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Are Coffee Blends Growing In Popularity?
Trace the history of coffee blends and discover why they are becoming more popular
Published April 19, 2024
Asharita D'Silva
Coffee experts@Era of We
For the longest time, specialty coffee has been synonymous with single-origin coffee. But the world of coffee is much more than single-origin coffee, and we can see this expansion with the rising popularity of coffee blends. Roasters and cafes are increasingly embracing blends to innovate and provide customers with unique coffee experiences. Blends are far from a new invention, however, and have been around for as long as coffee has been drunk. Then why have blends seen such fluctuations in popularity throughout history? Read on to find out.
What is a Coffee Blend?
First, we must define what we mean by a coffee blend. As the name indicates, a coffee blend contains coffee from multiple origins. Two or more coffees are combined to make a coffee blend, either before or after roasting. A blend may contain coffee from many different countries of origin, or it may contain coffee from different farms and estates in one country.
The ultimate goal of coffee blends is to create a harmonious flavour profile by selecting complementary coffee origins. It’s a way for roasters to be creative with their coffee offerings and to present unique coffees that cannot be replicated with a single-origin coffee.
Consistency can be difficult to achieve with coffee blends and requires roasters to hone their craft to a higher level. A good coffee blend is the result of hours and hours of research, roasting, and practice.
History of Coffee Blends
Although many believe blending, the art and technique of blending different varieties only appeared recently in the history of coffee, at the same time as the industrialization of coffee, the truth is quite different. The creation of blends is an age-old story, since the first historically recorded blend, the legendary Moka-Java, which can be traced back 400 years.
For centuries, the coffee trade was centered around the Moka harbour in Yemen. Coffee plants and seeds were carefully guarded to maintain this monopoly, but it wouldn’t last forever. Dutch colonisers are said to have smuggled coffee to their colonies in Indonesia, specifically Java. Different growing regions lead to Java coffee having a distinct flavour apart from Moka coffee. Blending these two together to complement each other was the start of blending in coffee.
As coffee cultivation continued to spread in the ensuing centuries, it became possible to create a wider variety of blends which would create novel flavours and experiences for coffee drinkers.
Why Do Consumers and Roasters Go For Coffee Blends?
For consumers, the biggest appeal towards blends is the cost followed by the interest to try new flavours in coffee. For roasters, they largely choose to offer blends for the following reasons:
- Affordability
Single-origin coffee is significantly harder to source and comes with higher costs. Roasters can manage their costs effectively by investing in high-quality blends.
- Availability
Single-origin coffees are typically seasonal as different coffee-growing regions have harvests at different times. Blends allow for year-round availability as you can source them from various regions.
- Consistency
The flavours and quality of a single origin coffee can vary from harvest to harvest. Coffee blends allow roasters to compensate for any variations and to produce a consistent flavour profile over and over.
- Customer retention
A house blend has the capacity to be unique to a roaster or microroaster, unlike something like a single origin Ethiopian or Colombian coffee. This is a great tool for marketing and driving customer retention and loyalty.
Why are Blends Becoming More Popular?
The rising popularity of blends can be attributed to various factors.
First, we have ever-increasing shipping costs. Transportation and warehousing are a major expense for most roasters, and as climate change and geopolitical tensions affect shipping routes, we stand to see prices increase and fluctuate in this area. Blends can help offset some of these costs while still allowing roasters to offer coffee throughout the year.
Secondly, coffee blends can be distinct for each roaster. Blends allow for consistency in flavour that you won’t always get with single-origin coffee. By offering unique and consistent blends, roasters and cafes see an opportunity to foster customer retention.
Furthermore, roasting blends takes a level of skill and technique that allows roasters to get creative and innovative with their work. Rather than making the same roasts over and over, roasters who offer blends can experiment with different combinations, ratios, roasting times, temperatures, etc. This opens up a whole new world of exciting flavours to try.
Overall, blends are a great way for roasters to offer unique coffees while still optimising their costs. There are challenges with traceability but tech-driven solutions like those offered at Era of We show that it is indeed possible to track and trace every coffee included in a blend. Moreover, Era of We also helps you communicate this information to consumers so roasters can cultivate a deeper connection with coffee lovers.
Blends are quickly becoming more popular but of course, this isn’t to say that single origins won’t have a place in the coffee industry. Single origin coffee will always be an integral part of the specialty coffee industry but we’re seeing that there is also room for other kinds of coffee to be offered.
Much of what has driven interest in blends can be tied back to economic woes around the globe and disruptions in supply chain logistics, as well as an increasingly ready-to-experiment younger generation of coffee lovers. While these factors have caused much turmoil, it has shown us that blends and single origin coffees both have a role to play in the coffee sector.
About the author
Asharita D'Silva
Join me in discovering the wonderful world of coffee! As a writer, coffee is my fuel and newfound passion. I love writing about new coffees, sustainability, and coffee culture around the world. I'm always discovering new things about coffee and the industry, which I share with the great community here at Era Of We.
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