Roasting and Blending Coffee Beans
Roasting and blending coffee beans allows us to create even more varieties of unique coffee flavors.
Coffee blending is an art where different coffee beans are blended together to create new and exciting coffee flavors that complement each other so as to give a balanced and unique cup of our favorite beverage.
Why Blend Coffee
There are many reasons behind custom coffee blending.
The main reason for coffee blending seems to be for commercial viability. Blending coffee beans allows coffee producers to utilize all types of coffee (including lower grade robusta coffee beans) and create a good tasting custom coffee blend with its own unique flavor and aroma.
Most commercially blended coffee is roasted and blended so that there is no one coffee (or coffee flavor) that dominates. The coffee varieties can thus be sourced from the cheapest coffee stocks available on the market, while still creating a good tasting cup of coffee.
Blending World Coffees
Roasting and blending coffee beans from different origins also creates distinctive coffee blends that have their own signature quality, making them distinguishable from other gourmet coffees and coffee blends on the market.
Coffee is also a variable crop and can change from one harvest to another even from the same estate. Coffee blending is one way to overcome the difference in consistency from month to month.
Coffee blends can incorporate any number of different coffees but is generally limited to less then five distinct coffee bean sources. For the most part, distinct, high quality, gourmet coffee beans and Arabica coffee beans are not used for blending coffees.
Coffee Blending Process
Roasting and blending coffee beans begins with a clear idea as to what you want the final result of the coffee blend to be. What coffees to use for coffee blending will be determined by the type of flavor, body and acidity you want to achieve.
Each coffee blend has to be roasted in such a manner so as to bring out the individual coffees flavors. The flavor mixtures that result from coffee blending can be very satisfying to the coffee lover, opening up a whole new array of coffee sensations.
Most of the time, the perfect coffee blend can be achieved through trial and error. But, it stands to reason that the easier way to get the best coffee blend is to consciously mix the coffees by their distinct qualities so as to get the best cup of coffee.
Coffee blending is done both before roasting and after roasting, depending on the coffee beans. Certain types of coffee blending actually requires that each type of coffee bean is roasted separately as required and then ground together.
The Viennese Melange type of coffee blending is a good example of this where each type of coffee bean is roasted separately to varying degrees. Another reason this may be required is the uneven size of the coffee beans in the blend. Also, dry processed coffee beans tend to roast differently from wet processed coffee beans. In short, roasting and blending coffee beans can be done as needed either individually or together.
Exotic Coffee Blends
Coffee blending unifies the coffee’s acidity, the exotic flavors, the sweet fruity taste or the silky, full bodied qualities of different coffee beans and harmonizes them in such a way as to give the coffee lover a definitively new and exciting coffee experience.
Roasting and blending coffee beans from all over the world can create something new and exotic and uniquely different.
Commercially, coffee blending is the easiest way to use up uninspiring lower grade coffees in such a way that it will result in a more exotic and most often, a superior ‘cup quality’.
Kona Coffee Blend
It is also important to remember that the better the bean quality used the better the final coffee blend will be. For instance, 100% Hawaiian Kona Coffee is very rare and somewhat expensive. Creating a unique Kona coffee blend allows coffee lovers to affordably experience that smooth mellow Kona taste in a blended coffee.
Espresso Coffee Blend
Espresso Prima Coffee is an example of espresso coffee blends that open a whole new world for the coffee lover. Espresso coffee blends are usually created from high quality Arabica coffees. Brazilian, Colombian and Mexican varieties are used quite often and the coffee blending here is done in such a way as to bring together the sweetness, pungency and aromatic qualities of each type of coffee bean in a beautiful coffee blend that transports you to another dimension altogether…heaven.
“Coffee Blending”
courtesy of your online coffee bean store;
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