I got a couple pretty good shots this morning, relatively well balanced and tasty. As far as differences between the shot parameters for the blend vs. the constiuents - the brew ratio was right in between, but the dose and temp were a little higher than a straight average of the two. The flavors were also pretty much right inbetween, which was an improvement in complexity (at least for me) over the Brazil, but not quite as good as the Nekisse in terms of balance or clarity. I did however get a strong cola flavor, esprecially in the aftertaste, that wasn't prominent in either coffee by itself. I wish I had some of the individual coffees still in my freezer, so I could pull some shots of each again.

If I ever ended up with a couple coffees that seemed like compliments I would try blending them again, but I think I would do it shot by shot, so I could vary the ratio, and also keep some unmixed beans to compare against. I don't think it would be worth it to use a good SO to try and improve a mediocre one in a blend, and I don't think I've got the insight to blend a couple OK beans and end up with something better than either.

All in all a fun experiment, and I suspect this blend might work well with a little milk, we'll see this weekend.

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Edit/update: it made one of the better capps I've had in awhile, the milk let me taste some of the chocolate/malt/cask flavors hiding in the background, and then the fruiter flavors came out towards the end of the cup. Not the sweetest cappuccino I've had, but that's probably just me overdoing the milk a bit.

Just finished off the batch of beans I blended this morning, and after a few days rest it really came together (I think the Brazil likes a longer rest time) and made a couple nice espressos this morning.

For someone who doesn't roast at home (yet...) it was an interesting experiment, and I'd try it again sometime if I had a few good SOs in the house. I was also thinking about trying to recreate (or tweak) some of the blends I've tried if I can get ahold of the same of similar beans. If anyone else was interested in doing the same thing I have a couple suggestions:

1. Start off with 2 beans, it was a little tricky getting two to work well together while still being able to taste each of them, and it also reduced the amount of guessing what ratio of beans to use.

2. Use good quality SOs that you've tried by themselves. I think it takes a whole different skill set to be able to roast/mix OK quality beans to get a great blend.

3. Keep some of the beans separate, I didn't do this, but wish I had. That way I could've either made another blend using different ratios, or re-tasted the beans seperately.

I remembered that I actually did have a small amount of the Nekisse packed away in the freezer, so I was able to start pulling some shots of it again. I remember being impressed by this coffee, and I definitely remember the strawberry flavors, but my tasting notes were pretty sparse, so it was good to try it again. After I finished my first shot this morning I realized why I forgot to write anything down for it last time, it's shockingly good - my first instinct was to lick the empty cup, and my second was to pull another shot, taking notes didn't make the list. Also, it's a very complex espresso that seems to change sip by sip as it cools, with the dominant flavors being strawberry, a lemon acidity at the begining, and a (almost salty) caramel finish.

If I ever mention thinking about blending this coffee again, someone please slap me around a little bit

TrlstanC wrote:Has anyone spent much time trying to make a blend from roasted beans? I realize most people doing the blending are probably roasting the beans themselves, so they have more control over the roast profiles. But I've ended up with a few odds and ends, including some SOs, in the freezer, and thought I'd try making a brazil/ethiopia blend.

Only had time to try out one shot this morning, which was somewhere between interesting and good. It may be a bit of an adventure to get it dialed in.

Yep, I do it all the time. I usually only buy SO roasted beans and mostly roast SOs, too. I'll blend anything for fun, it's usually with beans from the 2nd week after roasting, and for espresso or cold brew. I've come up with quite a few excellent cold brew blends, I should have taken blend notes, and the espressos have been hit or miss.