The majority of roasted coffee beans currently consumed around the world make up blended coffee, a mixture of two or more varieties of beans. A smaller percentage of coffee drinkers brew single bean or single variety coffee. The vast majority of packaged coffees on grocery store shelves are blends.
It is common practice in all coffee consuming countries to mix different varieties of roasted coffee beans possessing different characteristics to obtain a smooth and balanced cup. This is called blending, a process requiring technical, geographical, and agricultural knowledge. The very best blenders/roasters, those using their blending skills and craftsmanship to develop the world's best tasting coffees, are considered artist by many coffee lovers.
Developing good blending skills takes years of blending experience before a blender acquires the skills needed to become proficient. A good blender must know all the properties and characteristics of all the different coffees grown, especially those he uses regularly. In addition, because each year's coffee harvest is different than the last, he must know how the characteristics of this year's crop vary from previous years harvests.
A blend typically consists of two or more varieties of coffee mixed together. However, the more common practice is to use several different varieties of coffee when creating a blend. The purpose of using several varieties of coffee in a blend is because if one of the varieties used in the blend becomes unavailable for some reason it will be much less noticed in a blend using five or six varieties as opposed to one using two or three varieties of coffee.
The first consideration when blending coffees is, of course, flavor. Flavors are described as:
- acidy
- bitter
- smooth
- neutral
- flat
- wild
- grassy
- groundy
- sour
- fermented
- hidey
A blender begins with an idea of the taste and flavor they are wanting to experience then combines different varieties of coffees to create the desired taste. Typically a properly balanced blend will have a full rich body as it's foundation to which the blender adds a coffee variety to give it some acid character and another to provide increased aroma.
A coffee blender's personal preferences play a huge part in how a coffee blend finally turns out. Some blenders prefer a coffee with a pronounced acid taste. Another blender may prefer a non-acid cup. As they say, it's all a matter of taste.
Coffees are divided into four primary groups:
- neutral flavored
- sweet flavored
- acid flavored
- bitter flavored
All East Indian coffees (except Ceylons, Malabars and other Hindoostan varieties) are classified as bitter. Old brown Bucaramangas, brown Bogotas and brown Santos are considered bitter as well.
Acid coffees typically come from the western hemisphere and are grown in countries such as Mexico, Costa Rica, Bogotas, Caracas, Guatemalas, Santos, etc. Aging an acid coffee can reduce it's acidity to the point where it becomes sweet or sweet-bitter.
Red Santos beans are generally a sweet coffee and highly prized by blenders. High-grade washed Santo Domingo and Haiti coffees are sweet both as a new crop as well as when aged.
Well schooled coffee blenders do not mix two new crop acid coffees or two old crop bitter varieties unless their bitterness or acidity is counteracted with coffee varieties having opposite characteristics and flavors.
Some coffees are better when new and some are better after being aged for awhile. However a blend of fine old crop coffee with a snappy new crop coffee gives a better result than either type used separately.
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