Coffee Origins and Blends – What are they and how do they impact flavor?

Ethiopia, Guatemala, Colombia, Rwanda, Kenya …  these are all common origins we see on coffee bags. The options seem endless and often leave us wondering what these different countries mean for our coffee experience. Just how each process and each roast impacts the taste of coffee, so does each origin.

When you don’t know where to start when it comes to the nuances of coffee origins, the good news is that we’re here to simplify them for you. And you can count on us to handcraft each of our coffees to be simple and delicious so you can fully enjoy every coffee break, no matter which country the coffee is from.

COMMON COFFEE ORIGINS AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS

Each continent and country produces unique beans that can vary in flavor, but the following descriptions tend to be the most common characteristics among the coffees we source at Florin. While we’re always finding new places to source our coffee from, you’ll often find these ones on our shelves.

South America
South American coffees tend to be fuller-bodied with a subtle sweetness. These coffees are more approachable for beginner speciality coffee drinkers. Here are the common countries we source from:

• Guatemala: This coffee has a nutty, chocolaty taste with a slight sweetness. We always have a Guatemala on hand since it’s available to source year-round. 
• Colombia: Colombian beans tend to be medium bodied, silky, smooth, and commonly have juicy, wine-like characteristics.
  
  

African
African coffees tend to be sweeter and more acidic, with fruity and floral characteristics. Here are the common countries we source from:

• Rwanda: This coffee tends to be more floral and tea-like, with a bright citrus acidity
• Kenya: Kenyan coffees have the highest acidity, with notes of citrus and tropical fruits. They can even be savory and vegetal.  
• Ethiopia: This bean is typically the sweetest with a bright acidity, and is very juicy and fruity.
  
  

THE ART OF A GOOD BLEND

At Florin, we focus on single-origin coffees because we enjoy learning about the specifics of each farm and producer, and tasting the flavor-profile unique to each coffee. However, creating a blend is useful when we need a consistent flavor-profile, like for our Cafe’s espresso (the cornerstone of most drinks).  Coffee is a seasonal product, which means once we run out of a single-origin coffee, we are out until the next year’s harvest. By creating a blend, we can tweak the roast profile of different single-origin coffees so that the resulting blend yields a consistent flavor, even if the coffees in the blend vary seasonally.

Our first blend we ever created is The Ranger Blend. The Ranger is a combination of an African and a South American coffee making it the best of both worlds. It was developed for so you could always have a balanced, consistent cup on hand. Consider The Ranger Blend your perfect introduction to the specialty coffee world.

The Ranger was born to span the distance. This blend was created to be your multipurpose coffee. You really can't mess this up! The Ranger was developed to be brewed anyway, anytime. It’s approachable, but delicious.

HOW TO SIGN UP FOR A FLORIN COFFEE SUBSCRIPTION

If any of these delicious beans sound like your perfect cup of coffee, we created an easy way for you to have it at home with a Florin Coffee Subscription. Here is how it works: 

1. Choose your coffee: We give you options. That means your Florin Coffee Subscription is unique to you and your needs. Choose from: The Ranger, Rotating (rotate through all our coffees), and Decaf. 
2. Select your shipping frequency: Some people go through coffee quicker than others. So, we want you to have the freedom to choose how often you get delicious coffee at home. We ship or hand deliver every Tuesday for free. You get to pick how often. 
3. Sit back and fully enjoy every coffee break.