Six blends on a cupping table
1-2pm, Sunday 26 October, Beta Coffee
Cost: $6 (pay on the day)
Please bring a small cup, no rego required – just turn up.
First time cuppers welcome!
Nations have their anthems; kingdoms have their coat of arms and roasters have their flagship blends.
Flagship blends/ stable blends are an important part of a roaster’s menu: their presence or non-presence can give you a clue about a roaster’s philosophy/ approach to coffee.
Bends are one of the purest and most relatable ways a roaster can express a creative vision.
If you’ve ever tried to make a selection of individual items and assemble them side-by-side (like songs for a playlist; words for a phrase or food on a plate) you’ll have experienced, perhaps, the feeling of “when it is right”.
“When it is right” is a feeling that is purely your own – an expression of ego.
In this way, I see the flagship blend as a recipe of identity: a representation of a roaster’s enduring take on coffee. It moves the focus from the choices of a farmer/producer or aspects of terroir to the roaster’s choice of coffees and in what proportion they combined them.
Maybe because they’re so foundational, they are doomed to be anti-hype. But that’s why they’ll be fun to cup.
On the table on Sunday will be a selection of common and perhaps not-so-common flagship blends, which we will blind cup first before discovering what they are. What a hoot!
Post Cupping Reveal
Here are the blends that we cupped (there were 2 bonus ones!)
Holy Blend by Ickle Coffee
Moka Blend by Mecca Coffee
Housie by Diggy Doo’s (this one seemed to be the most popular)
Italian Dolce by Play Coffee (this one sparked the most comments/ conversation/ speculation)
Cornerstone by Kwila
Flour Mill by Headlands
Seasonal Blend by Axil
TCR77 “Strawberry Fields” by The Coffee Roaster (the darkest roast on the table)
brewmanshu 
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