Espresso Blend and Roast

[wantcoffee]

I have read so many articles about how to make good coffee and "crema" is used to measure good quality of espresso. Let focus on espresso blend here.

It is suggested that use dried Braziles up to 50% of the blend is targeted idea. Due to lack of green bean selections here in China, I would like to use 50% Sumatra Mandling,50% columbia and all are City roasted to bring out their natural flavors. Are there any body give me any opinions?

 

[Alun_evans]

Obviously I don't want to give too much away.... however I lean heavily on a Sumatran base for my espresso. In my business I only use Indonesian beans... so no Colombian for me. I blend a % of high quality washed Indonesian robusta into my espresso blend. I must say I have no problems with good crema :grin:

 

[NW JAVA]

Crema is NOT a good indicator, it can lead to false security. Trust me: I can make you the nicest looking crema perfect looking and tastes like crap.

 

[Alun_evans]

I am not saying a good crema is the be all-end all of great espresso. But I will say I have never had a decent espresso sans crema! Anyway- again there are many, many key ingredients to blending great espresso bean mixes. I have been doing this for years and still search for the 'perfect' blend! My blend is great.... but hey I always believe there is room for something even greater! The search continues.

 

[Coffee Guy]

I use a percentage of Brazilian in our most popular espresso blends, but not 50%. Colombians are good as well, in addition to using Guatemalas, Sumatras and a few others. However, the best blend is whatever you cup, and if it tastes good to you, then it's a good blend. You might also invite a few others to cup along with you and get their impressions. If they like it, then it is also a good blend. Remember good coffee starts with good quality beans, and blending is an art form. It's like an artist bringing a canvas to life by combining the proper amount of love and passion to the mix...Oops :!: Sorry got carried away. Anyway, always get opinions from yourself, experienced cuppers, existing customers, friends, etc. Bottom line is you can't always be the final judge of your product, leave that to others.

 

[Quink]

The espresso blend that I normally get, uses only 10% robusta for a bit of crema, but mainly for a bit more kick due to the higher caffeine. :-D They also do a blend with no robusta for the purists, which I havn't had a chance to try yet, aparantly this does produce less crema though. As long as its fresh though I've never had a problem with crema. Interestingly enough, times were a bit hard this month and I had to put aside my normal 2kg shipment for a month and ended up with a can of Illy. I was surprised at how little crema came off this compared to my home roasted bean, and I wasn't that taken with the taste either, I had done a small blend of guatemalan and colombian before getting the Illy and much preferred that.