Many friends don't understand how blended beans are formulated into a blending plan. Now Front Street Coffee will guide everyone through the ideas behind blended coffee beans and how to blend coffee.

Reasons and Purposes for Blending

People need to combine coffees from different origins for several different purposes. The most ideal purpose is, of course, to blend a coffee whose flavor is better than any one of its components. But generally speaking, single-origin Arabica coffee is enough to make a very good cup of coffee: a fresh aroma, a soft mouthfeel, and a sweet aftertaste. So there is no need for a "blend"(that is, combining beans from different origins).

The main commercial purpose of blended coffee beans is to reduce costs, using several different coffees to blend a coffee of higher quality than others in the same price range. Another purpose is to blend a unique flavor, so that customers who like this flavor have no choice but to buy it from this one manufacturer and cannot obtain it from other suppliers. Another advantage of doing this is that no matter how the flavor of coffee from certain origins changes in different years, the flavor of this blend will not change accordingly. 

Before blending any coffee, Front Street believes you must first understand the flavor characteristics of various coffees, and at least be clear in your mind that the flavor of the coffee you want to blend is one that no single-origin coffee can achieve. If the blended coffee is not even as good as the flavor of one or several of its components, wouldn't that be too regrettable? It would be better not to blend at all. If you use several coffees of fairly good quality to make the blend, the result is very likely to turn out this way.

Although some fixed-variety coffees can be drunk directly as single-origin coffee, most coffees more or less have certain shortcomings, such as the flavor not being prominent enough, lacking depth, not being mellow enough, or some taste being too strong. To make up for these shortcomings, several coffee beans with different characteristics must be blended together to create a harmonious and deep flavor. Some people think the fun of coffee is concentrated in the two stages of roasting and blending, while drinking coffee is merely enjoying the fruits of one's own victory. Blending coffee is not simply mixing coffee beans together casually.

Sometimes blending two single-origin coffees will instead suppress each other's distinctive flavors, so blending is not simply putting several single-origin coffees together. Blending is like a painter mixing enchanting colors on a palette; a blender can also use coffee beans to mix an alluring flavor. So it is not at all an exaggeration to say that blending is an art. As an artist, you need not only experience and inspiration, but also certain scientific calculations. A general blended coffee need not use more than five kinds of coffee beans, because if there are too many types of coffee beans, the situation may become very complicated.

Front Street Coffee focuses on freshly roasted coffee, and also launches different categories of blended coffee for different customer needs. For example, for customers seeking value for money, Front Street recommends Front Street Black Cocoa Blend. This is an all-Arabica espresso bean blended from Brazil and Yunnan, with a price advantage and outstanding flavor. Front Street also launches Sunflower·Warm Sun Blend for customers who pursue flavor. This is a product blended from Yirgacheffe natural red cherry and Honduras Sherry, and because it has an ultimate liqueur chocolate flavor, it is deeply loved by many customers. 

Should you roast first and then blend, or blend first and then roast? Which method is better?

Front Street Coffee believes that if you have a definite formula, then of course the simplest method is to first blend the different coffee beans together and then roast them together. But if you are experimenting with and comparing different blending components and corresponding ratios, then of course you want to roast the various coffee beans first and then make various attempts. Otherwise, every time you change the blending components and ratios, you need to roast again.

In the field of roasting, blending first and then roasting is generally called "green blending," while roasting first and then blending is called "roasted blending." Actually, neither method is superior or inferior to the other. The advantage of green blending is that roasting the same batch of beans together will make the roast degree of the whole batch more consistent and the flavor stable, but when selecting beans you should choose those with similar screen sizes for mixing, otherwise the roast may very likely be uneven. The other method, roasted blending, allows you to grasp the optimal roasting attributes of each coffee bean and then mix them to make up for each other's shortcomings.

Under normal circumstances all coffee beans can be roasted together. Only when the roasting result is not very ideal do you need to consider using the method of roasting separately. At this time, roasting separately can usually achieve a relatively good result. Especially for drum roasters, generally a relatively moderate roast level can be found.

Before blending coffee beans, we should be clear about the following points:

1. What kind of taste we hope to obtain through blending, that is, determining the goal of the blend.

2. Understand the characteristics of each coffee bean. To blend coffee, you must first be thoroughly familiar with the characteristics of each single-origin coffee and understand the subtle relationship between roast degree and coffee flavor, and all of this can only be achieved through cupping. 

3. Determine the role played by each coffee bean participating in the blend.Since multiple coffee beans are used in the blend, you must be clear about the role of each coffee bean, whether it is to make it highlight a soft bitterness, a distinct acidity, or a heavy body, and so on.

When blending, the following principles should generally be followed: 

1. The original beans used in the blend should preferably be coffee beans each with distinct characteristics, while avoiding coffee beans with similar flavors. When selecting original beans, you can consider three aspects:

Green bean processing method: that is, whether the green beans are processed by the washed method or the natural method. The processing method has a great relationship with the flavor of the coffee beans. 

