Can Blended Coffee Beans Be Used for Pour-Over Brewing?

Espresso blend beans can be used for pour-over, but results depend on roast level and bean choice. Front Street built an autumn blend on Yunnan Typica with Yirgacheffe and Geisha Village natural beans, aiming for a clean cup, layered acidity, and medium-to-high sweetness rather than the heavy body typical of darker espresso blends.

Blending coffee usually combines two to five types of beans, either before or after separate roasting, so each bean complements the others. Brewhouse espresso blends pulled as pour-over tend toward high body with roast aroma and a prominent sweet aftertaste. The Yunnan project adjusted roast curves and cupping ratios across several rounds to balance clarity and sweetness.

Pour-over coffee has always pursued showcasing the terroir of a single origin, while espresso blends are mostly designed for espresso. Can the two collide to create new possibilities? Front Street Coffee, inspired by autumn, attempted to use Yunnan Typica as the base, supplemented by Yirgacheffe and Geisha Village natural beans, to explore a blend recipe suitable for pour-over. From the logic of bean selection, the trade-offs between pre-roast blending and post-roast blending, to the gradual adjustment of the roasting curve, and then to multiple rounds of cupping and ratio optimization, the entire process not only sorts out the principles of blending but also includes specific reference parameters and flavor records, opening up new ideas for coffee enthusiasts about pour-over blending.

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As autumn transitions to winter, temperatures gradually drop. Front Street previously launched a Front Street Sunflower Warm Sun espresso blend that fits the espresso blending direction. Following a similar approach, Front Street hopes to develop another blend suitable for autumn drinking and also usable for pour-over. Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) expects this blend to present a clean and clear flavor profile, a smooth entry with layered acidity, and a finish with medium-to-high sweetness.

When it comes to blended coffee beans, most people's first reaction is that they are used to make espresso. So can espresso beans be used for pour-over? Front Street's view is that any coffee bean can theoretically be used for pour-over; the key is whether it is suitable. Espresso beans are usually made from 2 to 5 types of beans blended before or after separate roasting, with the aim of letting each bean type complement the others and ultimately achieving a rich, full-bodied cup performance. For this reason, the single-origin distinctiveness pursued by single-origin beans is somewhat sacrificed. Taking several Front Street espresso blends on hand as examples, if switched to pour-over, because the roast level is on the darker side, the result will lean toward high body with a hint of roast aroma, though the sweet aftertaste is quite prominent.

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) selected several candidate beans from existing inventory that might be included in the blend: Front Street Yirgacheffe washed, Front Street Costa Rica SHB Caturra washed, Front Street natural Yirgacheffe Red Cherry, Front Street 2013 Typica washed, and Front Street Geisha Village natural Geisha. The cupping scores of these beans are all around or even above the specialty line. Front Street currently has four espresso coffee beans: Front Street Commercial Blend, the espresso bean recommended by many baristas - Front Street Dark Cocoa Blend, Front Street Specialty Blend, and Front Street Sunflower Warm Sun Blend. Are you curious how Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee)'s blend recipes are developed? Next, Front Street will use the pour-over blend recipe as an example to walk everyone through the conceptual process of blended coffee.

[Blending Approach]

At the beginning of the project, Front Street needed to clarify what flavor the theme "autumn" should convey: the mouthfeel should not be too heavy, it must carry the tone of ripe autumn fruit, and it had to be sweet. The consensus reached by Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) was to select one main bean, then pair it with 1 to 2 supporting beans to harmonize the flavor; if too many bean types are used, the main theme will be diluted, the flavor will become chaotic, and it will be difficult to achieve taste balance.

[Determining the Main Flavor Coffee Bean]

As the main bean of the recipe, it needs strong inclusivity, high sweetness, some body, and sufficiently stable quality. To meet these conditions, everyone repeatedly searched the database - each coffee had at least 3 roasting curves and cupping scores on file. By comparing evaluations and strengths and weaknesses, Yunnan coffee bean Typica was finally locked in from dozens of beans.

Front Street believes that [Front Street 2013 Typica] is a local coffee and can be well controlled at the source in terms of quality management. At the same time, it has both mouthfeel and flavor, good balance, and a long sweet aftertaste, making it very suitable as a blending base. However, this bean is slightly lacking in acidity and flavor uniqueness. If flavor is the primary consideration, Ethiopian beans are naturally the first choice - Ethiopia is called the "coffee gene bank," with more than 2,000 known native coffee varieties and an extremely diverse flavor spectrum. So among the many Ethiopian beans, which one should be chosen? Thus the follow-up work began... Candlelight, Huakui, Aricha, Kochere, Woka... a dazzling array of varieties with various floral, berry, and citrus tones

[Finalizing the Supporting Beans]

Generally speaking, single-origin Arabica beans are enough to make a decent cup of coffee: fragrant, soft, and with a sweet aftertaste. "Blending" means combining coffees from different origins, each with its own unique taste, aroma, and mouthfeel. By mixing and adjusting according to personal preferred flavors, you can create your own exclusive coffee.

First round of pour-over blend testing: the relatively satisfactory plan was 7:3, Front Street 2013 Typica : Front Street Yirgacheffe Kochere, showing mild citrus acidity, chocolate at the tail end, and slightly weak sweetness. After cupping comparison and coffee tone analysis, we selected Front Street washed Yirgacheffe Kochere - it shares the same black tea finish as Front Street 2013 Typica, and its citric acidity and orange flavor can enhance the layering and brightness of the recipe, adding luster to the Yunnan bean.

[Pre-Roast Blend or Post-Roast Blend?]

