Single Origin vs Blends

Often you will see coffee categorized under “Single Origin” or “Blend”. A single origin coffee is just as it says, it only has one origin. This is usually a region in country. Sometimes, a coffee can be traced down to a specific farm. Other times, several small farmers will sell their beans to a larger distributor who may then group these beans together and sell it as being from a specific region within the Country.

A coffee blend is a mix of coffee beans from either different regions within a country or different countries entirely. A blend can either be roasted separately and then mixed after roasting, or the roaster may choose to mix the beans and roast it all at once. The importance of noting this is that not all coffee roasts the same. For example, some coffee may achieve a dark roast in 7 minutes while other beans may take 8 minutes to roast to dark. So, when blended before roasting you may have a greater flavor profile due to the different roast levels alone. Something else to factor into blends is the environment the beans were grown in and the type of bean being roasted; both of these can greatly affect the flavor profile.

If you are a coffee fanatic and like to try different flavors, you may enjoy experimenting with your own blends!