I was playing around with some of the new single origins we’ve had in recently, trying a simple 50/50 blend of Brazil Fazenda Cachoeira da Grama and El Salvador Santa Barbara. The blend worked well, the sweet body of the Cachoeria went nicely with the big red cherry flavour of the El Salvador.
However as a blend these attributes didn’t seem as huge and didn’t shine as much as they did when drinking the two coffees as single origin espressos. I liked the blend very much but wanted more from it and hit on the idea of pulling one shot of each as a single origin but into the same cup. The result was outstanding; there were massive cherry notes in the cup just as if I was drinking the Santa Barbara on its own but they were underpinned by the sweet balanced body of the Cachoeria as if they had been blended.
I was very intrigued and yesterday applied the same principal to the components of our House Blend. Again the results were impressive. The creamy chocolate body of the India Sarathay was everywhere while the nutty balance and hint of sweetness from the Nicaraguan El Quetzal cut through it beautifully and the delicate citrus notes of the Sidamo lingered long in the mouth. It was akin to the very best shots I’ve had of the blend with every key attribute magnified.
I don’t know if people have experimented with this before, I’m sure someone has but it was all new to me. I don’t know what the practical use of this would be outside of maybe a signature drink in competition but I feel it could be a useful technique for me in creating and tasting blends. Obviously as an on-bar drink it’s hugely impractical which is a shame as I thoroughly enjoyed the espressos I drank.
I’d love to know if any else has experimented with this or to hear what others find from deconstructing their blends in this way. Like every experiment it seems to raise more questions than answers but it has given me something to think about over this wet weekend.
Al
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I think this opens some fascinating windows onto people's perception of tastes, and lies somewhere on the borders between biochemistry, psychology and philosophy.
ReplyDeleteLooked at simply, there ought to be no difference between blending the two varieties in the grind and in the cup. Yet, as you found with the Cachoeira and the Santa Barbara, the first method – in the grind – was pleasant but maybe not as much as you might expect, while the second allowed you to distinguish the special characteristics of each variety in the same mouthful. So, what happens during the brew process that allows each variety to retain its personality when later mixed, and make it available to our taste receptors, but that doesn't come into play when the two are brewed together in the same head?
We should find out!
Coincidentally, I found the same thing last week when, coming to the end of my El Salvadore, I found less than a scoop in the bottom of the bag. So I made it up with about an equal amount of Brazil. Yes, it was pleasant, very easy to drink, but still "less than the sum of its parts".
Very insightful Martyn, I cant add any scientific knowledge but in laymans terms i always feel that espresso as a brew method tends to extract primarily only the single dominant flavour in a particular bean. Other brew methods such as the aeropress or cafetiere can show several strong flavours from a single bean due to a longer brew time.
ReplyDeleteI guess when a bean is blended then pulled as an espresso it really is only that one attribute that shows through whereas with a single origin espreso there is more oppourtunity for those other flavours to revel themselves in the cup.