Boyds Coffee ®

11.29.2010

By blending multiple coffee bean types in varying percentages, roasters are able to create dozens of flavor profiles with a broad range of qualities. Blends may bring together as few as two or as many as seven or eight bean types, with the average blend consisting of four or five types of beans.

In creating a blend, the goal is to achieve a balanced, distinct flavor profile that can then be consistently reproduced. Beans are chosen for their ability to complement each other, based on flavor, aroma and body. Blends often provide a more complex character than is available with varietals or single origins alone.

Determining what percentages and types of coffee beans to be used in a given blend is the job of the roastmaster. This exacting process is considered one of the most revered talents in coffee making, and is the cornerstone of each blend’s discrete personality.

Characteristics of traditional coffees used for blending

• Colombia: traditionally good roaster, good acidity, well-rounded, rich flavor, medium body, full aroma.
• Costa Rica: Good acidity, light to medium body.
• Guatemala: Good body, sweet, balanced acidity, smooth.
• Mexico/El Salvador/Honduras/Nicaragua/Panama/Peru: Excellent individual coffees, clean, pleasant blenders.
• Kenya/Tanzania/Zimbabwe: Positive high acidity, syrupy-sweet liqueur, intense flavor and aroma. Very bright attributes lift up other flavors of compatible components in a blend.
• New Guinea: Winey acidity, medium to thin body, adds brightness to blend.
• Brazil: Neutral, sweet, good body, lacks acidity.
• Java: Balanced body, pleasant-sweet, medium acidity.
• Sumatra: Heavy body, minimal acidity, desirable mustiness, earthy (not dirty).
• Ethiopia: Top acidity, flowery bouquet, thick body.