Single Origin vs. Blend

Tell us about the latest beans you've discovered and blends you've tried

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Postby Gouezeri » Fri Mar 07, 2008 10:33 pm

I can't believe that nobody has asked her whether she has a decent grinder yet :wink:
Come on guys, you're letting the side down :lol:
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Postby zix » Fri Mar 07, 2008 10:45 pm

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A warm and hearty welcome coming to you from Sweden too, Isabel!
I´ll join the rest of the crowd and say it is so good to finally have a grower among us! Thanks for joining! Will most certainly be looking forward to hearing more about how you fare over here - and to getting to taste some of your coffee!
Please show me to the queue for ordering green beans! :D

Oh, and on a very important topic: how ees your grinder?

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Postby Lambo » Mon Mar 10, 2008 9:46 pm

OK, am I the only one who isn't psychic??? How come everybody else knows Isabel is a grower :?

Oh, and HALLO ISABAEL!
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Postby Odello » Mon Mar 10, 2008 11:48 pm

As some of you already know, I am Italian. Therefore I consider single origin coffee to be very interesting, but not sufficient to get the sensory profile we look for in the espresso served in my country. As I usually say, you can get an espresso from a single origin, but not an Italian espresso. It just depends on what you want to drink. I am not saying a single-origin-espresso is worse or better than a blend-espresso, we went through this discussion some time ago and I still remember the very long thread :-)
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Postby Isabel » Tue Mar 11, 2008 9:40 am

Hi all...

First let me start with the fact that as of now I do not have a decent grinder at home :(... I moved to Holland just two months and still getting settled. But, I am sure it will happen soon!

As for the post on the espresso, I disagree with the fact that a single origin is not good for an espresso. I have seen cuppings of SOs that rank them as good espressos and not suitable for a normal cup. I do believe though that it is all a matter of the punch you like in your espresso. I noticed that for example what the dutch like for an espresso are very hard coffees, with a bit of robusta or hard, acidic, african coffees for some punch. I am not certain what Italians like, but my guess it is somewhere along the same lines. In this case I think that the blend is the best way to achieve the punch you are after.

What I do know is that salvadoran coffee is regarded very highly by Italian roasters, I am assuming it is for "drip" coffee and not espresso. The salvadoran coffees produce very sweet, balanced cups which respond beautifully to the french press and to make capuccinos. So, if you are ever looking for a nice balanced cup or sweet capuccino look for salvadoran coffee...I am sure you'll enjoy it!!
Last edited by Isabel on Tue Mar 11, 2008 7:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby Odello » Tue Mar 11, 2008 9:53 am

Isabel wrote:Hi all...

I noticed that for example what the dutch like for an espresso are very hard coffees, with a bit of robusta or hard, astringent, african coffees for some punch. I am not certain what Italians like, but my guess it is somewhere along the same lines.


Isabel, I can tell you we Italians do not like hard or astingent african coffees. Astringent is perceived in a negative way, nobody likes his/her mouth dried by coffee.
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Postby Steve » Tue Mar 11, 2008 1:23 pm

I think astringency in small amounts can be good and help develop the nuances of a cup, but its when it becomes a dominant factor that it can become bad.
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Postby Isabel » Tue Mar 11, 2008 7:22 pm

I have edited my post to reflect a change in term. I had written astringent when what I meant to say was acidic. I am sorry for the confusion :)
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Postby Gouezeri » Wed Mar 12, 2008 10:20 am

Isabel wrote: I am sorry for the confusion :)

No worries Isabel, we're used to that around here :wink:
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Postby Aadje » Wed Mar 12, 2008 11:16 am

As with whisky most tend to like single malts, but some single malts are just undrinkable. The same people tend to dislike blended whiskys, but some blends are truly excellent.
I think it's the same with coffee: there are very nice SO's and there are not so nice SO's, there are very nice blends and there are not so nice blends.
Of course this isn't helping you very much . . .
Bits 'n' pieces . . .

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Postby ivdp » Wed Mar 12, 2008 12:08 pm

It helps, most of the coffee grown in the world is undrinkable.
We tend to concentrate on drinkable coffees, that is only a small percentage of all coffee grown.

A question could be: is a SO, regarded as excellent for espresso, not good for drip?
And vv of course.
I tend to think that a real good coffee is really good, no matter which extraction method you use.
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Postby Steve » Wed Mar 12, 2008 2:33 pm

I tend to agree Ivo, it really comes down to personal preference though. For instance, I'm not a big acidity fan in espresso but love it in drip, so my preference is for filter. that's not to say a small amount of acidity is not a good thing.
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Postby Neo » Wed Mar 12, 2008 5:22 pm

Steve wrote:I think astringency in small amounts can be good and help develop the nuances of a cup, but its when it becomes a dominant factor that it can become bad.

I once had a cup of espresso that paralyzed my tongue for a while. Is that an ultra-strong astringency? :?
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Postby Beanie » Wed Mar 12, 2008 5:51 pm

Neo wrote:
Steve wrote:I think astringency in small amounts can be good and help develop the nuances of a cup, but its when it becomes a dominant factor that it can become bad.

I once had a cup of espresso that paralyzed my tongue for a while. Is that an ultra-strong astringency? :?

:shock: you sure it was even coffee??? :shock: :lol:
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Postby Neo » Thu Mar 13, 2008 5:20 am

Bean_Believer wrote:
Neo wrote:
Steve wrote:I think astringency in small amounts can be good and help develop the nuances of a cup, but its when it becomes a dominant factor that it can become bad.

I once had a cup of espresso that paralyzed my tongue for a while. Is that an ultra-strong astringency? :?

:shock: you sure it was even coffee??? :shock: :lol:

pretty sure. i didnt believe wt i felt but my tongue went numb for sure. Well, partially, excluding those responsible for detecting sweetness and bitterness.
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