If you’re only a casual consumer of coffee, you may be a little confused by all the coffee jargon – particularly single origin coffee. You may have seen it on the chalkboard menu at your local coffee shop but aren’t sure what all the hype is. What is this exactly, and should you even care?
In a nutshell, “single origin” is a coffee category that focuses on one distinct region where the coffee has been grown. So any coffee that has been labeled as single origin may be traced to a single farmer, farm, producer, region or crop within a country. The opposite of this would be blend coffee, which is made with beans from many different places.
To recap, a single origin coffee’s profile is rooted to one specific area or place and remains as unaltered as coffee can be. Blends, on the other hand, combine beans from various places to achieve the desired profile.
Availability of Each Option
Single origin coffees tend to be more seasonal, with limited availability because they aren’t produced in very large quantities. Blends are typically available year-round due to the fact that they combine different types of beans and can be more widely produced.
While availability is limited for single origin coffees, they are offered at their peak flavor so you know you’re getting a unique and enjoyable tasting experience.
The Taste of Single Origin Coffee
Because single origin coffee beans can be traced to one location, they carry a distinct, high-quality flavor derived from the climate of the region in which they’re grown. Their flavor profile also depends on the specific processing conditions of the stated producer.
Boasting an original flavor profile, single origin coffee beans are typically more robust with bolder tastes, while coffee blends tend to have a more balanced flavor due to the variety of beans complementing one another.
Why Drink Single Origin Coffee?
Drinking single origin coffee means you are supporting the local producers of the beans, giving them a reliable income that allows them to reinvest in sustainable processing and growing practices. Here are some other benefits to drinking single origin coffee:
- No chemicals: Because single origin coffee contains beans of the same quality that are processed and roasted in the same way, this limits the introduction of chemicals that are often present when blending several different beans from a variety of locations, temperatures, climates, and farming practices.
- Environmentally-friendly: Grown in smaller batches and harvested just once a year, single origin coffee promotes sustainable farming. Such farming practices maintain biodiversity, as well as preserve local bee populations.
- Nutrients: Single origin coffee has a slower maturation process due to being grown in the shade by leaves that grow, fall, decompose, and then provide nutrient-dense soil where the coffee plant is grown.
- Flavor: Boasting a unique flavor that blends can’t beat, single origin beans provide a distinct flavor that is specific to the region, climate, shade, soil, altitude, and farming practices in the area in which they are grown.
Buy the Best Single Origin Coffee From Spartan Coffee Company Today!
We have plenty of signature small batch blends as well as single origin coffee beans. You can check them all out in our shop, or come see us at 1750 Washington Street in Boston, MA. Give us a call with any questions at 351-667-5687.