The big question on my mind at the moment is: are we witnessing the death of the espresso blend? As the specialty coffee industry gets better and better at spotting interesting and complex single origin coffees from individual estates and presenting them to the espresso community, I am wondering if we are moving into a brave new world where blends take the backseat.

These thoughts have been brought to the forefront of my mind as a result of James Hoffmann winning the 2007 World Barista Championship (WBC) using only single origin coffees. Of course, a couple of years prior to James’ victory, Troels Poulsen of Denmark had won the 2005 edition of the WBC using Daterra beans from Brazil. Although not single origin in the strictest sense, Daterra is virtually so, as it is all grown on the same farm, albeit a very big one, the size of several traditional estates. The Daterra beans are taken from different sections of the farm and combined to imitate a blend. Until James’ success this year, Daterra was the closest thing to a single origin that had been used with any significant success at the WBC. Clearly Troels’ choice of coffee two years ago was a sign of things to come, and James went one step further this time with his selection of single origin beans from Costa Rica and Kenya. The coffees used in this year’s competition were incredibly complex and produced a real statement of intent for the judges. The two single origin coffees he used are very familiar to me, and represented a very brave choice by James. The Kenya Gethumbwini is an intense coffee with overpowering black currant in the aftertaste. The taste is bold and cuts through milk very well. This is a coffee that I would never have thought to be a good espresso, and I am still exploring now to find the best of it. The Costa Rican Cafetalera Herbazú is a dry processed bean from the Villa Sarchi varietal, and is as complex an espresso as I have ever experienced.

I think those observing the WBC competition this year will have noted that blends have gradually become less complicated and often now have far fewer components than they might have contained in the past. There has been a real movement towards allowing the coffee to do the talking with signature drinks, presentation and blends becoming simpler. This has to be applauded.

Let me tell you of my own personal preferences. I’ve always enjoyed the honesty of a single origin in espresso. In my opinion, this makes it possible to taste and understand the bean in a far purer way. Having said that, the argument that a single origin coffee is one dimensional and thin is also not lost on me, but I think much of this can be attributed to poor preparation, or trying to use set parameters on every coffee without proper experimentation and consideration of all the different beans holistically. I do enjoy constructing blends and simply taking pleasure in them, but for me each single origin has something to offer in its own right, and I like working with it to showcase those strengths and allow the individuality to flourish.

In the wrong hands coffee from a single origin or a blend can be awful, though in my experience blends are frequently more forgiving. So are we using blends as a crutch for our sloppiness, our poor barista skills or poor equipment? If we are, then I don’t believe this is automatically wrong. Making use of something that is easy to prepare and is likely to yield a sufficient result makes sense both commercially and in terms of effort. But when we want to be challenged, when we want impress and showcase coffees and skills, we may not want to take the easy route. I remember some advice given to me by a seasoned professional roaster at the beginning of my journey in the industry that has stuck with me to this day. He simply said: “Good coffee is never easy.” He never really expanded on those words, but each day, as I learn more, the meaning behind his statement becomes clearer to me.

With coffee, you only get out as much as you are prepared to put into it. Coffee gives nothing away, and it needs a little help to produce and deliver its full potential. I like to think that this is achieved by investing just a bit of extra care and effort at the growing and harvesting stage, in the processing and milling, in the sourcing, the shipping, when roasting, and most certainly in the preparation.