Blended & Unblended Coffee

Blended Coffee

Blending is the art of combining coffee from different origins. The goal is :

To have Signature Blends - the idea here is to produce a blend of consistent flavor so that consumers associate a particular coffee profile with a particular brand image. The prime objective is to have consumers return time and again to buy the famous signature blend.

To have Consistent Blends – the purpose here is to blend a large number of bean varieties to regulate flavor. If one or more of those varieties become unavailable at any time, they can be substituted without consumers recognizing the variation in the flavor of their preferred coffee.

To have Single-Origin Blends - What is labeled as single-origin can be a coffee blend of various varieties from a particular region.

To have Low Cost Blends – the reason here is to blend cheaper Robusta beans with superior quality Arabica beans in order to maintain some of the Arabica flavor at a lower price.

Blending requires the expert skill of knowing each ingredient in the coffee, having a clear cup profile as the goal in mind, and knowing how to achieve it.

When to Blend

When creating a coffee blend, coffees can be roasted first and then blended. Or they can be blended before being roasted together. Each method has it's own advantages and disadvantages. Some coffee aficionados say that since each variety of beans has an optimal level of roast, they should be roasted first and blended later. Others argue that blending should occur before the roast, to permit full assimilation of bean flavors during roasting. For expediency, many large coffee roasting factories blend before roasting.

Famous Blends

Even though most coffee lovers would choose an unblended coffee over a blended one, there are some prominent blends known throughout the world for their consistent mix of body, flavor, aroma and acidity. These coffees are reliable and rewarding:

Arabian Mocha Java - It is the world’s oldest coffee blend. It was in the 17th century that Dutch settlers in Java decided to mix mocha coffee from Yemen with locally grown beans. The legendary result has stood the test of time. It is the favorite blend of coffee lovers.

Blends for Drip/Filter Brewing

When blending for drip or filter brewing, the aim is usually to enhance the complexity of the cup by increasing the acidity, body, flavor and aroma, while maintaining a pleasant balance.

Melange - this coffee blend contains a mix of coffees that have each been independently roasted to varying degree - some light, some dark. This allows blenders to mix the full-bodied flavor or a dark roast with the pleasing acidity of a light roast. For example, you may want the carbony flavors of a dark roast and also the acidy snap of a lighter roasted Kenya or Central American coffee.

Mocha/Mokha Java - this renowned coffee blend is a combination of Indonesian coffee, with either Ethiopian or Yemeni coffee. This allows blenders to mix the fruity/ floral acidity of Mocha coffee with the robust Java coffee. They are commonly blended in equal parts 50-50, or with a little bias towards the Indonesian, like 40-45 African, 55-60 Indonesian.

Espresso Blends

The purpose for an espresso blend is fairly different than that of drip/filter blending. Instead of blending for intricacy, which might prove overpowering in the strong espresso extract, the aim is to blend for balance, and sometime to emphasize on some varietal quality in a bean. For espresso, lower quality Robusta beans are sometimes blended with the Arabica's in order to boost caffeine and crema content. Dry processed coffees are responsible for the attractive crema on the cup, among other mechanical factors in the extraction process. Wet-processed Central Americans add positive aromatic qualities.

Unblended Coffee

In the case of high quality Arabica beans, it is a shame to blend away the distinctiveness that can be enjoyed in a coffee from a single-origin or Estate. Drinking an unblended coffee allows you scrutinize the qualities of a particular bean and enjoy the exclusivity of acidity, body, flavor and aroma that cannot be found in any other coffee. The few unblended styles are:

Estate Coffee

Estate coffees are both highly valued and pricey. They are by and large very rare, grown and harvested in small quantity for select markets. An example is the Galapagos Island Estate Organic Coffee, which is considered as having a medium body, low acidity, and a very pleasant finish.

Single-Origin Coffee

Coffee beans from a single origin have a balance mix of acidity, body, flavor and aroma, unique to that region. Coffees sold as single-origin are generally 100% Arabica and can be very expensive, particularly when the bean is highly valued. Greatly regarded single-origin coffees include "Kona" coffee from Hawaii and "Jamaican Blue Mountain".

Gourmet Coffee

This term is used to describe single-origin or Estate coffee. It can be confusing as some companies also use the word "gourmet" to describe a particular blend or flavoring, including decaffeinated and organic beans.

Specialty Coffee

Like "Gourmet", the word "Specialty" is used to express single-origin or Estate coffee. It can be puzzling as some companies also use the word "specialty" to describe a particular blend or flavoring, including decaffeinated and organic beans.

Espresso

It is used to describe both a roast of coffee and a method of brewing in which hot water is forced under pressure through a compressed bed of finely ground coffee.

Espresso Roast, After-Dinner Roast, Continental Roast, European Roast. These are the terms used to refer to coffee by virtue of its degree of roasting from somewhat darker than the traditional American norm to dark brown. Acidity diminishes and a rich bitter-sweetness emerges. Among many newer American specialty roasters, roast styles once called by these names may in fact constitute the typical, "regular" roast of coffee.

Espresso is several things at once.

