Palouse Coffee Club
What is a coffee blend?
A coffee blend is a mix of coffees from more than one origin, combined by the roaster into one bag. Where a single origin shows off one place, a blend is built to a recipe: the roaster picks the coffees and the proportions to hit a flavor it wants, and keeps that flavor steady from bag to bag.
Why roasters blend
A blend is designed for a job. Roasters say what that job is on their own pages, and Washington roasters give clear examples, checked September 27, 2026:
- A shot or a latte. Espresso Vivace in Seattle makes two espresso blends: Vita is the more versatile one and suits lattes, and Dolce is built for straight espresso. The National Coffee Association says an espresso blend is roasted however the roaster thinks best serves the espresso method; see espresso roast.
- The everyday pot. Herkimer on Phinney Ridge describes its focus as coffee for everyday drinking, and its lineup is three blends (Drip, Espresso and Decaf) plus a few single origins.
- A house style. Fulcrum keeps its Silver Cup brand for approachable medium blends in the Seattle tradition, next to a separate brand for single origins.
- Less caffeine. Kuma Coffee's Momma Bear is a 50/50 mix of decaf and regular coffee.
- The season. Zoka, Seven and Fidalgo all sell blends for a time of year, from Zoka's autumn blend to Fidalgo's Tulip Festival Blend.
What a blend tastes like
It tastes like whatever the roaster built it to taste like, which is why the roaster's own description matters more than the word "blend." Lighthouse Roasters in Fremont says its coffees share a thread of dark chocolate, heavy body and toffee sweetness, and that includes its blends, from the Lighthouse Blend to a Mocha-Java and a French Roast. A lighter-leaning roaster aims somewhere else entirely.
What a blend gives you that a single origin does not is repeatability. Wikipedia's single-origin article sets the two apart: single origins offer the distinct taste of one place, and blends combine beans from several.
Blend vs single origin
| Blend | Single origin | |
|---|---|---|
| Where the coffee comes from | Several origins | One country, region or farm |
| What the roaster is after | A set flavor for a set use | The taste of one place |
| From one bag to the next | Built to stay the same | Changes as lots run out |
See also espresso blend, half caf and seasonal blend.
Washington State blends named for home
Washington roasters name their blends for the places and people around them. From their shops, checked September 27, 2026:
- Fulcrum Coffee Roasters sells Pike Street, Broadway Blend, Queen City and Jazz Alley Nights, all Seattle names.
- Zoka Coffee named its Tangletown blend for the neighborhood of its first cafe.
- Dillanos Coffee Roasters in Sumner names blends for family members, such as Dillon's Blend and Howie's Blend.
- Seven Coffee Roasters, born in Hawaii and made in Seattle by its own description, sells Hawaiian blends such as Honolulu, Pano and Na Pali.
- Caffe Vita sells a KEXP Blend, for the radio station whose Seattle Center space it runs a cafe in, and several certified organic blends.
- Olympia Coffee Roasting sells Big Truck, Little Buddy and Northwesterly, and a decaf blend called Decaf Asterisk.
A listing does not mean the roaster is part of the club. Each of these blends is roasted by a Washington crew, so buying one pays people here; why local roasters matter explains why that matters.
Getting a blend from the club
In the plan builder, choose Blend as the style and any roast level. Each box brings a bag from a different independent Washington roaster, so you taste a different roaster's house recipe each time. Want a blend and a single origin in the same box? Add a second bag with its own style. $16.99 a bag. First bag free, you pay $7.99 shipping.
Related terms and sources
Related: single origin coffee, espresso roast, medium roast, espresso blend, Mocha-Java.
- Wikipedia: Single-origin coffee (single origins compared with blends)
- National Coffee Association: Coffee roasts (espresso blends)
- Roaster blends and descriptions: each roaster's own shop, checked September 27, 2026, as summarized on its profile page here.