Coffee Blends: A Complete Roasters Guide To Creating Your Signature Coffee Blend

Many coffee drinkers know what it's like to shop for coffee: There's a variety of different coffees and coffee flavors, ranging from single origin coffees to dozens of different blends. Blends had a bad reputation in the past because roasters often used leftover or low-quality beans. The results were often less than appealing.

Today, the world of coffee blends is full of exciting flavors and beautifully balanced cups. In this article, we'll look at different coffee blends, how they compare to single origin, why blend coffee, and much more. Whether you want to create your own blend or understand the topic better, you've come to the right place.

What Is A Coffee Blend?

A coffee blend combines coffee beans from at least two different origins. Blending two or three types of coffee beans is the most common. Some blends combine up to five coffees or more, but that requires the coffee roaster to understand each coffee's flavor profile truly.

Understanding The Difference Between Single Origin Vs Coffee Blends?

Single origin coffees are exactly what the name implies: All the beans in single origin coffees come from one farm. With a single origin coffee, you know exactly where each coffee bean comes from.

A blend combines beans from multiple sources from the same country but from different farms or countries.

Why Blend Coffee?

Mixing coffee beans from various sources creates interesting flavors. Blending also helps coffee taste the same all year. 

Some coffee beans can cost a lot. Mixing them with cheaper ones keeps the coffee tasty without emptying your wallet. Also, sometimes coffee beans aren't perfect. If you blend coffee, you can fix tiny problems and improve the coffee.

Each roaster has a specialty coffee blend, which is often why customers return: They can't get the same blend anywhere else. 

Coffee Blending Benefits For The Coffee Roaster

• Lower costs: Roasters create blends from various sources to create an affordable specialty coffee blend. They mix cheaper beans with higher-quality beans (e.g., robusta beans with arabica beans). Good roasters create a consistent flavor profile and pass the savings on to their customers.
• More creativity: Creating coffee blends is fun. A coffee roaster can use creativity to develop unique blends that wow coffee lovers.
• More consistency: Coffee blends allow roasters to sell a coffee that always tastes the same instead of hoping for the best with the coffee bean harvest.
• Create loyal customers: A unique, delicious signature blend is a great reason for customers to return!

Coffee Blending Benefits For The Coffee Drinker

• Great quality for less money: Talented roasters can blend expensive roasted beans with cheaper robusta coffee to lower production costs. The result: An affordable but delicious cup of coffee.
• Unique flavors: Thanks to blending beans from different origins, coffee lovers can enjoy many flavors and have a favorite blend for many different occasions.
• A consistent coffee-drinking experience: Coffee blends also allow for consistency which is great for coffee drinkers who prefer the same cup each morning.
• Easier to brew: Coffee blends are more forgiving than single origin coffees. It's easier to get a consistently good result.

How To Decide On A Coffee Blend?

Deciding on component coffees and a coffee blend is exciting but challenging. It gets easier when you keep the following questions and your answers in mind:

1. What’s your goal? Are you aiming for a signature blend for your coffee shop? Or do you blend coffees for personal enjoyment?
2. What’s your ideal flavor profile? Terms like acidity, body, aroma, and flavor notes are important here. You decide what the flavor profiles of your ideal coffee blends look like.
3. What types of roast levels do you want to use? Do you want light, medium, or dark roasts only? Or do you want to mix all of them?

The decision also becomes easier once you're familiar with different coffee blends and blend ratios.

Common Types Of Coffee Blends

The list of coffee blends is endless. Some blends have stood the test of time and have become a favorite amongst large commercial roasters, independent coffee roasters, and home roasters.

• The Classic Breakfast Blend: This is a light-to-medium roasted blend people enjoy in the morning.
• Espresso Blends: An espresso blend is specifically for making espresso shots and works well with an espresso machine.
• Regional Blend: A regional blend showcases a region's or country's flavors.
• Light Roast Blend: This blend produces more delicate flavors and a cup with pronounced acidity and distinct origin flavors.
• Medium Roast Blend: A balanced combination of coffee beans, the middle ground between the bright acidity of light roasts and the deeper, richer tones of dark roasts.
• Dark Roast Blend: Perfect for people who love intense coffees with a bold flavor and deep body.
• House Blend: Starbucks, Costa, and most other coffee shops have one. It is designed to appeal to a large number of tastes. You could call it the mainstream blend.
• Fair Trade or Organic Blend: These blends use coffee beans from farms that follow specific ethical or environmental standards. They're aimed at consumers who value sustainability, fair pay for farmers, and responsible sourcing.
• Signature Blend: Signature blends are carefully crafted to reflect a brand's identity and offer a memorable taste that sets them apart. Coffee shops usually have one.

How To Create Your Own Coffee Blend

Choosing Component Coffees For Your Blend

After you decide on the flavor profile and purpose of your own coffee blends, it's time to examine the details: The component coffee. Ultimately, it's all down to your preferences or what you think your customers want. There are three different elements you need to consider for your own coffee blend:

• High notes: If you want a blend that is brighter and floral, you can choose between various Ethiopian, Kenyan, and Middle Eastern beans.
• Mid-Palate: This is the kind of coffee that’s a good base coffee. It’s the main taste experience in your blend. Beans from Guatemala, the Republic of Burundi, Costa Rica, and Colombia work well here.
• Sweet Base Notes: These are the beans that lead to descriptions like "nutty", "caramel notes", and "chocolatey". Brazilian, Mexican, or Peruvian beans are a great choice.

Thinking about combining the various flavors is one of the fun parts. You can create a bright but bold blend with chocolatey notes, a nutty, dark, intense blend, or a floral, light blend with notes of caramel. Not all combinations result in a great cup, so choose component coffees wisely.

How To Decide On A Blend Ratio

Once you know which beans you want to blend, the next question is: How much of each bean should go into your blend? The answer depends on how many coffees you want to use and which one will be the main star in your own blends. It's like in a movie: The main character gets the most attention while the co-stars have less screen time but still add a huge value to the overall experience.

So, which of your coffee beans is the main character, and which are the co-stars? Or do you want a balanced blend with two or more coffees that all play an equal role? Is the third coffee as important?

In the end, there’s some trial and error involved. You might not get the perfect blend ratio right away. That’s part of the process, especially when you’re new to blending coffees. 

A good idea is to start with a 40:40:20 blend (40% sweet base note, 40% mid-palate, and 20% high notes) and work from there until you have the blend of your dreams.

It's a good idea to brew component coffees separately initially, so you can combine the liquid coffee and test what they taste together before making a big batch.

Should You Blend Pre Or Post Roast?

Another question is whether you should blend beans before or after roasting them. Both are viable options for a perfect coffee blend. 

Blending before roasting is great because you roast each component coffee simultaneously and achieve a consistent blend. You don't have to consider different batch sizes, and it's a simple(r) process.

There's a problem, though, if the beans in your blend are very different regarding their moisture levels and size. They require different roasting times, and you could end up with beans that are over- or under-roasted.

To blend after roasting, i.e., mix roasted beans, enables you to roast each component of your blend to perfection. This is the best way to create a blend consisting of different roast types (light, medium, dark). Post-blending is the only way to achieve excellent results if your beans vary in size and moisture levels.

The disadvantage here is that you need to ensure you always roast the correct amount of each bean type and that you have to do more than one roasting process. But that's a small price to pay for great coffee with awesome flavour notes.

Coffee Blend Recipes To Try

If you're unsure where to start, look at the following coffee blend recipes and see whether you want to try one. Remember that the percentages are just starting points, and you can adjust them to create your own signature blend.