It is a unique method of brewing in which hot water is forced under pressure through tightly packed coffee, one or two servings at a time. It is a roast of coffee, darker brown than the traditional American roast but not extremely dark. In a larger sense, it is an entire approach to coffee cuisine, involving not only roast and brewing method, but grind and grinder, a technique of heating and frothing milk, and a traditional menu of drinks. In the largest sense of all, it is an atmosphere or mystique: The espresso brewing machine is the spiritual heart and esthetic centerpiece of the great coffee places, the cafés, caffes and coffee houses of the world. Despite advances in inexpensive home espresso systems, it is still difficult to duplicate the finest caffe espresso or cappuccino in your kitchen or dining room without spending several hundred dollars on equipment.

Tips for making Espresso

Always use good quality roasted coffee beans that are as fresh as possible, and a good burr grinder that has a good range of adjustments.

The following tips should be taken into consideration while making espresso:

• The quality of espresso depends on the grinder and brewer that    are used.

• The best water temperature for making espresso is in the range    of 192-198 degrees F with 195 the best.

• Make sure the filter compartment is clean.

• Use dark roasts to make espressos.

• Fill up the filter with 6-7 grams of ground coffee per cup.

• Pack the ground coffee in lightly and evenly. If coffee is pressed    down too hard the coffee may become very strong.

• The pump machine should extract the espresso within a very    short time.

• The espresso should be thick and creamy.

• Espresso must be drunk soon after it is made for it loses its flavor    quickly as it cools.

Milk Frothing Tips for Espresso

Some milks work better than others when foaming them for espressos. Full or whole milk is challenging. They steam well, but getting foam from the cream is difficult. Skimmed milk foams the fastest, but creates dry foam that is not very palatable. 1% or 2% milk is good for the best foam. However, baristas think whole milk with its fat content gives a better "mouth feel" to the foam.

Cold milk and a cold stainless steel pitcher are used for the best results when steaming and frothing milk for espresso drinks. Warm milk does not foam well. During the steaming process, milk proteins coagulate and do so better if the milk and the container are cold.

If you have an espresso machine with dual boiler, you can froth the milk before making the espresso. If you do not have a dual boiler, frothing the milk first would affect your espresso shot.

If you hear a loud roaring and howling sound when your milk is being steamed or foamed for your espresso drink, you know your milk is being scalded.

Latte

A latte is basically a shot of espresso with steamed milk. The steamed milk gives the drink a creamy consistency and takes away from the taste of the espresso.

Cappuccino

A cappuccino is espresso topped with steamed and also foamed milk. This is commonly a strong bitter coffee.

Mocha

Mocha is like a latte with cocoa. It is espresso, steamed milk, cocoa and whipped cream. Like lattes, mochas are available in a wide variety of flavors.

Iced Coffees

Many coffee shops will offer coffee on ice. For example, an iced mocha would be espresso, steamed milk, and cocoa served over ice.

Frappacinos/ Frio drinks

In Frappaccino, or Frio, the ice is blended with the coffee drink. These drinks are sweet and refreshing in summers.

Instant coffees

The first instant coffee was invented in 1901 by Japanese-American chemist Satori Kato of Chicago. It was not marketed commercially until the launch of Nescafe in 1938.

The superiority and variety of instant coffee has grown spectacularly over the years, and it is possible to make a very satisfactory cup of coffee from today's products.

Instant coffee actually has a few advantages over freshly brewed coffee. It stays fresh for a longer time, it is very difficult to spoil the flavor and most of all it is easy, convenient, clean and inexpensive.

Instant coffee is manufactured, just like any other coffee, from ground beans (but often the cheaper and bitterer Robusta). The first stage involves the preparation of a coffee concentrate from which the water is removed, either by heat (spray dried) or by freezing (freeze-dried), to produce a soluble powder or granules. During the process of dehydration, the coffee essence may be lost, but these are captured and returned to the processed coffee.

Flavored coffees

The idea of adding some extra flavor to coffee is almost as old as coffee itself. The Arabs added spices like cinnamon to their coffees while in other parts of the Middle East, spices like cardamom, clove, nutmeg, black pepper, allspice, and ground nuts to their coffee for that extra something. As coffee experimentation continued through the centuries, various things were added to the coffee for extra flavor. Things such as citrus peels, spirits, and chocolate were just some of the more popular coffee flavoring supplements.

This experimentation is happening even today. Visit any coffee shop in America and you will see one of the latest methods of coffee flavoring. That's because coffee was introduced to the Western world with its flavoring of sugar and cream. The addition of these items has become so usual that we disregard that these are examples of coffee flavoring.

However, there has been a major evolution in the process of coffee flavoring. While previous coffee flavorings relied on the addition of natural products, today flavored coffee makes use of chemical solvents that copy natural flavorings. The rationale behind this is that this process allows for flavored coffee to be properly tweaked to satisfy the taste buds of coffee lovers everywhere. Furthermore, it is now possible to add these chemical solvents during the vital coffee bean roasting process, which creates a more consistent flavor. Flavored coffees acquire their flavor when chemical solvents that mimic natural flavorings are added to the whole coffee bean while the coffee bean is still warm from roasting.

The most popular type of flavoring groups that are added to coffee beans fall under these categories:

• Vanilla-based flavors.
• Chocolate-based flavors.
• Fruit-based flavors.
• Spice-based flavors.

Decaffeinated Coffee

Decaffeinated coffee is coffee that has had most of the caffeine removed. When first picked, Robusta beans contain about 2% caffeine by weight and Arabica beans contain about 1% caffeine by weight. Decaf coffee has been through a decaffeination process that normally removes 90-to-99% of that 1-2%

The caffeine content of coffee depends on: