I have been discovering the joy of mixing different types of whole bean coffees before preparing them in my French press. I find that as long as you don’t do something crazy like mix a very light roast with a very dark roast you can end up with a lot of extra depth and roundness to the flavor. Thoughts? Am I insane? A heretic??? Have you tried it?
I usually only do it with a leftover bag, but it can give really good results. I’ve also ruined quite a bit of espresso shots this way, so it doesn’t always work out.
This can also be nice for people who want to cut back on caffeine, but not completely. Just mix decaf beans with regular beans.
Okay, can I hijack this thread to ask the question from some fellow coffee enthusiasts: Do decaf beans actually tend to suck? I would be interested in a decaf or half-caff blend but curious what the connoisseurs think… and sorry no I haven’t searched for a post on this in the community so feel free to downvote the crap out of me / take mercy on me and link one of it exists…
I’ve never had much success making enjoyable decaf. I switch over to rooibos tea about midday and I’ve been enjoying those cups
I my own experience decaf beans always disappoint me in terms of flavour. If you want to cut back on caffeine it’s easier to just drink less coffee.
This is what blends are. I often will add a touch of medium roast to a dark roast to dial back some of the harshness, or add a South American medium roast to an African single origin to round out the acidity
We do this in my house with the last bit of each bag and refer to it as “Frankenbeans.”
I don’t do it but I’m not opposed to it personally as long as the beans are within reasonably close roast levels.
I don’t understand how you can get good extraction with mixed beans of highly varied roast level; but if you can and enjoy the result then hell yeah; good on ya! Good coffee is life!
I am often pleasantly surprised when I mix the last of the current bag with some of the next new bag.