Single Origin vs. Blend

You may have seen the coffee terms, “single origin”, or “blend” when looking at coffee. Maybe they’re self-explanatory, but for those that don’t know what they mean, let me clarify.

A single origin coffee simply refers to a bag of coffee that only contains beans that were grown in a single country. For example, Ethiopia. There are many, many origins, and most of them have a distinct flavor. Coffee experts can often distinguish between different origins when blind tasting the coffees during a cupping (tasting) session. I aspire to that, but alas, I’m not there yet! Some origins have a sweeter profile, while others have a more nutty flavor, etc.

A blend refers to a batch of coffee that uses more than one origin to create a particular flavor profile. For example, many coffee companies will provide a holiday blend around Christmas time, or carry a signature blend that they have year-round. This simply means that they mix two or more origins together to produce a particular flavor profile.

One last thing about single origin coffees. Just because a company sells a coffee from Ethiopia, Burundi, Costa Rica, or any other origin, doesn’t mean that it will taste exactly the same as another company that sells the same origin. Remember that a coffee can be roasted differently to bring out different characteristics of that bean. Coffee is a wonderfully complex product and can taste differently depending on the way it’s roasted, where it comes from, and if it is a blend.

Hope this helps clarify! Now go try a new coffee!