My Secret Blend

Post by **Niko** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 2:33 am

What a way to start a thread!
I guess the title says it all, you can go ahead and assume I won't tell anyone what's in it. I started this project 9 months ago and it finally came together last weekend. I felt like a chef in the kitchen, started with 2 varieties and going on to 3 and then 4 but it still lacked something...
on and on this went until finally the 5th bean did it. It brought it all together in harmony and I was able to roast my dream roast, something I have slaved on almost every weekend with different roast levels and temps in the brew to bring it all together. I kept a journal on everything with notes so I can repeat this anytime, even with a damn iRoar2.
Makes me feel like a mad scientist.
I had 12 doubles last Saturday in testing this blend, nobody wanted to hang out with me that day....I wonder why?
Has anyone else out there have great success at espresso blending?
I'd love to hear about the results.

chas · Post by **chas** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 7:00 pm

No response to your thread. I guess everyone is boycotting until you cough up your secrets!

Post by **Niko** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 7:57 pm

You mean spill the beans?

Post by **woodchuck** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 2:25 pm

Niko, congrats on your new blend. Roasting coffee is something I've been "meaning to do" for awhile now. I am just down the road from CCC and so great fresh beans are just a hop, skip and a jump away. That said, there is something very compelling about being able to come up with your own beans and blend.

Cheers

Ian

Post by **RGoldman** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 8:19 pm

Alright Niko.... Out with it! Enquiring minds want to, ummm, HAVE to know what this new secret blend is!
I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours!

Post by **Niko** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 8:46 pm

I can tell you that it made a huge difference when I started to roast the 5 beans seperately. Ive been lazy in the past and blended pre-roast, especially when I only mixed 2 beans to save time.
I just realized that you guys are going to pull this out of me, one bean at a time...

Post by **RGoldman** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 9:24 pm

And the first bean is?????
Alright, to make it fair, I'll let you know that the first bean in my 5 bean blend currently is Brazil Fazenda Boa Red Bourbon.

Post by **Niko** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 11:17 pm

RGoldman wrote:Brazil Fazenda Boa Red Bourbon.

Is that some kind of snake?
(just kidding, I know it's a mighty fine bean).

The 1st bean I used is from Colombia, it's a C.O.E. 3rd place winner, the name escapes me but it's similar to one of the Brazils I picked up last month. See, that was my other trick in developing a certain blend where if I run out of one particular green, I can swap it for another very similar in cup character. I put together a replacement bean list incase this happens. If you play the percentages right, the changes in the cup are minimal.

Post by **jackiechang** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 1:52 am

Alright Niko, congrats.
So, party at your place?

Post by **Niko** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 2:05 am

You got that right!
Ask "what's-his-name" about this blend, he tried it...
I think he's still trying to recover from the overwhelming experience in the land beyond after drinking a cappuccino with it.
Better catch him before he leaves for Europe, again.

I actually do want to have a party sometime in the somewhat-near future.

Post by **Weska** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 5:34 pm

Fazenda? Fazenda!

For me, here, that is a brand of Brazilian frozen foods--lasagna and the like. A pretty good one too that I admit I indulge in occasionally.

This is shaping up to be a coffee stip-tease, isn't it?

Anyway, I'm glad you can make a blend to you satisfaction. My stovetop permits a pound at a time, but it doesn't lend itself to frequent use. A total PITA to get a gas flame to the proper start temperature--and then you are not very assured that it will continue at the same level. Still, I do get coffee.

Post by **RGoldman** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 9:34 pm

Time for bean #2....

Brazil Daterra Farms Yellow Bourbon. Intersting enough, I have tried this as an SO espresso and was not impressed at all. Seems to work well in the blend though.

Niko.... time to give up the next one!

Post by **Niko** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 9:38 pm

...Ooops, I'm sorry.
I thought you asked for a Macchiato using that blend!
My bad.

Idido Misty Valley, now that's a great bean to add as the #2.

Post by **RGoldman** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 10:07 pm

I have never tried the Idido Misty Valley. Heard lots of good things about it though!

Ok.... #3 is...... Yemen Mokha Sana'ani This wasn't as good as last years crop in my opinion but works well in the blend.

Post by **Niko** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 10:25 pm

RGoldman wrote:I have never tried the Idido Misty Valley. Heard lots of good things about it though!

I can send you some if you'd like to try it.
One of the finest beans to hit mankind...

#3 is Rwanda Migongo Bourbon.

Post by **jackiechang** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 11:10 am

Alright, it's been too long.

Are you neglect to fill in because 1 is from bird and the other is from cat?

Post by **Niko** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 11:52 am

Ron hasn't asked for #4, yet.
No animal excreted coffees in this blend (too expensive)

.

Post by **RGoldman** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 3:57 pm

Sorry for the delay! I have been working extremely long days lately. Haven't had a day off since the beginning of March and it's catching up to me. The joy of self employment....

Anyway.... number 4 in my blend is the famous Harar lot #30 from last year. I had a bunch of it and got tired of using it in drip coffee so it sat for a long time before I discovered how nice it is in espresso.

Maybe trade a pound for the misty valley Niko????

Ron

Post by **Niko** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 4:37 pm

You got it.
PM me with shipping info and I'll send you some.

Post by **Jeff** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 12:04 pm

Excellent and interesting thread! I've been messing around with blends since I got the Gene Cafe back in March. I start with a 4-Brazil blend: Cachoeira de Grama yellow bourbon, Fazenda Boa Sorte, Daterra yellow bourbon, and Poco Fundo. Two of them I roast together to the same level, and the others I roast separately. So I have a blend that works well by itself, with a range of roasts from C+ to light Vienna, but more often I add 20% from other continents. The Indido Misty Valley is one of my favorites, as is the Sualwesi Toraja, Sumatra Blue Batak, or a fruity but not-too-bright Kenyan. Depends on whether I'm in the mood for fruit or earth. The Brazil blend is always there, and I add the others just before grinding.

I just got a few Centrals from SM this week so I'm going to try some of those too.

Thanks for the info - sounds like we are thinking somewhat alike!

Post by **Niko** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 12:21 pm

If you're in the mood for too much fruit, add some Ethiopia Lekempti - this stuff almost blew the back of my skull off with fruit. I pulled it as a single origin espresso once....once is enough and I'm definitely saving it for a future blend of some sort.
What's your favorite bean for pulling single origin espresso?

Post by **Jeff** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 2:01 pm

I've only tried a couple yellow bourbons as SO espresso. It's not something I think to do, being more possessed by the 'mad scientist' urge to experiment.

By the way, I did get some of that Ethipian Biloya green from Paradise Roasters. Talk about blueberry! Wow!! From the whole bean to the aftertaste, blueberry all the way, luscious body, a taste of heaven. Even the green smells fruity - they vacuum packed it and air freighted it to the US, so it's never been in burlap. I've added a little of that once in a while to the espresso blend, but most of the time I can't bear to dilute that beautiful flavor.

Post by **Niko** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 2:20 pm

I've read about that bean on some far off forum from a land beyond over the pond somewhere. People were ranting about it from what I recall. I hate mixing excellent beans with other mere mortal varieties, kind of sacrilege in my book but sometimes that is what the ingredient list calls for to tame a wild beast blend.

Post by **Jeff** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 2:32 pm

I believe there might be some available soon:

http://www.paradiseroasters.com/product/ETHIOPIA-BILOYA

Choose green quantities from the popup menu. Worth the money, imho.