Popular science | what is coffee blending? Why is it so delicious?

For professional baristas, please follow the coffee workshop (Wechat official account cafe_style)

Blended coffee is also called mixed coffee.

Roasters understand the characteristics of each kind of coffee beans and mix them artistically to create a desired new flavor. The knowledge of roasters mixing coffee beans can be said to be the highest industry secret.

Nowadays, almost all of the popular Italian style belongs to the category of mixed coffee. We generally call two or more different varieties of coffee or the same variety of coffee baked with different degrees of coffee mixed as mixed coffee. Mixed coffee is by no means a simple addition, but hopes that through the unique understanding of coffee flavor, different coffee beans can learn from each other and blend with mixed coffee beans with excellent flavor.

What is the purpose of mixing coffee and beans?

Mixed coffee is generally made of three or more different varieties of coffee, which is blended into another coffee with unique flavor according to its sour, bitter, sweet, fragrant and alcohol. the good comprehensive coffee is fragrant, smooth and refreshing, and the color is golden. It is the top grade of coffee. Mixed coffee drinks are very random, so they seek individual colors.

People mix coffee beans mainly for the following purposes:

A stable flavor

Because coffee beans are a kind of crop, the flavor of even the same kind of coffee beans will be different from year to year, so mixing several kinds of coffee beans can solve this problem and keep the taste basically the same every year.

Balanced taste

Since the espresso machine magnifies the most significant flavor of coffee beans, we hardly use a single variety of coffee to make Espresso, otherwise if the coffee bean is bitter, the Espresso will be very bitter and sour. So we need to balance the flavors by matching them.

Reduce the cost

In fact, the cost reduction is due to the fact that coffee production is often reduced due to natural and man-made disasters. At that time, since it is matched, it is only necessary to find a coffee bean with similar taste to replace the corresponding coffee bean in the recipe. There is no need to pay a lot of money to snap up coffee beans that have increased prices as a result of reduced production. But after arriving in China, we creatively appeared coffee blends such as Blue Mountain flavor, which means that we can't drink the real Blue Mountain, so we drink Blue Mountain-flavored coffee. Anyway, no one knows what Blue Mountain coffee tastes like. A good recipe can create a coffee legend, such as ILLY and LAVAZA, which our Chinese people are familiar with. We hope that there will be a blend of coffee with Chinese characteristics that is really in line with Chinese taste as soon as possible, instead of mixing low-quality coffee beans after deep roasting just for the sake of low cost.

According to the type of coffee, the mixed coffee will have different characteristics in taste.

In order to actually use these combinations, we must first understand the flavor of dozens of individual coffees, and each coffee shop will spell out different proportions of coffee beans according to its own characteristics.

When mixing coffee, you can first learn about three very preliminary coffee bean mixing methods.

First, first determine the basic coffee beans to be used when mixing, use this coffee bean as the center, and further choose other kinds rich in personality to reconcile the overall flavor.

Second, you can try to combine coffee beans of the opposite nature, which can add a more special aroma of coffee.

Third, combine beans with similar properties and integrate them, and then further select beans rich in various flavors to add special aroma to the whole coffee.

There are two spelling methods for matching beans: first bake, then mix and then bake, also known as cooked spelling and raw spelling, the latter is a greater test for bakers; the mixed beans are raised for a few more days in order to make the character of the beans integrated and the flavor balanced and unified; cooked beans usually take about a week; raw and spared for 3-4 days can be used, because different beans are already affecting each other when baking.

Here are several representative mixed proportions, of course, you can also challenge yourself to try to find the proportion you like.

1. Formula: 30% Guatemala SHB+30% Mexico AL+30% Brazil NO.2.+10% Kilimanjaro AA

Results: aroma 5, bitterness 5, sweetness 5, acidity 5.

2. Formula: 40% Sumatra Manning G1% Colombia SUP+20% Brazil NO.19+10% Kilimanjaro AA

Results: aroma 5, bitterness 10, sweetness 5, acidity 3.

3. Formula: 20% mocha + 20% Hawaiian Cona no.1+20% Brazil NO.2.+40% Kilimanjaro AA

Results: aroma 9, bitterness 10, sweetness 7, acidity 10

4. Formula: 40% Guatemala SHB+30% mocha + 30% Kilimanjaro AA

Results: aroma 10, bitterness 5, sweetness 6, acidity 7

5. Recipe: 50% Brazil NO.2.+30% Mexico AL+20% Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee

Results: aroma 5, bitterness 3, sweetness 5, acidity 6.

6. Recipe: 30% Brazilian NO.2.+50% Colombia SUP+20% Java Robsta Coffee

Results: aroma 3, bitterness 8, sweetness 8, acidity 6.