<p><em>Many of us continuously discuss origins on this site. I searched through the site, interestingly cannot find a short, precise definition.</em></p>

<p>Sometimes, <strong>variety</strong> is confused with single origin. So,  I would like to start with this.</p>

<p>Taxonomically, Coffea genus has several species and we consume three of them as the <em>coffee</em> drink. These three species have several <strong>varieties</strong>. They may be thought as varieties of dog from a biological perspective. Same species, several properties.</p>

<p>For coffee though, the variety is not the only criteria that affects the quality of a bean. Cultivation, climate, soil, irrigation, harvesting, drying and peeling the fruit from the bean,  drying the bean are all affect the bean quality. So, if you have a specific <em>variety</em> and also you can guarantee the region and the aforementioned process is stable for a batch of beans, you call them <strong>single origin</strong> beans.</p>

<p><strong>Blends</strong> are "blends" of several single origin coffee beans to produce the flavor characteristics of more than one single origin coffee. For a recent related post on blends please check this: </p>

<ul>
<li><a href="https://coffee.stackexchange.com/questions/4175/what-are-the-basics-of-creating-an-espresso-blend/4176#4176">What are the basics of creating an espresso blend?</a></li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-05-09T21:51:30.140Z
2018-05-09T21:51:30.140Z
MTSan
<p>I wanted to know the difference between blend and origin coffee.</p>

<coffee-blends>
What is the difference between a Blend and Single Origin coffee?
Safa Tariq
# What is the difference between a Blend and Single Origin coffee?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-05-09)

I wanted to know the difference between blend and origin coffee.

**Tags:** coffee-blends


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-05-09. Score: 3

*Many of us continuously discuss origins on this site. I searched through the site, interestingly cannot find a short, precise definition.*

Sometimes, **variety** is confused with single origin. So, I would like to start with this.

Taxonomically, Coffea genus has several species and we consume three of them as the *coffee* drink. These three species have several **varieties**. They may be thought as varieties of dog from a biological perspective. Same species, several properties.

For coffee though, the variety is not the only criteria that affects the quality of a bean. Cultivation, climate, soil, irrigation, harvesting, drying and peeling the fruit from the bean, drying the bean are all affect the bean quality. So, if you have a specific *variety* and also you can guarantee the region and the aforementioned process is stable for a batch of beans, you call them **single origin** beans.

**Blends** are "blends" of several single origin coffee beans to produce the flavor characteristics of more than one single origin coffee. For a recent related post on blends please check this:

* [What are the basics of creating an espresso blend?](https://coffee.stackexchange.com/questions/4175/what-are-the-basics-of-creating-an-espresso-blend/4176#4176)


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