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| The result of lots of R&D - a beautiful balanced coffee. |
Definitions first:
Single Origin: Is a coffee grown within a single known
geographical origin. Sometimes this is a single farm, or a specific
collection of beans from a single country. The
name of the coffee is then usually the place it was grown to whatever degree
available. EG: Brazil Alto Carmelo, Columbia Supremo, Ethiopian Harah.
Estate Coffees: Are a specific type of single-origin coffee.
They are generally grown on a single farm, which might range in size from a few
acres to large plantations occupying many square miles, or a collection of
farms which all process their coffee at the same mill. EG: PNG Sigri Estate, Tanzanian Peaberry Burka
Estate.
Micro-lot: Honing it down
even more, these coffees are another type of specific single-origin coffee from
a single field on a farm, a small range of altitude, or a specific day of
harvest.
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| Karen roasting on our 40kg Vittoria hot air roaster. |
From a roasters
perspective, the roasting of single origin coffees is primarily used to
determine the nuances with that particular location or coffee bean type - the
flavours, the aromas, the acidity, the after taste and brightness and how, or
if, it’s going to work in particular blend/s your contemplating, roasted in
your style with your equipment to give the best consistent end results. Blending
coffee is no different to a chef building a signature dish; it’s a coming
together of all the ingredients, a synergy of taste and flavour. The elements
must be balanced, must work well together and must have great smoothness and
mouth feel to enhance the experience and expectations of the consumer. All the
best Scotches of the World are blended for exactly the same reason. Some of
these coffee blends can be quite complex, with nearly 40 origins on the floor
at Custom Coffees - most unusual for a coffee roaster - Custom Coffees blends
are an amalgamation of 4, 6, 9 up to 12
origins in some blends giving an unrivalled complexity, balance and sweetness to
our coffees. We’re big advocates of utilizing
a small percentage of Robustas in many of our blends. It adds a certain
bite only robusta can produce and a beautiful body and crema. Don’t
underestimate what a robusta can bring to the table. With more than 20 different
blends on offer, there’s a Custom Coffees blend that will satisfy the most
fastidious coffee lover. However, the necessity to stock that many origins, the
R&D that goes into developing each blend, to blend that many origins into
our signature coffees and roast that many different blends is difficult and
time consuming, but the superlative coffee that results is testament to our
commitment to coffee perfection.
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| On going R&D on our 10kg test batch roaster. |
From a consumer’s point of
view of course, all food, wine and indeed coffee preference is subjective.
There are some outstanding single origin or estate coffees that can stand
alone, but many can’t. And for the same reason as the roaster, many consumers
are increasingly interested in the individual nuances of a particular region
and or seasonal offering and its flavour profile. But of course, with
essentially only one active ingredient, the results can be quite confronting and
or disappointing. Custom coffees only
have two single origin offerings that we feel are good enough to put our brands
on, a Fairtrade Organic PNG Purosa and a Fair Trade Organic East Timor Maubisse, preferring to concentrate on and
develop the beautiful, sweet, well balanced and rounded blends we are known
for.
But it’s all subjective and
comes down to individual taste, and at the end of the day, life really is too
short to drink bad wine or bad coffee.
