In the past, my attempts at blending have been dismal. Yesterday it was forced upon me, when I came towards the end of some E. Yirgacheffe, Fazenda Monte Alegre and some Monsooned Malabar.
These beans are now 10 days old; the Fazenda I roasted to FC+ and the others to Lt.Vienna with oil spots showing. 5gr each and a coolish brew temp of 87C, produced a delightfully smooth espresso.
The aggressive earthy notes of the Monsooned, were subdued (I believe) by the brighter taste of the Fazenda. Their was a nuttiness to the drink and I could detect hints of caramel and milk choc.
I've no intention of taking up blending too seriously. Prior to the arrival of the dental vibrator, I tried my hand at blending in the p/f. i.e. split-dosing or layering the lighter roast, above the darker roast. As you can imagine, the hassle factor was large and time consuming. Time is the enemy of temperature control etc, etc.
However, it's nice to experiment every now and then, with chucking a few single origins into the casserole and see what emerges. Sadly I've often found that SO's which are brilliant 'stand alone' coffees, often are bland and dismal - when mixed.
Bertie