There is no question that single estate and single origin coffee is extremely popular in America today. Sourcing coffee from a specific geographic region (single origin), or even better, from a single location (single estate), is a new trend but it is booming.
It was not until a decade or so ago that sufficient infrastructure was in place around the world to produce and market and ship single origin and single estate coffee beans. Several factors have made single estate coffee and single origin coffee popular;
Starbucks
Lots of serious coffee people hate Starbucks, but we must give credit where due: Starbucks is largely the biggest factor in the growing coffee culture in the US. The chain has to be credited with introducing the average consumer to single origin coffee.
Of course, no one farm or estate can mass produce enough coffee for every Starbucks. Nevertheless, Starbucks does offer several types of coffee that are from certain countries and regions. Even if you don’t like Starbucks coffee, we do credit the company with familiarizing Americans with the concept of single estate coffee.
Today, single estate coffees are more widely desired than any other type of coffee. Why is this?
Single estate and single origin coffee have flavors that are specific to where they are grown. They are much superior to blends that are sold in most conventional places such as grocery stores.
Single origin and single estate coffees often are roasted lightly so that their unique flavor is maintained. Many experienced coffee drinkers are able to tell the origin of a single estate or single origin coffee just by a taste.
Single estate coffees are truly the ultimate in coffee choice. Every single bean in that batch is from the same place. They were all grown under the same conditions – same soil, density, humidity and other factors. These factors allow the master roaster to do experiments and to get the very best out of the coffee beans.
Single estate and single origin beans are superior to blends also because they are traceable. It is easy to determine the taste of the coffee because they only come from a certain area.