Blends that settle

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Blends that settle

Postby jameso » Wed Dec 07, 2005 9:49 am

Anyone else have trouble with blends that settle in the bag? If you ground enough for half a dozen cups at a time, it wouldn't be a problem, but grinding one cup at a time it is.

What am I talking about? I'm drinking a shot of a blend. 40:30:20:10 - Cach:Mandh:CR Tres Rios:Lupili. Mmmm! :D This shot tastes quite balanced - although the CR and Zamb dominate slightly. Other shots I've drunk from the same batch have more Cach and Mandh in them, but not much brightness. I can only conclude that the beans have settled in my one-way valve bag, and some grinds contain more of one constituent and other grinds more of another.

I imagine this could also be a problem when I roast pre-blended greens - HB Premium for example. (Do I get the same mix out of my 2kg bag each time?) It could even be a problem when someone like Steve sells greens he buys blended, like Daterra or Perfeito - could the different greens sort themselves in the storage bin?

When I fancy 5% robusta in a blend, I keep a small stock of pan-roasted robusta and add 4 beans per shot to avoid exactly this problem. But even with pure arabica blends I'm getting quite a lot of cup variation which I think is down to this happening. I'm guessing it's most pronounced when the beans are different sizes, so that peaberry in a blend would tend to fall to the bottom. (Not a Kenyan peaberry, of course ;))

Anyone else had this happen? Solved it? Or am I making it up? Or do I need to post-blend one cup at a time :roll: ?

TTFN, James
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Postby Steve » Wed Dec 07, 2005 10:19 am

That's an interesting question James, but I think the law of averages means that on most occasions you will get an even blend. Perhaps the differences come from different drink preparations (tempt water amounts etc) more than different beans.

Different screen sizes will tend to not mix as well, but a quick shake of the bag or tin, and this should mix it up sufficiently.

No science, just opinions.

Steve
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Postby BazBean » Wed Dec 07, 2005 11:35 am

Still having fun with S/O but very interesting point. maybe labour intesnsive but buying seperate and counting each bean could be a solution if you love your blend but am sure you have thought of that allready. my palate is not that sensative to distinguish myself as my S/O roasts taste different somdays probs due to age of beans. also curry n fags tend to deminish my taste buds as well.... :oops:
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