Choices, choices – that’s what we strive to give our customers. Whether you are after a consistent blend you can rely on to kickstart your day or are keen to explore the world of single-origin coffees, we are here for you.
The term ‘single origin’ means the beans in a brew all come from the same area – often the same farm – whereas blended coffee can come from a mixture of farms, regions, countries or even continents.
Which is better? As with single malt and blended Scotch whisky, it’s down to personal opinion. Some people will happily argue all day in favour of one or the other, and some people love both.
What do the coffee snobs say? Who cares! Drink what you enjoy, that’s the Switch answer.
Blended coffees tend to be consistent. When making a blend, we can choose a selection of beans that come together to produce a certain flavour that is very similar from year to year. Great blends are rich and complex, and advocates say they produce a more flavourful coffee. When you find a blended coffee you really love, you can stick to it with the confidence you’ll get the same taste every time you brew it.
Single origin has more variability, and expresses the changes in flavour that reflect different weather, growing conditions and farming techniques from year to year. It tells a story about where it came from.
We have a relationship with the single-origin farmers who supply Switch Espresso, and each has their own story to tell. Each year it’s a pleasant surprise as we explore the new flavours coming through, roast the beans and figure out the perfect extraction techniques to get the most out of each coffee.
How to prepare them
Single-origin coffees display stripped-back flavours. To get the most out of them, we suggest brewing them black and taking care to use an extraction method that makes the most of the flavour profiles present in your particular coffee. You might experiment with different espresso techniques, pour-over, French press and cold brewing.
For your flat white or latté, a blended coffee is more likely to give you a well-rounded flavour that stands up to a bit of milk treatment. That doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy it as an espresso or long black!
If you’re interested in a journey of exploration, finding out about the flavours of coffees from different places or even tasting different coffees side-by side, then give single-origin coffees a go. Switch’s single-origin offerings include two new ones, from Honduras and Sumatra, as well as firm favourites from Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia and Guatemala.
For those looking for a well-rounded coffee with rich flavour you can depend on, try a Switch blend such as BB IV, Brighton Up, The Dark Horse, The Rev or Zap.
