Blend suggestions???

Brett_H

I don't often blend unless I have a really boring bean and I use it to extend the amount of a big flavored bean like MM. however given my love of the KKTO and wanting to try a 1kg roast I hedged my potential losses by doing a blend. It is: 300g Tiger Mountain (thanks My Cuppa.. I love this!) 300g Flores Research Project (last I'll ever see of this due to not being a CS member) 200g Mexiqn Finca Cassandra 200g PNG Ondu (Thanks Neil from Ministry of grounds) This roast is absolutely awesome. Roasted to the first snaps of 2nd crack and the flavour is exactly to my taste. I am six days post and I'm going to drag it out to at least 17 days by drinking frugally and not sharing. I am like a proud Dad with this roast letting people smell and look at it... Then making them a coffee with some of Jeff's Harrar! ;D

mycuppa

Brett H wrote:

I don't often blend unless I have a really boring bean and I use it to extend the amount of a big flavored bean like MM. however given my love of the KKTO and wanting to try a 1kg roast I hedged my potential losses by doing a blend. It is: 300g Tiger Mountain (thanks My Cuppa.. I love this!) 300g Flores Research Project (last I'll ever see of this due to not being a CS member) 200g Mexiqn Finca Cassandra 200g PNG Ondu (Thanks Neil from Ministry of grounds) This roast is absolutely awesome. Roasted to the first snaps of 2nd crack and the flavour is exactly to my taste. I am six days post and I'm going to drag it out to at least 17 days by drinking frugally and not sharing. I am like a proud Dad with this roast letting people smell and look at it... Then making them a coffee with some of Jeff's Harrar! ;D

On theory, that's a good looking blend Brett - you should Trademark it. Well done considering you have achieved it without the use of Brazils, Colombian, Ethiopian or Centrals. What I like about your blend (without even tasting it) The Flores makes an unusual but interesting low-acid base allowing for the Tiger to do what it does best and that's belt out some punchy, rounded mid-palate grunt (it's what I love about India A's, they lift blends and carry you towards an exciting finish). The Mexican is perhaps offering some refined and subtle texture, understated, but very important in the scheme of the blend as this "fills out" contrasts between the beans. Finally, the PNG is highlighting a clean, bright and sweet finish. Yep, I reckon you may be onto something there and for those who don't have those precise beans, a great Sumatran could substitute for the Flores (be careful of sourness), Bolivia/Guatemala for the Tiger, quality Colombian/Panama/Peru for the Mexican and a bright Central like Nicaragua, Honduras, etc. for the PNG.

UNM

Might give a variation on this blend a go. How about 30% tiger mt 30% java ijen 20% mexico yeni navan typica 20% png bannum wo

Brett_H

Thanks Jeff. I'm thrilled with the taste and the result and am chuffed to get such positive and constructive feedback from you (humbled really). The Harrar you sent out to the lucky members here, of which I was one remains favorite and is a pleasant juxtaposition as a single origin to add some variety to my afternoons alongside the BH Blend. Thanks again for your educated and insightful input. Ill be interested to see what you think UMN... I'm loving fuses flovours.

UNM

Brett H wrote:

Ill be interested to see what you think UMN... I'm loving fuses flovours.

Roasted a small batch (200g). FC+20C (first snaps second) at FC + 3 1/2 min. Roast seemed to run away slightly at FC, but perhaps it is because we were close on 30C ambient tonight. Will let you know what I think in approx 1 week.

Koffee_Kosmo

Brett H wrote:

I don't often blend unless I have a really boring bean and I use it to extend the amount of a big flavored bean like MM. however given my love of the KKTO and wanting to try a 1kg roast I hedged my potential losses by doing a blend. It is: 300g Tiger Mountain (thanks My Cuppa.. I love this!) 300g Flores Research Project (last I'll ever see of this due to not being a CS member) 200g Mexiqn Finca Cassandra 200g PNG Ondu (Thanks Neil from Ministry of grounds) This roast is absolutely awesome. Roasted to the first snaps of 2nd crack and the flavour is exactly to my taste. I am six days post and I'm going to drag it out to at least 17 days by drinking frugally and not sharing. I am like a proud Dad with this roast letting people smell and look at it... Then making them a coffee with some of Jeff's Harrar! ;D

I am going to see if I can match the blend with my stock on hand That will be my next roast (next week)

mycuppa wrote:

On theory, that's a good looking blend Brett - you should Trademark it. Well done considering you have achieved it without the use of Brazils, Colombian, Ethiopian or Centrals. What I like about your blend (without even tasting it) The Flores makes an unusual but interesting low-acid base allowing for the Tiger to do what it does best and that's belt out some punchy, rounded mid-palate grunt (it's what I love about India A's, they lift blends and carry you towards an exciting finish). The Mexican is perhaps offering some refined and subtle texture, understated, but very important in the scheme of the blend as this "fills out" contrasts between the beans. Finally, the PNG is highlighting a clean, bright and sweet finish. Yep, I reckon you may be onto something there and for those who don't have those precise beans, a great Sumatran could substitute for the Flores (be careful of sourness), Bolivia/Guatemala for the Tiger, quality Colombian/Panama/Peru for the Mexican and a bright Central like Nicaragua, Honduras, etc. for the PNG.

