Single Origin vs. Blend

[Isabel]

Hi all!!

I am a new member living in the Netherlands and excited to have joined this coffee loving community.

As a coffee enthusiast I have noticed an increase interest on single origin coffees. I would like to open a discussion on what people feel are the pros and cons of blends vs. single estate coffees.

Hope you can share your thoughts!

All the best!!
Isabel

[fred25]

A very warm welcome to TMC!

To have a coffee farmer as a member of TMC - now that is something truly special!!

Really looking forward to hear more about you, your farm, history and your coffee, and I'm sure you'll have loads of people not only in the Netherlands but in the rest of Europe interested too!


As we say: 'Welcome to the madhouse!'

[Gouezeri]

Isabel,
Great to have you with us and to have the perspective of a grower on the forum. I'm sure everyone will appreciate having you around!

[Beanie]

Welcome Isabel... you're exactly what we need here... I was just thinking how it would be so nice to have a coffee grower in our midst

Hope you enjoy the Netherlands... I was there for 10 years until last summer

[Bertie_Doe]

Hi Isabel and welcome to the forum. I roast my own, so I've developed a taste for single origins. With SO's the results are more predictable. Most commercial roasts have been post-blended i.e. 3 SO's have been roasted seperately to perfection and then mixed to the correct ratios.

There are available green bean blends, that have been designed so each componants has the same profile, but I may be alone in not liking them. Am I alone in thinking you are not a grower or farmer

QC

[lukas]

Welcome to TMC, Isabel! I hope you enjoy it!

[Beanie]

You snooze, you lose, QC She hails from El Salvador (edited ) from a family of coffee growers

Oh and on the topic, pros of S.O. for me is the sheer difference and ehm, purity? For blends, it's the balance. For a while my blending preference has been to roast the same S.O. to different levels and then blending it. It's a fun and surprising exercise. Helps me to learn more about that particular S.O. For cons in S.O., again, it's balance even though I love the individualism in character. Cons in blended - if consistency is important, how 'consistent' can one be with every dose? You don't always get xx ratio of beans, right? But then again, if it turns out with a bit of a surprise because the mix is a little off, that's not always a bad thing either Of course, there's also the pre-roast or post-roast blend... hmmm

[bruceb]

I don't generally enjoy commercial blends, but I do like to blend my own roasts to balance and augment flavours of SOs. Some coffees, however, are just too good on their own to blend.

Have fun! Good to have you on board.

[Isabel]

Thank you all for your kind welcome!! I am really excited to have joined your community, I think it will a great learning experience.

First of all I would like to start with a little bit of background info on me and where I come from, which I hope will be useful for future posts.

I am a sixth generation coffee farmer from El Salvador. My family has been working the same farm for the last 150 years, cultivating only SHG arabica bourbon. Even in the ups and downs our farm has been productive, something we are very proud and happy to have achieved. I guess this is the reason why I am passionate for coffee and the culture surrounding it.

Now, I have moved to the Netherlands, I married a dutchie and with the help of some local roaster friends would like to bring our coffee to Europe. It is a big endeavor, but like I read in some other posts, it is understandable that farmers want to get as close to the final consumer as possible so we are not dependent on the whims of the C Contract. (Even though I can safely say our community is pretty happy with the last few trading months )

I am also glad to hear some of the comments regarding SO coffees and blends. I think I would have to agree that sometimes SO are just to good to blend (We can find perfect examples on all the Cup of Excellence winners). I really enjoy finding the uniqueness of a great coffee and feel that this can sometimes be lost if placed in a blend. However, I will admit that sometimes some coffees excel only when mixed with others.

[Aadje]

Welcome to TMC Isabel!

[Beanie]

I think I would have to agree that sometimes SO are just to good to blend (We can find perfect examples on all the Cup of Excellence winners). I really enjoy finding the uniqueness of a great coffee and feel that this can sometimes be lost if placed in a blend. However, I will admit that sometimes some coffees excel only when mixed with others.

That eloquently sums it up really

Sorry I got your country of origin wrong earlier and some of my favourite coffees come from El Sal: namely from the La Fany Estate. What I really love about the La Fany is its versatility. I love its creamy caramelliness as an SO, the range of roast levels it can handle, and what it can bring to a blend with other beans as well as a multi-roast SO blend.

I've also had the pleasure of tasting a couple of El Sal COE's through Hasbean and they were fantastic!! Has your farm participated/won in COE? Would love to hear about how COE impacts the daily lives and way of working of farmers (if it does )... as farmers who have been able to use the label, as well, if possible, those who have yet to achieve it. Do farmers in general get excited about COE? Or is that depended on the size of a farm? What's a typical day like for a farmer and/or worker during harvest and non-harvest periods?

I agree with not wanting to blend COE SOs... but, for me personally, it's usually because there's a smaller range of roasts to get right in order to enjoy the benefits of its characteristics. There is at least one exception for me though... Brazilian (2006?) COE Sitio Boa Sorte. It was one of my favourite multi-roast single bean blends which did well from end of 1st crack to a little into 2nd crack (but never rolling ) I fondly remember it (SO & blend) as both comforting and soothing

As the first and perhaps only farmer on this forum, you might get a tad bombarded with soooo many questions

Oh and, awwwwww a lot of expat/foreign women I met while living in NL moved there for love ...including me Hoe gaat 't met de NL taal?

[CakeBoy]

Welcome Isabel

[Isabel]

I am glad to hear that some of you have had a chance to taste the coffees El Salvador. For a very long time our small country was one of the largest producers of coffee in the world. Sadly, after some years of turmoil and the subsequent drop in coffee prices a lot of farmers left their coffee in search of more lucrative businesses. Still, it is great to hear that the COE winners have made an impact, as I think they deserve to be praised.

To answer some questions on the COE, I think that those that are lucky to win, and even classify in the top 10, do get some reward for their hard work. But I think that even more important than the monetary reward are the relationships these type of competitions create. I think it is a great way of getting the two interested parties, buyers and farmers, "talking the same language". The producer gets rewarded for his hard work and the buyers get a top quality product.

I feel that it is from these competitions that new flavors are discovered and introduced to the larger population. It becomes a win-win for all involved, salvadoran coffee starts to be recognized in the international coffee community and people get to try new and exciting coffees from farmers who dedicate a lot to produce it.

My farm has yet to compete in the COE, but I believe this year we will participate. Separating a lot especially for the COE is sometimes a bit complicated, but with a bit of effort and coordination it can be done.

And thank you for asking about my dutch I am currently hard at work studying so I can enjoy the full dutch experience. Still, so far it has been very nice..weather and all!

[Jo2]

Hi Isabel and welcome to TMC (and in The Netherlands)...
It's good to have someone at the roots of the coffee on the forum...

If i'm not mistaken, you and your family visited our shop and roastery last year... It would be nice to meet someday...

[GeorgeW]

It's great to have you on board Isabel. Lots of luck with your project.