Certainly, single origin coffees are popular. But with unique coffee blends and their unique profiles, you can curate something very special. These blends offer the consumer a different type of experience as compared to single-origin coffee.
A lot goes in the process of curating a coffee blend. Designing and roasting are unique challenges and knowing which coffee to mix is also a major task. Beans have their own stories and they vary according to their origins, variety, densities and more!
Moreover, the most important reason why people like to curate a specific coffee blend is to create a more dynamic flavor and cater to the preferences of an individual. Often when you combine these you’re able to add a greater balance and bring out the best elements and components of specific coffee.
The Journey from a Bean to a Brew
Commercial grade coffee often skips steps and quality control, which is the reason for their low-quality produce. In contrast, a huge amount of effort and manpower goes into the production of each and every bean of specialty coffee.
Step 1: Planting
Coffee beans are seeds that go through the process of drying, roasting and grounding them together. These seeds are planted into large areas and then further shifted into individual pots that accommodate their growing conditions. Planting is said to be done best during wet seasons to ensure that the soil remains moist throughout.
Step 2: Harvesting
Newly planted seeds take up to 3-4 years to bear fruit. The fruit is called coffee cherry and turns into a shade of deep red when it’s ripe and really to be plucked. In some countries, cherries are picked by local workers but in others, you may find machines harvesting them for you.
Step 3: Processing
After harvesting the produce, the cherries are processed as soon as possible to prevent them from going bad. This can be done via two methods, the natural method or the wet method.
Step 4: Drying
If the beans have been processed by the wet method, they’ll have to be dried to bring them to a moisture level of 11%. They are sun-dried by spreading them on tables and floors. These dried beans are also known to some as parchment coffee.
Step 5: Polishing
And we hull & polish! The process of hulling requires removing the parchment skin from the produced bean. The beans are then inspected for any visible defects or faults. Polish may not be mandatory as it only involves removing the excess skin that may have appeared during the process of hulling.
Step 6: Transportation
After sorting and quality checks these are then measured by their size and weight. The seeds are now called the green coffee beans and are ready to be exported!
Step 7: Roasting
And the time of examination is here. The process of cupping takes place where certified people rate a particular coffee. Then comes roasting, when your recently hulled green beans turn into aromatic brown beans.
Step 9: Brewing
The real action begins! An astonishing amount of effort that goes into producing one cup of coffee. When you, the home barista, weaves those magical beans into an experience that you won't easily forget and a taste that leaves you asking for seconds, that's when you know that the hard work that went in the making of it was a success.
Why Blend your Coffee?
It’s expected that roasters offer a staple house blend. Customers come to associate a roaster with the same reliable taste that they can keep coming back to. It’s delicious, goes beyond ordinary and offers a familiar comfort served in a cup. As coffee differs from season to season, this may present a turmoil to the person roasting them. When roasters offer limited, seasonally crafted blends they are able to expand their menu with adventures and a dash of diversity.
Coffee is an art and blending it to bring out the best qualities is more difficult. To cater to a specific taste of the consumer, coffee blends come into the picture.