With this sort of advice how can I go wrong Still I am a great fluke artist ;D KK

Brett_H

Koffee Kosmo wrote:

Still I am a great fluke artist ;D KK

Hey, that's my secret! 😉

UNM

Will post a more detailed update later when on the home pc, but in summary. BH blend: Is good. Worth trying. Needs quite a fine grind for espresso. Had to set my azkoyen to the finest setting it can manage. Will do another roast and try to slow rise from first crack.

Brett_H

I finished the last of my BH blend today 15 days post roast. This morning's two shots were the sweetest most flavorsome yet. I am going to do another 1kg roast of this today to try to stretch it to at least 3 weeks. In the meantime I'm enjoying Ugandon Mt Eaton from Bean Green. Awesome quality and great tasting offering from Brendan yet again. Without the Jeff's, Brendan's and Neil's supplying consistently high quality offerings this pursuit would be far more hit and miss or perhaps even non-attainable to most of us. Thanks guys for your fantastic support!

UNM

Finished BH blend today (10 days post roast). I cracked the bag open Wed because I knew I was coming down with a crappy cold and wanted to sample it before losing sense of smell and taste. First impression was that the aroma was weird - normally I can get some idea what the beans will taste like from the aroma, but I really couldn't work out how to describe it. First shot was a gusher (had been grinding Harrar before this and obviously adjusted way to little), tasted but too sour and down the sink. Second shot slightly better, but still too fast. A long black in the Aeropress came out much nicer with what I can only describe as a well rounded flavour - nothing stand out, but nothing obviously missing either. Next day I still couldn't get a really good espresso extraction, but another long black in the aeropress went down well. My grinder only has stepped adjustment from 1 to 19 with stops half way between (but you can get finer adjustment with care). I normally grind between 16.5 and 18. I then decided screw it, cranked the grinder as fine as it would go and let rip. Got a truly excellent pour of about 50ml in 28 sec and excellent taste - not too much acid, very sweet and plenty of chocolate and a pleasant nuttiness. Very dry finish and long lingering aftertaste. Wonderful fine delicate crema too. I'm not going to mark this one as a favourite blend right now, but will be roasting some more (possibly tonight) and try to slow the temp rise after first crack, because it ran away from me last time. Will put soem in a cold process next time to see how that works. If I was given this in a cafe, I'd be more than happy - it seems to tick all the boxes and nothing to offend those that like their coffee black, or with milk

Brett_H

UNM wrote:

Finished BH blend today (10 days post roast). I cracked the bag open Wed because I knew I was coming down with a crappy cold and wanted to sample it before losing sense of smell and taste. First impression was that the aroma was weird - normally I can get some idea what the beans will taste like from the aroma, but I really couldn't work out how to describe it. First shot was a gusher (had been grinding Harrar before this and obviously adjusted way to little), tasted but too sour and down the sink. Second shot slightly better, but still too fast. A long black in the Aeropress came out much nicer with what I can only describe as a well rounded flavour - nothing stand out, but nothing obviously missing either. Next day I still couldn't get a really good espresso extraction, but another long black in the aeropress went down well. My grinder only has stepped adjustment from 1 to 19 with stops half way between (but you can get finer adjustment with care). I normally grind between 16.5 and 18. I then decided screw it, cranked the grinder as fine as it would go and let rip. Got a truly excellent pour of about 50ml in 28 sec and excellent taste - not too much acid, very sweet and plenty of chocolate and a pleasant nuttiness. Very dry finish and long lingering aftertaste. Wonderful fine delicate crema too. I'm not going to mark this one as a favourite blend right now, but will be roasting some more (possibly tonight) and try to slow the temp rise after first crack, because it ran away from me last time. Will put soem in a cold process next time to see how that works. If I was given this in a cafe, I'd be more than happy - it seems to tick all the boxes and nothing to offend those that like their coffee black, or with milk

Thank you for your excellent review and feedback. I am humbled that you gave it a go and more than just a little relieved that you didn't feel as though your efforts and beans were wasted. I've done another kilo of this one because I found it drinking really well from 10 days+. The taste of this blend really fits my palate and I'm always chuffed when people at work sample it as a plunger and almost fall over when I tell them that it is a home roast and a home blend. Now I only need 12 more, $450000 and the inclination to work 60 hour weeks and I could be a pro! :rofl:

mycuppa

Yeah - excellent work Brett.

