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single origen vs blends??

psaighpsaigh
edited January 1970 in Have your say
Sparked off a question one of my customers asked me the other day i thought i'd re-ignite this unsolvable debate.  He was wondering if i prefered to drink SO or blends??  I gave it some thought and finally came up with this answer.
For me, a blend needs to have a purpose.  I do not rate blends that try and balance themselves perfectly.  Much like a well constructed plate of food there needs to be a reason for the combinations of flavours (ie/ to be fullfilling, or to high light a particular ingredient/flavour etc.).  For me a blend should be taylored for say, the morning, or to be enjoyed after a meal, or with a steak, or for refreshment, or simply to be enjoyed for what it is whilst highlighting for-flavours and contrasting those against further background flavours.
I have little time for a generic blend that's been 'designed' to be commercially acceptable by the masses 24/7, with the primary focus on keeping a consistant flavour profile year in year out in spite of crop variances.
Having said all that i enjoy SO more so for it's 'faults' than it's positives.  I love that they are not (generally) well balanced and enjoy the clean flavours they can provide.  Much like the simple joy of eating an apple.  It's not trying to be anything else but itself.  I love drinking a brasilian and thinking mmm, nuts.  Or a rawandan and thinking mmm, berries.  Without trying to brake down every taste sensation going on in my mouth.  Much like a single malt scotch vs a blended whiskey.
So as for which one i prefer it really depends on why i'm drinking that coffee, what purpose there is behind it.  But for the most part i tend to favour SO (especially a new find!).  I also beleive there is little use in drinking blends unless you have consumed a decent amount of SO or are blessed with a naturally magnificent pallate to begin with.

What are all your thoughts??
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Comments

  • askthecoffeeguyaskthecoffeeguy
    I serve a SO Papua New Guinea 'wild' Okapa coffee instead of a blend at my work because it has the depth and complexity of many blended coffees, whilst also having the (in my experience at least) quite unusual quality of drinking exceptionally well as either an espresso, or as part of a milk based coffee. I'm increasingly leaning towards SO coffees because I like the cleanness of the fruit, combined with the terroir from where the coffee is derived There's a mostly academic debate doing the rounds at the moment about the relative merits of single origin Vs single estate - implying that single origin does not have the same integrity as single origin.  But I think that's elitist bullshit based on the findings of uneducated palates. For me most blends have what I call the 'Chardonnay Effect' on me - which is to say that there is nothing wrong with them, but that, like Chardonnay, I have drunk so much of the stuff that a certain aspect of myself never wants to touch another drop of the stuff again! Then I go and try Single Origin (from Surry Hills?) house origins blend - and its so damn good (and unique for that matter) - that it blows most of my blend expecations out of the water! Having said that many SO coffees have the unique distinction of being 'curiosity coffees' - original enough to tweak my curiosity - all the more so as some have the capacity to develop beautifully with a little post roast-date aging, and yet I would probably not choose to drink some of these on a regular basis. For me the trick with SO is to find something that you enjoy drinking, and then to stick to it - but to keep experimenting with different SO coffees until something else comes along to caress your palate, and potentially bump the number one choice off of its esteemed mantle place! Now that I am batch roasting at home, however, I expect to take my SO coffee appreciation to a whole new level! Cheers, Pat
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  • nzroasternzroaster
    I love this debate/conversation but will try to keep my reply shy of a novel. It really depends how you drink the coffee (not to mention time of day / mood / intentions.....) For me the only place for a blend is an espresso machine. For any brewed coffee it is strictly SO. And sorry Pat, I do prefer single estate. Not to say that they are better or worse than blended origins. Through the vac pot, on a Sunday, can't beat an estate coffee. The subtleties and complexities of something so unique is unbeatable. Its much like a good Colombian, the appeal is its smoothness. One side of me hates the boring Colombian, yet the other side loves it for the same reasons. Much the same with single estates, you can dive so deep into the flavours of them because they are so crisp. If we are now talking espresso based coffees than my opinion is this. As an espresso I love single origins, and find blended origins (not single estate) coffees work best, you need a bit of variety on the pallate. However I do keep going back to my blends. Its nice to have an origin, and I only drink origins at home, through a direct lever Pavoni (so romantic) because I can sit and think about it, i'm not analyzing  my own skills, just enjoying the espresso and its characteristics. At work, I always go for a blend, easy to drink and fills a need. Doesn't leave me unsatisfied like many SO espressos do. For milk based drinks I think if you can find a SO that does what you want than go for it. I prefer blends. But  I have a different philosophy on blends too. I am not into the 7 bean generic full feel coffee blends. I take the approach of complexity through simplicity. By using higher quality beans with more complexity and blending a maximum of 3 beans, I can retain the pros of SO and blends. My premium blend at work is a 2 bean blend, and was awarded silver at the golden bean awards. I have 3 other blends which have all won bronzes at the Golden Bean over the years and they are all 2 or 3 bean blends. So I guess my blends are more like SO than traditional blends. They don't always have a big full mouthfeel. I think there is a place for a blend without an aftertaste, or body, even if thats not the done thing.
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  • askthecoffeeguyaskthecoffeeguy
    hmm I'm getting thirsty just thinking about it I will have to come and try some of your blends when  I'm up your way in a couple of weeks time! Cheers, Pat
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