If post-roast blending were done according to each bean's optimal roast level, it clearly would not work. Front Street 2013 Typica uses a medium-dark roast, while Front Street Yirga Kochere is a light roast. During pour-over, the Yunnan bean would be over-extracted and Kochere under-extracted.

In the end, the flavor of the entire cup collapsed, so we decisively chose pre-roast blending!

[Roasting Approach and Adjustments]

In terms of moisture content, the two beans, both washed, are relatively close; regarding bean density, Typica is softer, but the larger Yunnan beans are similar to the harder but smaller Kochere in heat conduction, so roasting these two beans together is unlikely to cause uneven roasting. We adopted a stepwise heat-reduction roasting method, leaving a longer Maillard reaction time after dehydration and homogenization, so that the two beans would develop more synchronously. The determination of roast level also took the "middle value." Such development time and drop temperature can effectively remove the sourness and excessive herbal notes that appear when Yunnan beans are roasted too light, while also preserving Yirgacheffe's floral and fruity aromas well.

Charge weight 300g, charge temperature 170°C, charge with heat off. After 30 seconds, turn heat to 140, airflow 3. When bean temperature reaches 140, lower heat to 120, open airflow to 4. At 4 minutes 30 seconds, dehydration turns to yellowing; at 168°C, lower heat again to 90. First crack begins at about 8 minutes, open airflow to 5, first crack development 1 minute 45 seconds, drop at 195°C.

Regarding the ratio, we first chose Front Street 2013 Typica : Front Street Yirga Kochere at 6:4. Cupping result: good cleanliness, light sweetness, apple fragrance, plum acidity, and an orange aroma in the aftertaste. The overall impression was that the mouthfeel was good, but the flavor was slightly thin. So after discussion through cupping, everyone decided to add a bean to enhance the flavor - [Front Street Geisha Village Red Label Natural Geisha]. The ratio used this time was Front Street 2013 Typica : Front Street Yirga Kochere : Front Street Geisha Village Estate at 6:3:1.

After lowering the proportion of Kochere, the acidity of the whole bean became smoother than before. The 10% Geisha Village brought more fruity flavor tones and also enhanced the floral aroma and the tea aroma in the latter part. In roasting, to preserve more floral and fruity aroma, the drop temperature would be lowered a little; the time from dehydration to first crack was slightly shortened to retain more reactive substances, and first crack development time was increased to develop flavor.

Roaster Yangjia 600g

Charge weight 300g, charge temperature 170°C, charge with heat off. After 30 seconds, turn heat to 140, airflow 3. At 140°C, lower heat to 120, open airflow to 4. At 4 minutes 30 seconds, dehydration turns to yellowing; at 168°C, lower heat again to 90. First crack begins at 7 minutes 46 seconds, open airflow to 5; at 188°C lower heat to 50 to prolong development, roast until 2 minutes 05 seconds, drop at 193°C.

This roast extended first crack development time to increase flavor, while also making the development degree of the three beans more even. A slightly lower drop temperature helps preserve Geisha's floral and fruity aroma. The roast level for the pre-roast blend was set a little on the medium-light side, with Yunnan Typica making up a large proportion. This is because this Yunnan bean can show a distinct brown sugar aroma at medium-light roast, and also carries black tea and a bit of creamy flavor, with a clean cup performance and high sweetness.

Since the three beans all have relatively high moisture content and hardness, although the varieties differ, fortunately their screen sizes are not very different, so pre-roast blending would not increase roasting difficulty too much. After several rounds of pour-over testing, pour-over brewing, and cupping, the taste of this pre-roast blend met Front Street's expectations. However, note that pour-over cannot be operated according to espresso extraction standards. The entry acidity is soft and somewhat changing; the acidity begins to gradually connect with sweetness in the middle section, and the sweet aftertaste is lasting and long. There is a feeling of fresh green plants, with aromas of black tea, cocoa, caramel, jackfruit, orange, and nuts. The taste is transparent and clean, with medium body and a slight sparkling mouthfeel.

At this point, Front Street had a preliminarily determined [Autumn Pour-Over Blend]. This coffee, combining the characteristics of Asian and African beans, basically met expectations in terms of proposition and flavor characteristics, and the cupping and actual brewing results also satisfied everyone relatively well.

So why do many espresso coffees need to be composed of two or more coffee beans? Early espresso coffee was of poor quality, so the focus was on improving the quality of lower-priced coffee. High-quality Arabica beans have clean coffee flavor, excellent aroma, and a smooth finish, but are expensive. Blending high-quality coffee with lower-quality coffee can, to a certain extent, retain most of Arabica's quality while reducing cost.

Now, under the broader influence of the coffee environment, coffee bean quality has generally improved a lot. Espresso blends are usually intended to achieve a balanced effect and ensure espresso quality. Most espresso beans are a combination of high-quality Brazilian beans with African beans or Central American beans, similar to Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee)'s Front Street Specialty Coffee Blend. Later, Front Street also adds Robusta coffee to produce "Crema" and increase the body of espresso; this is Front Street Commercial Espresso Blend. Not only that, the main reason for blending coffee is to maintain consistency of taste. As everyone knows, coffee is an agricultural product, grown under slightly different conditions, and the taste of a specific coffee genus will also differ. Blending coffee can keep the flavor as consistent as possible.

Front Street believes that not only espresso can be blended; pour-over coffee can also be blended. People drink single-origin coffee to experience a single terroir characteristic. But Front Street believes that in today's coffee market everything can be inclusive, so many people have begun exploring pour-over coffee in search of balanced coffee flavor.

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.