The Mod Blend

Normally I eschew blending of any sort, with the exception of espresso. Part of the allure of specialty coffee for me is that uniqueness of each coffee, how it represents the terroir of where it is from, etc. That being said, there are some cases where coffees aren't complete, so to speak, and benefit from some supporting characters.

Yesterday I went to a BBQ with some good friends. A few weeks before, I set out to put together a blend from things I had on hand in order to give away the coffee as a goodie bag to the attendees. It was surprisingly challenging.

I decided that this was to be a rich blend with the majority of coffees near the Full City regime in order to have a "crowd pleaser" quality, with some interesting twists. I roasted up some Tanzania and some Sumatra I had, and first tasted them individually. The Tanzania was funky and rustic with some melon notes, and the Sumatra was super sweet molasses. My expectation was that the Sumatra would win as the heart of the blend.

Interestingly, when combined 50:50, I didn't like it. The coffees clashed way too much. I gradually started to play around with ratios, and finally found something really nice at 4 parts Tanzania to every 2 of Sumatra. The sweetness of the Sumatra was just too powerful, and had to be toned down.

At this point, I had a decent base blend, but I wasn't happy with the aroma, the body, or the quality of the cup as it cooled. Looking through my coffee stashed, I came across some nice Mexican Chiapas, which has great body and a fruity taste. Adding a small amount (1/4 the amount of the Tanzania) provided a really nice fruity background without being overbearing, and helped the body quite a bit as the cup cooled. Finally, I played around with some intense Ethiopian dry processed coffee as a spice, and found that a minuscule amount was enough to really show in the aroma without being detectable in the taste.

So, the finally tally? 4:2:1:0.5 Tanzania:Sumatra:Chiapas:Ethiopia. The Tanzania and Sumatra were roasted to the verge of second crack (or just into it), and the other coffees lightly roasted to a City+ roast. The "Mod Blend" is aromatic berries in the aroma, rich, unctuous body with some funkiness, and a really interesting interplay of melons and berries as the cup cools. I am quite pleased indeed.


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Note: I am playing around with a cooking blog. We'll see if it lasts. You can check out my trials of recipes from Cook's Illustrated magazine here.