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As I dive through more blends I am starting to realize that I might not enjoy complex coffee as much as I thought. I am finding I really miss the nice clean flavors single origin espresso offers. While there are blends I like, the majority of the time I am still feeling like my cup is muddy with flavor. But don’t let my reaction to blends keep you clear of ‘em. It very well could be I am not an experienced enough roaster to get these right. So, lets talk about Sweet Maria’s Espresso Monkey Blend.

This blend has some nice bitter sweet chocolate notes. Nothing as intense as the New Classic Espresso Blend. Very distinct dried fruit notes accompany this blend. Like dates and raisins. A small hint of licorice can be tasted in the cup, but nothing unpleasant, and this is coming from a pretty big licorice avoider. The recommended roasting range is from Full City to Vienna. I tend to like this blend at a Full City+. And I still feel this might be too dark for some of the beans in the blend. Having roasted mostly single origins, I still consider myself very new with blends that are premixed before roasting.

I’m not going to write off blends entirely, though I haven’t been as impressed with the outcome as I have with single origin. I honestly think a really good blend is going to depend on roasting as well as the actual bean choices. I’ve secured some robusta beans (as opposed to the arabica we’re so used to). Even though robusta is meant to be blended, I can’t help myself but try it alone. After testing I believe I could very well be on track with creating my own blends. Until then, I have quite a few more blends from Sweet Maria’s to roast.