Green bean origin: Coffee origins are generally divided into three major regions, including Central and South America, namely about 20 countries such as Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, El Salvador, Jamaica, and Peru; Southeast Asia, namely about 10 countries such as India, Indonesia (including islands such as Java and Sumatra), and Papua New Guinea; and Arabia and Africa, namely about 25 countries such as Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Arabia, and Uganda. At present, on the marketthe most commonly used original beans are Brazil and Colombia.

2. The number and ratio of coffee bean types participating in the blend.

Since it is a blend, it naturally refers to the blending of two or more original beans, but coffee beans of the same type at different roast degrees can also be blended together, and even the new crop of the same coffee bean can be blended with aged coffee or old crop. Therefore, the "types" referred to in blending are no longer coffee varieties in the narrow sense, but have extended in a broad sense to coffee flavor.

When blending, generally 2 to 6 kinds of coffee beans are used, because too many types make it difficult to express the unique flavor of the coffee. Blended coffee generally does not adopt a 1:1 blending ratio, as this may suppress each other's distinctive flavor tonality, so when blending there must be a distinction between primary and secondary in order to blend a more wonderful taste than single-origin coffee. If you want the blended coffee to have a complex and varied taste, you can reduce the proportion of the theme original beans, and vice versa.

3. Blended coffee relies on constant experimentation.

Before blending, you should use a mathematical combination method to draft a blending plan table, and then determine the best scheme through the process of blending and cupping.Do not think this is a passive and clumsy method. In fact, only by relying on the blender's experience, inspiration, and such tireless attempts can a good cup of coffee be blended.

Front Street Coffee launches 4 distinctive blended coffee beans according to different requirements:

[Sunflower Warm Sun Espresso Coffee Beans]Honduras Sherry : Yirgacheffe natural red cherry, ratio 7:3, roasted blending;

Flavor characteristics: obvious fruit acidity, a faint berry aroma lingering, rich wine aroma and chocolate flavor, and a comfortable sweet aftertaste.

The Sherry coffee beans bring this coffee a rich whiskey aroma and the aftertaste of liqueur chocolate, with a rich fragrance. The natural red cherry brings this coffee a fermented quality and berry aroma, and it is smooth on the palate. Because this Warm Sun Blend coffee bean is a half-pound pack, it is suitable for coffee shops that require a special espresso flavor and somewhat higher bean quality, or for espresso lovers with relatively small usage. 

[Front Street Coffee Front Street Specialty Blend]Colombia : Brazil, ratio 3:7, roasted blending;

Flavor characteristics: a comfortable sweet-bitterness, extremely smooth on the palate, with a faint grassy aroma, a fresh fragrance with slight bitterness, sweet and smooth, and a pleasant aftertaste.

Coffee beans from the Huila producing region of Colombia have a pleasant acidity, a mellow aroma, moderate acidity, and a rich sweetness that is very thought-provoking. Coffee beans from the Cerrado producing region of Brazil have a comfortable sweet-bitterness and are extremely smooth on the palate. This Front Street Specialty Blend coffee is suitable for use in various specialty coffee shops. 

[Front Street Coffee Front Street Commercial Blend]Colombia : Brazil : Robusta, ratio 3:6:1, roasted blending;

Flavor characteristics: a classic taste, with caramel sweetness, nutty and cocoa-type, dark chocolate flavors, balanced acidity and sweetness, slightly sweet-bitter, and a lasting aftertaste.

Coffee beans from the Huila producing region of Colombia have a pleasant acidity, a mellow aroma, moderate acidity, and a rich sweetness that is very thought-provoking. Coffee beans from the Cerrado producing region of Brazil have a comfortable sweet-bitterness and are extremely smooth on the palate. Robusta provides a rich crema. This Front Street Commercial Blend coffee is suitable for coffee shops and beverage shops of various sizes.

[Front Street CoffeeFront Street Black Cocoa Blend]Yunnan AA : Brazil, ratio 3:7, roasted blending;

Flavor characteristics: with soft fruit acidity, caramel sweetness, nutty and dark chocolate flavors, smooth and viscous, but the taste is on the lighter side.

Yunnan's natural conditions are very similar to those of Colombia, with high altitude and a large temperature difference between day and night. Its flavor is of the mellow-aroma type, with moderate acidity, a rich and full-bodied taste, uniform bean size, high oil content, and fruity aroma. Its quality and mouthfeel are similar to Colombian coffee. Coffee beans from the Cerrado producing region of Brazil have a comfortable sweet-bitterness and are extremely smooth on the palate. This Front Street Black Cocoa Blend coffee bean is suitable for small coffee shops, bakeries, and beverage shops.

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