Coffee Comparison and Blending

Coffee Bean Comparison and Blending Information

Well you're coming right along in learning how to roast green coffee beans if you're looking to create your own signature coffee blends! Before you can start blending your home roasted green coffee beans, you need to have a pretty good idea of what each coffee will bring to your blend. You should also have an idea of what you are trying to create with your coffee blend recipe. As far as whether to blend before or after roasting, our idea is that you should blend prior to roasting unless there is a real reason not to—as in the case of blending a regular and a decaf coffee. They roast at such different rates that you have to roast first and then blend the roasted coffee beans. The following table gives a general idea of some of the major characteristics of some of the green coffee beans we offer. From this information, you can probably draw conclusions about coffees that may not be listed:

Blend Formulas and Roastmaster's Notes

Here are the formulas we used for the blends we called "First Mate's Blend" and "Four Stripe Blend". Does home coffee roasting get any better?

First Mate's Blend Roasting Profile Recipe

• Medium body, lively, a little chocolate perhaps? Makes a good morning coffee.
• 1 part Sulawesi
• 3 parts Mexican Chiapas (or Guatemala Huehuetenango)

Four Stripe Blend Roasting Profile Recipe

• Excellent body, smoky, formulated for dark roasting.
• 1 part Guatemalan Antigua
• 1 part Honduran
• 1 part Colombian
• 1 part Sumatran Mandheling

Some other drip blends that we find work well

Drip #1 Roasting Profile Recipe

• Good body, chocolate undertones, medium acidity
• 50% Colombian
• 25% Guatemalan Huehuetenango
• 25% Sumatra Mandheling

Drip #2 Roasting Profile Recipe

• Weighty, berry undertones, nice acidity
• 65% Sumatran Mandheling
• 35% Ethiopian Harrar

Drip #3 Roasting Profile Recipe

• A "house" blend—nothing too sharp—mild and pleasant
• 75% Java
• 25% Costa Rican Dota

Here are a few blends we find make great espresso

Espresso #1 Roasting Profile Recipe

• Deeply flavored, smoky, Seattle Style
• 40% Sumatran Mandheling
• 25% Java
• 15% Colombian
• 10% Ethiopian Sidamo
• 10% Monsooned Malabar

Espresso #2 Roasting Profile Recipe

• More of an Italian style
• 35% Brazilian
• 35% Sumatran Mandheling
• 20% Ethiopian Sidamo
• 10% Guatemalan Antigua

Espresso #3 Roasting Profile Recipe

• Very mellow—no rough edges.
• 25% Guatemalan Antigua
• 25% Costa Rican Dota
• 25% Colombian
• 25% Sumatran Mandheling

Espresso #4 Roasting Profile Recipe

• Smoky, a hint of sweetness
• 33% Brazil
• 33% Java
• 33% Papua New Guinea
• Toss in a little Indian Monsooned Malabar for a little twisty funk!

Espresso #5 Roasting Profile Recipe

• Classic Italian Style Espresso
• 4 parts Brazil
• 3 parts Sumatran Mandheling
• 2 parts Panama
• 1 part Costa Rican Dota

Espresso #6 Roasting Profile Recipe

• Slightly sweeter version of #5
• 4 parts Brazil
• 3 parts Sumatran Mandheling
• 2 parts Honduran
• 1 part Ethiopian Sidamo

Espresso #7 Roasting Profile Recipe

• Italian style, with more acidity
• 4 parts Brazil
• 3 parts Sulawesi
• 2 parts Ethiopian Sidamo
• 1 part Kenyan AA (or other East African coffee)

Espresso # 8 Roasting Profile Recipe

• Smoky Seattle/West Coast style
• 2 parts Papua New Guinea
• 2 parts Ethiopian Harrar
• 1 part Panama
• 1 part Yemeni