How to select a good blend?

[moniek]

Hello,

I'm in the process of selecting a blend for my work. I do know how to make a good espresso from all kinds of blends/SO/brands, and I know a fair bit about coffee in general. But I could use some advise about selecting a "house"blend.

I visited several roasters and have been tasting coffees. There were some defint NO WAYS and some "this is very very nice!" . But how to get to the point of making the decision?

Ofcourse I'm looking for quality, taste, freshness but I also have to keep my eye on the price and reputation of the roaster.

Has anyone been through this proces? All advise is welcome!

Thanks,

Moniek

[Joey]

1) try the coffee on your machine, too
2) get some guineapigs
3) try the coffee with all recipies (+milk, +cream....)
4) important are the customers you are attending
For example, I once sold a blend to a gastronomer for his Café. He wanted something that tasted strong like Segafredo. He got a real spicy, long lasting aftertaste - blend. After two weeks he changed to something milder again, because the old ladies who usually visit his Café almost got a hard attack. (of course not because of the caffeine - but people still think if the taste is intense - the coffee must be "strong")
In my Café a stronger blend is preferd. I have guests from the theatre, business people, customers from the market who wanna taste differences....coffee in Vienna is usually weak or burnt. So they want the difference. My milder blend is not often ordered. But that's my situation.

just my 2 cents

[phil]

Guinea pigs? Never fancied one as a pet. Do they like coffee then?

I'm told they taste good roasted though.

Sorry, I'm in a silly mood.

[ivdp]

No secrets here: keep trying till you find what you like best.

Ivo

[Beanie]

Hi Moniek

I totally understand where you're coming from Apart from the good advice from Joey as usual, I decided that I would need to cheat here.

If I understand it properly, you want to choose only ONE blend, correct? Well, I decided to (cheat) approach it the way most "horeca" establishments choose their "house" wines: white, red, rose. So, if (sounds like it) you've narrowed your choices down to 2 or 3, I say, why not start off with those? You can always phase out the unpopular one Even if having more than one blend is not an option, perhaps you can manage to have at least 2 for a 6 week period to test? And this would also be a test for the roaster: get a free loaner grinder for the 2nd option.

Hope this helps & do let tell what you decide..
Marcy

[Joey]

Marcie is right - you can always have a "coffee of the week" and try other coffees, too. If one is very popular, keep it.
joey

[moniek]

Marcie, Joey,

Thank you for the advise. I will visit two more roasters in the coming weeks. I will do a "try out" with a few coffees at different events and at our street location in the hague.

It's great to be able to select a coffee, but I think it's far more difficult than I thought it would be! Still learning every day, which is very nice.

So still, all advise is welcome!

Moniek

[stevenzaat]

Moniek,

I am not a professional blender, but I indeed would suggest to start with a very comon blend (see the several threads of Simon P.) e.g. 50% Brazil Cachoera, 30% Colombian, 20% Lintong. Furthermore try to taste serval single origins in which you see some flavour notes with you would like to have in an espresso. After you have picked the single origins you like to start with the following procedure, also suggested by IVDP in another thread, but I like this method:
* Liquify the coffees seperately
* From the liquids start your blending session. Mix/blend by the spoon: 50/50 - 30/30/30 etc.
Maybe you should do this with another person to get the perfect blend also for other customers.

But as stated before start with a typical espresso bean as the main part (50% Brazil Cachoera) and add whetever you like.

OK, I hope this helps and good luck in your journey for the perfect blend.

Best regards,

Steven

[stevenzaat]

Moniek,

Some other basics about blending, which I find very informative, can be found on Sweetmarias:
http://www.sweetmarias.com/blending.html

Best regards,

Steven