Psyd wrote:Roland gets it. There are literally hundred sot types of greens, and I like most of them.

There are thousands of different types of coffee.... in Ethiopia alone.

malachi wrote:There are thousands of different types of coffee.... in Ethiopia alone.

Most of which have a potential to mix with a Brazilian and a Guatemalan for an interesting concoction. And only a handful of that I would never even think of diluting in a blend.
I am, not saying that SO's are wrong, or bad, or worse than a blend. I'm saying that they are a whole different animal, and I prefer the blends. And somehow, I get the look that that must be because I'm uneducated, have a simpler palate unable to suss out the subtle nuances of a 'real' espresso, or because I am a simple savage barely evolved beyond yer average Starbucks customer.
And I think that that is wrong. While I can appreciate the naked truth that a great SO brings to the cup, and the terrior revealed, I still prefer the cacaphony and colour explosions that a great blend brings.
And that's why I used the greens analogy. I like a spinach salad. I'm fond of a plain ole Romaine salad, and there are times when Iceberg is acceptable. I won't toss any of them away.
But at the end of the day, I prefer mixed greens. And there is nothing wrong with either, neither is 'more correct' and to have to defend one position over another starts to become silly.

I'd say it's a pretty common occurrence in a lot of fields to meet many people who are (a) really into some wave/fad that's "really awesome, it's crazy what new things they're doing here," and (b) fancy their preference superior to everyone else's.

It's somewhat fundamental to specialty coffee (among other things) in a general sense: what do you think makes it "specialty?" People say it's OK to prefer "commodity" coffee, but we still think it's inferior, not just different. The connotation is built right into the words. It seems only natural to fragment down on other elements of coffee like processing, roasting, prep, etc.. We've seen that recently with coffee processing (wet vs. dry) as well as this blending debate that's been ongoing for many years now.

A lot of people fancy their preferences too close to imperatives. If you think of that on a continuum, everyone does to some degree. Some people go 'too far.' Is that interesting or surprising? Not so much, if you ask me. Blends, SOs. There are people making both, and people espousing each. The pendulum swings back and forth, and right now it seems SOs are more in favor with more people. I'll go either way, as long as the coffee tastes good to me. After all the opinion on this issue I've read and all the coffees I've tried over the years, "blend vs. SO" isn't even slightly a predictor of whether or not I'll like a given coffee.

another_jim wrote:Just tell them that you only drink DOC Espresso Italiano, which must be a blend. That should shut most people up.

The way coffee prices are going, we will all be Italians soon...