I've heard that for a quality cup of aeropress coffee, one should be only using single origin coffees. I was wondering what the advantage of using single origin coffees was over espresso blends when brewing with an aeropress.
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2Hi Dimitar, welcome to Coffee Stack Exchange! As it stands this question would be closed as opinion-based (since preference of flavours and tastes are subjective). However if you can phrase it to be more objective I think there's a good question here! Take a look at our tour, and there's a big more info in the help centre about how to ask great questions too!– fredleyFeb 19, 2015 at 11:21
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1I'd disagree on this; it sounds like a misunderstnading about something that's opinion based. The actual answer is "there's no difference, it's all about your personal preference". While the topic is information based, the answer provides objective information to people who are confused by marketing gimmiks about "better" coffee. Or maybe I'm misunderstanding something? I think it's important to keep in mind that some things on this SE are going to be a bit subjective, and we shouldn't close everything by default that shows this tendency. Where we draw the line will take time to figure out.– user80Feb 19, 2015 at 13:26
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1You said you've "heard" it's better to use single-origin coffee. If you provide a link to someone else who says that, it would improve the quality of the question (and earn a +1 from me!).– speedfranklinFeb 19, 2015 at 15:14
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2 Answers
The answer is quite simply: It's up to your personal preference.
Lots of things make a good cup of espresso; some people like (or think they like) single origin expensive marketing-buzzword-infused coffees, and others have found other roasts / blends that work just as well for them. You can use whatever you want in your aeropress to make a cup of joe that suits you.
As this question on Seasoned Advise suggests, there are some objective measures we might look at. Since and Aeropress (disclaimer, I don't have one, but I have used them while backpacking quite a lot) tends to extract a lot of flavor, a medium roast will probably prevent your coffee from being too dark, and still provide a lot of flavor. You'll also want a nice fine grind, which is generally what you want for any espresso machine.
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In the green coffee world, single origin has a very specific meaning and probably isn't as buzzy as you are giving it credit for. In the roasted world, I'd perceive it a bit differently and agree with it's buzzy-ness factor. I have had blended roasted brands that were excellent and blended to attain a specific flavor profile. However, I think the majority of the time, bags of roasted beans are blended simply for economic/branding reasons. The use of single origin for roasted coffees tends to scream at me "we aren't big coffee!". Feb 19, 2015 at 18:29
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You said "green coffee world" and then used that as a reason to say it's not as buzzy as I said, so I really can't take that statement seriously (jokes aside though, whatever floats your boat, it was just a joke) :)– user80Mar 5, 2017 at 15:59
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By green coffee world, I mean people who are buying and roasting their own beans. It's a bit more important because if you are buying mixed lot beans, you can expect them to roast differently and it's actually something you have to be aware of. When you are buying already roasted beans (which I don't take seriously and equate to buying stale bread) it doesn't matter because your prep won't be any different and it is just marketing. You are correct, however, whatever floats your boat. Mar 5, 2017 at 22:41
99% of the coffee I drink is single origin since I roast my own and don't buy blends. That being said I also have an Aeropress I use 2 or 3 times a week to make coffee (I use a drip machine or clever dripper the rest of the time). What I have found is that any coffee I buy/roast that ISN'T recommended as a SO espresso tastes poor to me when brewed with my Aeropress. I have solved this issue for myself by no longer buying beans that aren't recommended as a SO espresso.
My untested hypothesis from this is that most coffees that would not do well as espresso will also not do well as aeropresso. While the resulting coffee from an Aeropress is not espresso, the brew methods share enough in common and the results are similar enough (not the same, but similar) that they have (my opinion) quite a bit in common with what beans do well when brewed in that manner.
Single origin versus blended don't mean anything out of the context of how they taste. It's possible to have a poorly grown and processed single origin that won't be great no matter how it's brewed, but it's still single origin. It's also possible to find blends that are done so for a variety of bad reasons (to produce a consistent, but not great taste, to reduce costs, etc) or blends that are done for the right reasons (to get a specific taste profile that may not be possible with any single origin, but IS great). There are great and less than great single origin coffees. There are also great and less than great blends. I thing that some folks have biases against blends because in the past they were most often done for cost or consistency reasons and not necessarily for the best flavor.
TL;DR I would likely recommend anything that should be good for espresso (single origin or blend) and high quality as a good candidate for Aeropress brewing.
