# Single Origin vs Blended



## MonkeyHarris (Dec 3, 2010)

I'm still developing my pallet but in the relatively short period I've been using fresh beans I think I prefer single origin beans in general to blends. I've tried various blends including the very popular Jailbreak and Blake which I did enjoy but so far I prefer every single origin bean I've tasted more. I just find it easier to distinguish flavours. They seem simpler and less messy (Suppose this is obvious) I'm sure this is something that will change and no doubt in a few weeks from now I'll be raving about some new blend I've tried but I wondered if anyone else had any preferences?


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## RolandG (Jul 25, 2010)

Single Estate all the way for me. I appreciate blends - I've tasted some which are great - but they lack the "elegance" of an SE. Blends always taste slightly jarring to me - dischordant. Whilst you might once of struggled to find SEs which tick all the boxes (mouthfeel, sweetness, complexity, etc.) for espresso, I don't think that's true anymore


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## MonkeyHarris (Dec 3, 2010)

Glad it's not just me









I'm ordering 3 bags of SE to 1 bag blend at the moment. I want to keep trying them incase I stumble on something special.


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## Wando64 (Feb 28, 2011)

Actually I have been wondering, surely for a blend to work as it is intended one would have to grind the correct amount of beans of each type included in the blend. If you are grinding only the quantity for one or two espresso at a time, maintaining the correct blend ratio would be practically impossible therefore each time the coffee is going to taste differently.

Am I missing something important or is my reasoning sound?


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## MonkeyHarris (Dec 3, 2010)

I think you must be right. The only way I can think that this would really work is if you ground the beans seperately then mixed the grinds together in whatever ratio you'd worked out. This probably explains why I find blends difficult to dial in.


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## RolandG (Jul 25, 2010)

I think the theory is sound here, but in practice it doesn't seem an overwhelming issue for me. Given I use a 17g dose (ish, generally), that's going to be about 40 or 50 coffee beans? (try weighing a coffee bean - they seem to come out at less than 0.5g each...). Most blends I drink only have 3, maybe 4 single estate beans in? I think the amount ground therefore seems to be enough that the taste is (relatively) constant.

One thing that I did wander about, was bean size. If I blended a pacamara (big beans) with a peaberry (small beans), then when they were in my grinder hopper, you'd expect more of the small beans to go to the bottom and more of the large left at the top - which might cause a change in taste profile from the start of the bag to the end of the bag? Entirely theoretical though and never had the chance to test the idea


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