OK, I've been doing my homework and have found some blends that I'll start working with to see what I can accomplish. You all may have these already, but I'll add them here for others that may have the same question. The names are taken from the descriptions:

Roman Street Café
Brazil 50%
Colombia 25%
Panama 25%

Sharp Sweetness
Brazil 40%
Panama 20%
Yemen 20%
Sumatra 20%

Chocolatey
Brazil 50%
Ethiopia or Yemen 25%
Sumatra 25%

Best Blend
Brazil Cerrado 55%
Sumatra Mandheling 35%
Mocha Harar 10%

I'm off to the roaster to see what they can do....

Again, thanks to those that answered.

Japanese coffee importers buy a large proportion of the auction and other high end coffees of the world. A "Japan Prep" for green coffee is much like a Japan prep on any produce item, flawless. So the average Japanese roaster will have very good coffees to roast.

Coming up with an espresso blend will depend on the amount of nano or sample roasting your roaster will do for you. Basically, you want to have then roast a 400 to 500 gram sample of Brazilian, and 200 to 250 gram Guatemalan, Ethiopian, and Sumatran beans to the beginning of the second crack. You should start with straight Brazil shots, then spice it up with admixtures of Guatemala, Ethiopia, and Sumatra until you have something you enjoy.

Once you have a recipe, you can get the roaster to roast the blend for you on a weekly basis.

ptervin wrote:...what I need is a recipe; say, Brazil 50%, S. Domingo 20%, Colombia 20%, Costa Rica 10%, the first two roasted to French, the second two to city. Something like that. I can work with it, but I need some starting information.

There are several good references, but a nice easy starting point would be Blending Basics.

Here are some suggestions of Japanese roasters (or at least, roasters with Japanese operations) who should have good espresso blends. All are Tokyo-based (and have retail cafes where you could try the coffee) -- not exactly Hiroshima, but a lot closer than North America or Europe:
- I can personally attest that Paul Bassett has an excellent espresso blend;
- Zoka has a Japanese operation; I have not tried any of the output from their Japanese roastery, but I have had good experiences with their coffee in the US;
- Bear Pond Espresso is a place which I have heard good things about but have not had a chance to try myself. It is not clear to me whether they ship out orders of coffee or only roast for their own cafe, though.

I hope these are helpful to you. There are also some places in Kansai (at least one in Kobe, if I remember correctly) which I have heard good things about (but again I have not tried them myself) -- I can try to dig up some info if you are interested.

Navin

Just to clarify.... saying "50% brazil" is basically meaningless. Brazil produces thousands of different coffees each year - and as with anywhere, each of these coffees changes harvest to harvest (and over time). Saying "50% brazil" is effectively the same as saying "coffee."

In general I distrust any roaster who doesn't provide a LOT more information about their coffee (example is http://shop.squaremilecoffee.com/produc...r-espresso quoted below).

Square Mile Coffee Roasters wrote:This is our current seasonal espresso blend. The blend is composed of just two different lots of coffee: 50% is a Yellow Bourbon pulped natural from Fazenda Passeio in Minas Gerais, Brazil. The other 50% is from Gerbicho Rogicha in Southern Sidamo in Ethiopia and is a dry processed coffee of heirloom varieties.

Yes, I understand that coffees vary from country to country, from area to area, from roast to roast, but we also need to aim for some kind of consistency with these varieties. You wouldn't want to go to a shop and enjoy a great cup, then later return to find it was only a freak blend. There is also the reality of availability. Not every roaster is able to get every type of bean. We have to work with what we have.

Coffee is changing. All the time. Get used to it and adjust your blend with each season It should be fun and interesting, welcomed experience—and not a disadvantage.