Single Origin Coffee vs Coffee Blends

Are single origin coffees better than coffee blends? What makes a coffee blend better, worse, or different than single origin coffees? Should you only be drinking one, or the other? What kind of person prefers one over the other? First of all, if the coffee is great, you don’t need to worry about these questions, so definitely don’t stress about choosing between a single origin vs a blend – a better thing to focus is on making sure the coffee in your mug is of the highest quality. But, we’re Peet’s – and we love to do nothing more than nerd out on all things coffee, so we’re gonna tell you all about what the differences are between single origin coffee and coffee blends. AND we’re gonna give you some cool Roastmaster knowledge while we’re at it. Let’s start with the basics:

What is Single Origin Coffee?

Single origin coffee comes from one single, unique country of origin. For example, Costa Rica is a single origin coffee that comes from Costa Rica only. That means that every single bean in a bag of Peet’s Costa Rica was grown in the country of Costa Rica. Beans from Brazil, like our medium roast Brazil coffee, typically offer a balanced flavor profile, with notes of nutty sweetness, mild chocolate, and a smooth, velvety body. It’s the perfect choice for those who love a well-rounded cup with just the right amount of richness. Sounds simple, right? It is! Simple, straightforward, and full of the pure flavor of that origin.

What is a Blend of Coffee?

A blend of coffee, also known as coffee blends, or just blends, comes from multiple origins.

That means that the beans inside a bag of coffee called a “blend” are grown in different countries or different origins. Sometimes it’s just two, like in our Arabian Mocha Java, which is a blend of Indonesian coffee beans with original Yemeni mocha coffee beans. Other coffee blends might have coffee grown in a few (or more) origins, like Major Dickason’s Blend or JR Reserve Blend.

Why is Single Origin Coffee Popular?

There’s a reason that single origin coffees are popular: when you drink a cup of coffee from a single origin, the coffee tasting notes from that coffee growing region are front and center. Single origin coffees are the quintessential expressions of a coffee’s terroir, the elemental flavors and aromatics specific to that region. Let’s say you love aromatic coffees. You’ll probably find you appreciate coffees that are grown in East Africa, so you look for beans from places like Ethiopia or Kenya because coffee grown in East Africa is known for being especially aromatic. Another example is coffee from Guatemala—it’s famous for its chocolate notes. So if you’re a fan of chocolatey coffees, then buying a single origin coffee from Guatemala will make your inner chocoholic very happy.

Why are Coffee Blends Popular?

Here at Peet’s, we’re known for our coffee blends, which explains why our coffee blends are so popular. It started with our founder. Alfred Peet was renowned for achieving the extraordinary through his blends. His secret? Bring together coffees so flavorful, each can stand on its own. By knowing the innate qualities of each coffee growing region, an artful coffee blend can bring the best of each region together. For example, the intoxicating aromas of East Africa might be blended with the nutty notes of a great lot from Brazil, and anchored with a rich, full coffee from the Indo-Pacific. The best of all worlds, literally. Each region’s beans are a little different, naturally, so it takes great skill to roast a blend in a way that brings out the best in a balanced and masterful way. The skilled coffee roasters at the Peet’s Roastery are trained for over 10,000 hours before they work their first shift, so they’re very in tune with coffee bean roast levels and can coax unparalleled complexity and nuance out of every batch of our coffee blends.

 

Why Do Coffee Roasters Blend Coffee Beans?

 

While Mr. Peet was famous for his blends, this is not the case with many coffee roasters—blending used to be (and still is) used to disguise inferior beans, sometimes to better control costs, sometimes to prop up weak flavor with stronger flavor from another origin. Mr. Peet was fanatic about only buying and blending coffee beans of the highest quality, and we uphold this principle to this day. Every bean passes stringent quality tests, and with this commitment to quality, we manage batch-to-batch consistency in addition to developing our world-famously unique coffee blend flavor profiles. So every one of our signature blends rises above the rest—a difference you can taste in each cup. 

Of course, it’s also possible to have too much of a good thing. Kenya, for example, is known for its screaming acidity and its luscious berry notes: qualities for which we choose our Kenya Auction lots in the weekly Nairobi auctions. But run that coffee through an espresso machine and you might find that the acidity is too much. In a showcase shot of Espresso Forte pulled off an espresso machine, we want a lot more complexity than that. So, we add in different ingredients from Latin America and the Indo-Pacific to provide the stout body, robust texture, and creamy consistency that we’re aiming for.

Can You Create a Blend from A Single Country of Origin?

A roaster can create a blend using very different coffees from the same single origin. For example, they can take two different species from one country and blend them, typical of some of the largest roasters.

Or different processes, like a honey processed Costa Rican along with a washed process coffee from the same region of Costa Rica to build upon the strength of each. 

Or with different climatic conditions, plant varieties, altitudes, or soil content…but all in the same country and so technically a single origin. 

They can even take the exact same coffee, roast it in radically different ways, and then blend it back together to create a kaleidoscopic cup.

Which Coffee is the "Right" Choice?

There is no right or wrong, per se. Take the roaster in a country of origin, for example, who doesn’t have access to other coffees, so she’s creating differentiation by using what she has on hand. Coffee-producing countries will often impose restrictive import duties on foreign coffees to protect their own industries. Which means a local roaster must make do with what they can get locally.

There’s no quality judgment about a coffee being one or the other. A single origin might be comprised of no more than rejected coffee, which wouldn’t pass muster for export standards, not to mention the strict quality analysis all of Peet's coffees go through. It might still sound special - but probably tastes less so. 

A blend, for its part, can be a whole lot of mediocre coffees topped off with something spectacular to try to hide its ordinary base. Calling a coffee one or the other—single origin or blend—doesn’t make it better. 

Before the specialty coffee revolution, which Mr. Peet himself started, that was the way coffee blends were created. And it’s what he vowed to change when he started his first shop on Vine and Walnut in Berkeley, CA in 1966. At Peet’s, we inherited this strict belief from our founder that this is exactly what you shouldn’t do with coffee. Which is another way of saying that there are many, many coffees not good enough to be in a Peet’s blend.

Mr. Peet himself felt that no single origin coffee was “too good” to blend, and we follow this dictate to this day and only roast the finest coffees, whether for a superb single origin offering or a bespoke blend.

The Truth Lies in Your Own Palate

As always, we encourage you to explore options to see which resonates most with your taste. One woman’s Brazil is another bloke’s Major Dickason’s Blend.