With excerpts from Priscila Pinho - "In Defense Of Blends"
We here at Expedition Roasters use a lot of blends for our Themed Coffees, but what is a coffee blend?
Coffees are broken down into two main categories: blends and single origin. With the advents of popular large coffee chains selling "premium" coffees that almost always came from a single origin or farming region we became "brain washed" that this was the only form a good cup of coffee could come from. They were touted as superior since the variables of climate, coffee growth and roasting could be limited more and therefore provide a more consistent and "better" cup of coffee. And maybe this is why single origins have become synonymous with excellence.
On the other hand, blending has become associated with mass production, poor-quality coffee, and “boring” cup profiles. We think that low-quality coffees are being blended to reduce the costs or hide defects in the beans like those coffee blends found in you parents old tin can variety.
But not all blends are the same.
There are two different types of blends. We have the poor-quality ones used to mask defects, save money, and achieve a standardized flavor. And then we have those where roasters have brought together diverse flavors to create an even better taste experience. They’ve experimented with different beans in the pursuit of the best possible coffee for us consumers to enjoy.
Roger Bacoom of Fazenda Cachoeira in Sul de Minas, Brazil, is passionate about the potential of blends. “A classic! Coffee should be explored. The beans density is the only limit, and that depends on a good roaster,” he says. “With a blend, you complete the flavors, right? Put a natural with a washed, or pulped, and it creates totally different characteristics. This purism of speaking only of single origins is unnecessary. We have the tools to do whatever we want with coffee, to blend it as long it maintains its quality. The universe of coffee is here for us to explore different flavors!”
So let’s retell the story of blends. They don’t deserve to sit in the background when they’re a widely consumed beverage with the potential for excellent quality.
As Ivan Heyden, Q Grader and roaster at Academia do Café in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, says, “The advantage of working with blend is a balanced cup, for sure. A better and complete sensory experience.”
Blending: A complex skill.
What’s more, blends represent complex skill on the part of the roaster. Leandro Lee, instructor and barista at CoffeeLab in São Paulo, Brazil, explains, “Making blends is a science that depends heavily on knowing the main material: the coffee bean itself and how different coffees behave together. It’s not a simple math, there are ‘n’ factors that influence the composition.”
If you have two coffees, one with more herbal notes and the other with sugar-cane sweetness, it doesn’t mean you can just combine them to sync flavors. If you want to capture all the different notes and make sure they work well together, you need to understand the chemistry behind the coffee – how the bean size and structure will react to heat, which flavors are enhanced at various points in the roast.
So Why Should You Choose a Blend Like Ours?
If you've already brewed any of our flavored coffees or our regular blend roasts you already know the incredible flavor and quality that comes from our blends.
Drinking a specialty blend can be an amazing experience. It’s the combination of exceptional coffee, roast mastery, and a lot of experience that leads to a well-balanced, complex, and often exceptional beverage.
We take pride to bring you an exceptional cup of coffee starting with premium grade beans and working them together to create the ultimate coffee experience. Of course we still offer single origin roasts like our Main Street U.S.A. Colombian along with other limited release single origins.
So brew up a cup of Expedition Roasters coffees and sit back and enjoy the experience of where our Themed Coffees take you. If you found this article helpful then you will love our article about How To Make Cold Brew Coffee At Home.
