dsharp88 Senior Member Joined: 22 Dec 2001 Posts: 73 Location: Metairie, LA Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: LaCimbali Junior D/1 Grinder: Mini Mazzer, Solis Maestro Vac Pot: Yama Drip: Chemex, 1-cup Melitta Roaster: Alpenrost, FreshRoast+,...
Posted Tue Jul 29, 2003, 7:56pm Subject: A couple of house blends (the "BASH" formula)
Of all the blends I've come up with, I have never created a generic house blend. I usually go for some quality in particular, such as chocolate, or spice, or fruitiness, or whatever else I decide to shoot for.
I have always found Sweetmaria's Espresso Monkey Blend to be a great example of a generic house blend. Unfortunately, its formula is always in flux with whatever beans they have that fit the bill at the time, so simply trying to copy it won't work.
As I've written before, I like to use a 4-3-2-1 bean ratio for many of my blends because they're easy to tweak by switching proportions that are next to each other. I have come up with an acronym for this combination. I call it the BASH formula. It stands for Base, Accented flavor, Secondary flavor, and Hinted flavor.
The Base (40%) is generally South American because of its very mild flavor and rich body. I used an Organic Brazilian Cachoeira in these blends. My Accented flavor (30%) here is an Indonesian ("Java"), more specifially, Sumatra Mandheling, because I like a rich smoothness without too much acidity. On the other hand, I want some acidity. That's where the balance between the remaining beans comes in.
I want to use an African ("Mokha") for one of the remaining beans and a Central American for the other. The trick is to have the right amount of acidity and enough flavor. The Centrals generally have more acidity and the Mokhas generally have more flavor and complexity.
If the Central is very acidic, it has to be the Hinted flavor (10%) or else it will be too pronounced in the espresso. But if the Central is milder and used as the Secondary flavor at 20%, the Mokha has to be one with a strong enough flavor to still be noticed as the 10% Hinted flavor.
The smoothest and mildest Centrals I've tried are the Nicaraguan Segovia, followed by the Costa Rican Doka Estate (not the C.R. Terrazu). The most acidic Centrals I've tried are the Guatemalan Antigua and the Costa Rican Terrazu. Panamanian and Mexican beans are generally somewhere in between with Panamanian leaning toward the softer side and the Mexican right in the middle.
The stronger flavored African Mokhas I've tried are, in order, Yemen, Ethiopian Harrar, dry-processed Ethiopian Sidamo, Ethiopian Ghimbi, Kenya AA, Ethiopian Yrgacheffe, and wet-processed Ethiopian Sidamo. However, Kenya AA has the most acidity so that one is best used with a smooth Central like the Nicaraguan. I'm currently out of Kenya AA, so I couldn't actually experiment with that combination, but I'm sure they would work well together. Instead, I used Harrar as the Hinted flavor (10%) when the Nicaraguan (or Doka) was the Secondary flavor (20%).
Using an acidic Hinted Central like the Costa Rican Terrazu required muted acidity from the Mokha, and with the right amount of flavor to come through at 20% of the blend. The Ethiopian dry-processed Sidamo fit just right.
So here are two house blends based on these combinations:
Gator Blend 4 parts Brazilian 3 parts Sumatran 2 parts dry-processed Sidamo 1 part Costa Rican Terrazu
Bulldog Blend 4 parts Brazilian 3 parts Sumatran 2 parts Nicaraguan 1 part Harrar
I probably prefer the Gator blend just a little more than the Bulldog blend, but they both work.
The beauty of these blends is that you can mix and match based on what beans you have available. If you don't have Brazilian, use Colombian or Puerto Rican (both of which are a little stronger). Out of Sumatran? Try Java, Timor, Papua New Guinea (less earthy, and a little fruity) or the spicier Sulawesi. Substitute Costa Rican Doka or Mexican for the Nicaraguan. Use Guatemalan for the Terrazu. Try Yemen or Kenyan for the Harrar.
Stick to the BASH formula and you can make a really good house blend this way.