Brett H wrote:

Now I only need 12 more, $450000 and the inclination to work 60 hour weeks and I could be a pro! :rofl:

Ha - you may need a bit more than that.............am still roasting now, despite an early start this morning.

Brett_H

If it's any consolation Jeff I do work plenty of 15 and 16 hour days. I am often exhausted but elated also... I suppose that comes with loving ones job eh. 😉

Lacehim

Hi, I've only really roasted SO so far, and a few basic 50/50 blends (blending with a brazil bean) so I was hoping you guys might beable to stear me in the right direction. It would be nice to start off with a few blends that are likely to work so that I can understand a bit more about blending beans, and then play about on my own later. I have to admit I don't even know where to start! ;D I posted up my stash http://www.bestcafes.com.au/forum/green-beans/my-stash-did-a-rough-audit/msg20668/#msg20668 I drink mostly milk based, but I'm starting to drink long blacks more, and the odd syphon (I bought a few of those beans for syphon) 🙂

UNM

Try a variation on the BH blend above: 30% Tiger Mt 30% Java Ijen 20% PNG Wahgi 20% Brazil (sub for the mexican - you may want to try another substitution). I find a blend of mainly Brazil with a smidge of Tiger Mt is nice (80/20 say). No guarantees you'll like it, but worth a shot.

mycuppa

Why not try the classic Italian Espresso blend - or as I affectionately know it as BPI - nice and punchy through milk. Generally, depending upon the beans, you can go 40/35/25 with Brazil/PNG/India. Then, of course, there is my favorite pure Espresso blend - or what I call the traditional espresso for those that love it straight/black. 50/30/20 Brazil/Sumatra/Ethiopia (if you don't have the right ethiopian, substitute a nice bright central). Take both about 15 seconds into 2nd crack.

Brett_H

UNM wrote:

Try a variation on the BH blend above: 30% Tiger Mt 30% Java Ijen 20% PNG Wahgi 20% Brazil (sub for the mexican - you may want to try another substitution). I find a blend of mainly Brazil with a smidge of Tiger Mt is nice (80/20 say). No guarantees you'll like it, but worth a shot.

Wow, looks great and the opportunity to refine and tweak is endless. I'm into day 14 of my second batch of BH and it is really coming into it's own. It's very much mellowed from the first week and pours beautifully and has terriffic buttery mouth feel.

mycuppa wrote:

Why not try the classic Italian Espresso blend - or as I affectionately know it as BPI - nice and punchy through milk. Generally, depending upon the beans, you can go 40/35/25 with Brazil/PNG/India. Then, of course, there is my favorite pure Espresso blend - or what I call the traditional espresso for those that love it straight/black. 50/30/20 Brazil/Sumatra/Ethiopia (if you don't have the right ethiopian, substitute a nice bright central). Take both about 15 seconds into 2nd crack.

Trade secrets Jeff... do Italian blends use Robusta? I have a wonderful PNG Robusta from BeanGreen but 35% and it may be all you'd taste. Perhaps I'll try the top blend and go 25% PNG + 10% Robusta = 35%. It may curdle the milk however. ???

UNM

Well, when I was on my barista training course (yes I am fully qualified to prepare and serve espresso and have a certificate to prove it 😃), the blend they used was 12% robusta. I suspect 10% would be about right. Having said that, I just got some of beangreens png robusta, so will soon be doing a 100% robusta roast. Will try as espresso and brewed in the teapot and then decide how best to use it. Brett - just starting on my second batch of bh blend variation. Good so far at 8 days post roast, managed to control temp better this time and got 4 min after first crack, with temp of fc + 12 degree. Most of this one is destined for cold process.

mycuppa

Brett H wrote:

Trade secrets Jeff... do Italian blends use Robusta? I have a wonderful PNG Robusta from BeanGreen but 35% and it may be all you'd taste. Perhaps I'll try the top blend and go 25% PNG + 10% Robusta = 35%. It may curdle the milk however. ???

Yes Brett, most of them do with varying proportions from 5 - 40%. The examples were localized for our AU market.

FreshCoffee2

Yes and may I just add however so as to circumvent any misunderstanding, that the generic italian blends having high proportions of robustas are not blended with the type of high grown arabicas you have been discussing here....they are invariably low quality robustas blended with very low quality arabicas. These are very much "low cost" blends designed for a particular purpose and the overall style or character of the resulting wet coffee has not much to do with any blends you may design using a small proportion of a good quality robusta and a high proportion of good quality high grown arabica. Different strokes for different folks. Rgdz, Attilio

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