Two terms you’re likely to come across if you enjoy drinking coffee are ‘coffee blend’ and ‘single origin coffees’. The majority of coffee you will find in the market is blended in some way.

What is a coffee blend?

A coffee blend is a coffee that is made up of coffee beans originating from more than one place. This can mean from same producing farm varying altitudes to different countries or continents.

A good quality coffee blend must include all of the components on the label: each coffee origin (Arabica, Robusta, …), specific farm, processing station name and the country of origin.

Why it is done?

Blending is done for a multitude of reasons and commercially it can be a strategy by a coffee roaster. This might be to:

  • Meet a certain price point without sacrificing available flavor
  • Meet specific quantity requirements for their production

By blending you can fail to celebrate the specific nuances and subtle flavours, distinctive to a certain farm! BUT sometimes blending is done to get complex flavour. For example, good roasteries or coffee shops work for a few months to get the best blend for your espresso (or espresso drink). They pay attention to the final result on how to get a perfect, smooth and balanced taste. Some coffee drinks just taste better with a good coffee blend!

Coffee blend process

Creating a coffee blend is a careful procedure and you can’t simply just throw some different coffees together and hope it shines. Instead it’s a very scientific approach of working with flavor profiles and understand how to combine them to create a desired end-taste. That’s why the quality of the coffee blend can differ dramatically.

Conclusion

Coffee blend is not worse than a single origin coffee. Before buying you should decide how you will drink your coffee and what taste you would like to get from it!

To sum up, let’s compare alcohol with coffee. You drink wine or smoky whiskey on it’s own, right? The same is with coffee. But some alcohol tastes better in cocktails. Perfect, balanced cocktails - bitterness, sweetness, sourness, … The same is with coffee.