Coffee Blending

Coffee is my life. I affectionately refer to coffee as Black Gold. Over the past year, I did something I have never done despite over 15 years of experience in the coffee industry - I created my own coffee blend. As Drip Roasting Co. took flight in March of 2020, I knew quickly we were going to have to develop a stable, comfortable blend of coffee to use for brewing both drip coffee & espresso drinks. 

Coffee is very subjective. Light roast vs. dark roast. Cream & sugar v. straight black. Espresso vs French Press. Everyone has their own version of the “world’s best cup of coffee.”

I knew our house coffee, Bold as Love, would need to please our customers and transition from what we had been serving at Drip Cafe over the past 7 years. For an espresso blend, you need a coffee blend that has depth of flavor and low acidity to withstand the pressure of brewing. 

Coffee is like wine. Every farm in every country of origin will produce coffee with its own unique flavor notes. Sometimes, farmers will even create micro lots on their farms where they know the conditions are optimal to produce exceptional coffees. These micro lot coffees tend to be submitted to international competitions, like Cup of Excellence. Coffees from Central America tend to produce notes of chocolate, nuts, brown sugar and caramel. While East African coffees will be lighter, more tea-like, with fruit forward notes of citrus and berry. Finally, coffees from Southeastern Asian countries will produce heavy, earthier coffees that hold up well to darker roast profiles. Single origin coffees will highlight the work of each farmer, and allow the individual coffee to speak on its own, while blending coffee focuses more on creating the final roast and flavor profile.

Coffee is a seasonal product. Most locations will only harvest their coffee once a year, making the coffee available every year finite. For Bold as Love, I wanted to create a comfortable coffee that could be enjoyed throughout the year. Through the Spring of 2020 I toiled with a few coffees I thought would work well together. I was set on using a Brazilian coffee as the base. Coffees from Brazil tend to have a lower acidity, with strong chocolate notes. Both of these characteristics are a great foundation for espresso drinks. Next, I wanted to fill in the high notes for the blend. I chose a Peruvian coffee that had notes of tart green apple and milk chocolate. Finally to meld these two coffees together, I chose a well rounded Colombian coffee that has notes of milk chocolate and dark fruit. Together these three coffees made up our first set of coffees for Bold as Love. Due to the seasonality of coffee, there will often be variation within the blend. While some of these coffees have come and gone over the course of the last year, I continue to find new coffees that fit the flavor profile that I want to achieve for our house blend, Bold as Love.

As I’ve gotten more confident with blending, we’ve created seasonal blends, including the newly released Running on Empty blend, which supports a local organization, the Friends of Fusion Foundation with every sip.

GV



 

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