.

Blending is both a technique and an art, reflecting the style of the roaster or barista. Through blending, coffee flavors become more balanced, smoother, and more consistent, making them more appealing to the general public.

On the other hand, blending can also reduce costs to some extent. Therefore, blended coffee is much cheaper than single origin coffee.

The specialty coffees we often drink, such as Americano, latte, mocha, and caramel macchiato, use espresso as a base and are combined with milk, foam, various syrups, or cream. These specialty coffees are all products of blended coffee beans.

Does Single Origin Coffee Taste Better than Blended Coffee?

When drinking single origin coffee, the purpose is to experience the true taste of coffee, so sugar or milk is not added.

Some roasters point out that if single origin coffee beans are brewed using an espresso machine to make Single Origin Espresso, the various characteristics of the coffee—such as acidity, sweetness, and bitterness—are amplified under high pressure, which may not be acceptable to everyone.

Therefore, it's not necessarily true that single origin coffee always tastes better.

When brewed using methods like pour-over or AeroPress, the harshness is much lower than that of single origin espresso, making it more easily accepted.

Additionally, with light or medium roast, coffee flavors are more easily accepted. Of course, you can also try adding water to dilute high-concentration single origin coffee.

Important Notice :

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