Posted Tue Jul 29, 2003, 8:58pm Subject: Re: A couple of house blends (the "BASH" formula)
I like your "BASH" formula and use something quite similar as my regular house blend. I am curious as to your roast profiles. Preblend and roast? Or roast and post blend? I usually do the Brazil separate and take it into 2nd crack ramp up (not active). The others I take to the start of or just into the first or second crack. I use Sulawesi Torja and sometimes I like it a little more into the 2nd crack than just starting the 2nd crack.
I have my ALP temperature probed and with the probe, I can get really consistent and repeatable roasts. I've roasted enough now that I am confident in roasting using just the probe although I stay with it and still listen and smell and observe just like I did pre-temp probe.
The roast profiles I am using work quite nicely with the pressure stat setting I have on my Tea. I tweeked the pressure stat just for my house blend. If I roast darker or lighter, and do so consistently, I will readjust the pressure stat but as long as I stick with this basic blend, roasted to where I stated above, the pressure stat gives a brew temp that seems to be ideal for the blend.
dsharp88 Senior Member Joined: 22 Dec 2001 Posts: 73 Location: Metairie, LA Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: LaCimbali Junior D/1 Grinder: Mini Mazzer, Solis Maestro Vac Pot: Yama Drip: Chemex, 1-cup Melitta Roaster: Alpenrost, FreshRoast+,...
Posted Wed Jul 30, 2003, 4:25am Subject: Re: A couple of house blends (the "BASH" formula)
I generally don't pre-blend all of it. In fact, when I'm putting these together I have separately roasted all of them. That way I can try different combinations easily.
I usually roast the Brazilian and the Terrazu together (shorter roast), then mix in a roast with the Sumatran and the Sidamo together (longer roast). Take both roasts into the start of an active 2nd crack. That makes a nice full city to full city+ roast.
jim_schulman Senior Member Joined: 19 Dec 2001 Posts: 3,772 Location: Chicago Expertise: I live coffee
Posted Wed Jul 30, 2003, 12:28pm Subject: Re: A couple of house blends (the "BASH" formula)
Great minds, etc.
I'm using a 4:3:2:1 right now for my house blend; that is a blend with a fruit, chocolate, and bright highlight taste.
4 brazil, 3 aged sulawesi (any aged or monsooned bean will do, although for a really funky one cut the proportion to 2), 2 harrar (any fruity yemen or dp ethiopian), 1 kenya (these, unlike centrals, roast fast).
This selection can be preblended and roast in one batch.
Posted Wed Jul 30, 2003, 4:20pm Subject: Re: A couple of house blends (the "BASH" formula)
dsharp88 Said:
Of all the blends I've come up with, I have never created a generic house blend. I usually go for some quality in particular, such as chocolate, or spice, or fruitiness, or whatever else I decide to shoot for.
Stick to the BASH formula and you can make a really good house blend this way.
dsharp88 Senior Member Joined: 22 Dec 2001 Posts: 73 Location: Metairie, LA Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: LaCimbali Junior D/1 Grinder: Mini Mazzer, Solis Maestro Vac Pot: Yama Drip: Chemex, 1-cup Melitta Roaster: Alpenrost, FreshRoast+,...
Posted Thu Jul 31, 2003, 5:28am Subject: Re: A couple of house blends (the "BASH" formula)
Hi Deborah!
All is well. I suppose I've just been busy with work. If only I could write about espresso and coffee for a living... (sigh).
About every five to seven days I roast a new blend. Last week I did another batch of Terrier Blend. It is definitely one of my favorites.
For those of you who didn't read the previous posts about it, it is a blend I came up with using Deborah's guidelines for a lighter espresso: a little fruit, a little chocolate, a little spice, and no flowery notes.
Terrier Blend is made with 2 parts Papua New Guinea, 2 parts Ethiopian Harrar, 1 part Yemen Mocha, and 1 part dry-processed Ethiopian Sidamo. It can also be nearly duplicated by mixing 3 parts Sweetmaria's Moka Kadir blend, 2 parts Papua New Guinea, and 1 part Ethiopian Harrar.
It doesn't follow a BASH formula becuase I wanted balance rather than any accented flavors, and needed rather careful proportions to keep any flavors from dominating.
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