What is the Definition of Espresso Coffee? Is There a Big Difference Between Blended and Single-Origin Coffee Beans?

FrontStreet Coffee - Introduction to Single Origin and Blended Coffee Differences

Espresso is a type of coffee with an intense flavor profile, prepared by forcing very hot but not boiling water under high pressure through finely ground coffee.

In terms of texture, espresso has a thicker consistency than drip coffee and contains more dissolved solids per unit volume. It is typically served in "shots." Chemically, espresso is complex and variable, with many components that break down through oxidation or as temperature drops. Properly prepared espresso has a distinctive feature: the presence of crema, a reddish-brown foam that floats on the surface. It is composed of vegetable oils, proteins and sugars, and combines elements of both emulsions and foam colloids.

The short, high-pressure brewing process concentrates the unique flavors of coffee, making them more intense than with other brewing methods. The shorter extraction time, however, results in lower caffeine content. Espresso often serves as the base for coffee drinks mixed with other ingredients (such as milk or cocoa powder), like lattes, cappuccinos, macchiatos and mochas, without overly diluting the coffee components.

Single Origin Coffee

Just as the name suggests: single origin really does mean beans from the same variety and the same origin arriving in your cup. If you are a black coffee enthusiast reading this, you might think, "I often get asked this question: why do I need to pay an extra $0.5 for each cup of black coffee?"

The answer is quite simple. Single origin coffee is typically specialty coffee; it is seasonal (and therefore limited in production) and is often used by farmers, roasters and baristas to showcase their techniques and skills. As for your taste buds, you will typically experience many different flavors. Here is a small memo about the possible flavors in single origin coffee (remember: this memo is only useful when tasting black coffee):

Central & South American Coffee:

Colombia, Nicaragua, Brazil: chocolate, nuts, caramel

African Coffee:

Ethiopia, Tanzania, Rwanda: sweet, acidic, nutty, lemony, sometimes tart

Asian Coffee:

India, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea: fruity, spicy, savory

Blended Coffee

75% of people who order a milk-based coffee, a flat white or latte, will get a cup of specially blended coffee from the café. Put in cooler coffee terminology, it is coffee made from a mixture of beans from multiple origins. Roasters simultaneously roast two to four types of coffee beans from different origins and growing countries, with each type roasted in a different way.

To provide the coffee flavors you like best, the components are all mixed according to different ratios (roasting and blending). Coffee is a natural product from plants, so it is a living, constantly changing thing. Every time you roast coffee, you also need to taste its flavor. Blending about three different types of coffee beans to achieve balanced, delicious flavors is truly a technical skill.

At FrontStreet Coffee, we not only offer over 30 varieties of single origin coffee to choose from, but also espresso beans blended from pure Arabica beans with more distinct, pleasant flavors.

Knowledge Point: Single Origin Espresso is also called SOE

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

For a cappuccino, the thick, airy milk foam and the rich coffee base mean an espresso blend is usually the best starting point. FrontStreet Classic Blend is the crema powerhouse, and FrontStreet Black Cocoa Blend is the value pick, both designed for espresso machines and easy for beginners to work with. If you want to push toward a floral, fruity cappuccino, FrontStreet Strawberry Sugar Espresso is a blend built for espresso machines that brings together the sweetness of a Costa Rican honey-processed coffee, the chocolate and nut savor of Colombian coffee, and the floral honey of a Panamanian Geisha, so a shot carries rose, grape, raisin and fruit-candy aromas. For a brighter, less bitter cup, FrontStreet Grana Geisha SOE is a washed Geisha roasted medium, showing berry, orange and persimmon, and it turns creamy and candy-like once milk is added.

When FrontStreet Coffee pulls the base shot for a cappuccino, the reference parameters are 20g of grounds at a 1:2 coffee-to-liquid ratio over a 30-second extraction, which gives a shot that is concentrated yet fully extracted, with good texture and balance. From there, steam the milk to a thick, dense foam, spoon the foam into the center of the shot and refill the rest of the cup; that is the classic cappuccino finish.