Coffee Blends

How are coffee blends made?

The coffee blending process is somewhat of an art that can take different forms depending on the blend and its blender.

For most expert coffee roasters, the blending process occurs before the beans are roasted. A team of coffee aficionados will carry out near-endless taste tests to ensure the exact ratio of different single-origin coffee beans is right before roasting. Roasting beans at the same time allows coffee brands to produce large quantities of consistent and tasty coffee blends throughout the year.

However, as professional roasters know, there are exceptions to this process. Although beans from different origins can be roasted together, some blends need their beans roasted separately. Such blends include those that mix Arabica and Robusta coffee beans. Similarly, washed and unwashed coffee combinations tend to be roasted separately before they are mixed together.

You can also master the art of blending at home by mixing beans after they’ve been roasted. If home blending is something you’d like to try, we recommend you start by choosing your base coffee. Brew a cup and taste it carefully, thinking of the different ways you could improve its base notes. For example, what difference would it make if you added spicier flavours? Could it be enhanced with a more powerful aroma? Or is it slightly lacking in acidity for your taste?

Next, think of other roasts that contain the characteristics you want to add to your coffee. Brew these roasts then add to a new cup of your base coffee. As a heads up, this process may involve much trial and error to work out how different origin roasts complement rather than overpower each other. For the best results, any professional coffee roaster will advise new blenders to stick to two or three beans from different origins.

Once you have your perfect liquid mix, recreate the exact blend ratio with whole beans to produce your very own signature coffee blend.

FAQs

When it comes to single-origin coffees vs blends, what’s better?

Whether you prefer a single-origin coffee or a coffee blend will be a personal preference and choice. We recommend trying several varieties of each type of coffee from different countries and exploring different roast profiles (e.g. dark roast coffee, light roast coffee or medium roast coffee) and brewing methods, to get a better understanding of the types of coffee, bean qualities and tastes you enjoy. You can view our selection of over 100 different coffees.

Do coffee blends use Robusta or Arabica coffee?

Some speciality coffee blends use Robusta and Arabica beans, whereas others use 100% Arabica beans and others 100% Robusta. No way of blending is ‘the best’ as taste is purely subjective. If you have any questions about where the beans that make your cup of coffee are sourced from or would like more information about something before you order, you can contact us.

Can you make custom coffee blends?

Yes. You can make your own signature blend at home by mixing coffee beans from different single origins together before the brewing process. If you're a keen home roaster and prefer controlling the roast levels of your beans, you can also mix your beans before the brewing process. For more information on experimenting with flavour notes and your cup profile, see our advice above. Alternatively, if the idea of mixing your own single origins isn't appealing, you can skip the entire process and browse our range of exclusive custom coffees above.

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