BTS with Keith: Blend Development
Mel sits down with co-owner and head roaster, Keith, to discuss his philosophy when it comes to creating our blends
It’s a rare and exciting day when Tala releases a new blend, and given that the past few weeks saw the release of two separate blend offerings, I was inspired to explore our approach and process in developing them. I sat down with our head roaster, Keith, to have a conversation about why we offer blends, how they’re dreamed up, and the reality of keeping them consistent.
Coffee roasters globally rely on blends to tell a few different stories about their production philosophies. When taking a look at limited-release, specialty blends, they often highlight a specific moment in time and a flavor profile that reflects exactly that. For example, our current summer blend offering, Big Juice, transports you to a bright and juicy day of sunshine through flavor notes of citrus and tropical fruits. But when we celebrate the holidays with our annual Ta-la-la-la roast, Keith looks for ways to bring nutty and spiced coffees into a nostalgic, cozy cup. These special blends are how we thank those who have supported us throughout a given year; they’re a unique way to commemorate each year that Tala grows its community and, with it, a new coffee to celebrate.
On the other hand, we offer blends at Tala to ensure a consistent and expected product — a steadfast staple served to the majority of folks that walk through the cafe door. Our house blend is called Ruca, but to Keith, it is the “Swiss army knife” of coffees, as he calls it. If you ask most people what they expect when drinking a house blend, they are looking for a classic round-up of flavors: chocolate, almond, vanilla, perfectly complementary to a touch of cream or sugar. There is a coffee-cultural understanding that a house blend is the ultimate approachable cup and the clearest representation of what a roaster has to offer — and Ruca is exactly that.
As Keith developed Ruca alongside our house espresso blend, Amoret, he called upon his understanding of approachability while still prioritizing quality over anything else. By approaching the creation of our blends with this mindset, we get a perfect totem to the Tala mission: sitting right at the cross-section of quality and approachability. Our goal — creating a house blend that sacrifices nothing to ensure our commitment to quality — is what makes Tala a blatant example of how approachable coffees can simultaneously meet the standards of specialty coffee.
While other roasters may utilize blend offerings as a means to feature less expensive, lower commodity coffees in order to have a larger margin of profit, Keith considers the quality of our blends to be the reason that Tala stands out compared to other options on the market. He is confident that when it comes to developing blends and making the best product possible, it is absolutely in our best interest to spend a little more time and money to create something that we believe in.
When it comes to offering blends, the biggest risk lies in the uncertainty of consistency and supply. Luckily, we have come to rely on coffees for our house blends that yield two harvests a year, as opposed to only one, meaning we lower the risk of a low supply with a more frequent harvesting rate. For this reason, our relationship with our importer is crucial in ensuring a guaranteed amount of each of the washed coffees in Ruca and Amoret, as well as the honey-processed Costa Rica that elevates our espresso blend. As farmers curate and perfect the crop from yield to yield, this relationship, alongside our importing process, ensures that we have a consistent product month to month and year to year. Even before the coffee arrives at our roastery, there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes to ensure that our blends remain a shining example of what makes Tala coffee so great: consistency and approachability.
Roasting & Development
The other piece to the puzzle is Keith’s development and roasting method when it comes to the guaranteed, homogenous flavor profiles in our blends.
As multiple single-origin coffees are used in a single coffee blend, it’s important to decide whether each coffee will be roasted individually or combined when green for roasting together. The first approach would mean that the blend is crafted by taking multiple post-roasted beans and finding a ratio that best captures the intended flavor profile. The second approach, which Keith finds the most suitable for our blends at Tala, is to roast all of the green coffee beans together. He compares this process to an orchestra; If every musician is treating the piece like a solo, all you get are a lot of loud sounds. With the instruction of a conductor, if the instrument is played with the thoughtfulness of the others in the room, the result is a cohesive melody that has layers and definition. This is the philosophy that plays into finding that perfect ratio of interesting and approachable.
It was particularly interesting to me to learn that when “blending” coffees together, the processing method of a given coffee plays the largest role in creating a unified cup. Keith mentioned that it is important to consider using coffees with the same processing methods when it comes to cohesiveness. He also shared that when he wants to feature a “funkier” coffee in a blend, he uses a smaller amount of that one, alongside more classic coffee(s). For example, Ruca is made up of two washed coffees from Honduras and Guatemala, and while Amoret begins with those same washed coffees as well, it is elevated by the addition of a honey-processed Costa Rican.
For all of our benefit, I am so grateful that Tala has developed such consistent, sweet, and beautiful staples. I am also such a fan of celebrating each year with the few blends that call back to coffees of the past and help pass the time with joy. I am grateful to Keith for the insight and background. It is always amazing to learn how much intentionality goes into everything that we do over here. The more I know, the more complex and rich every sip seems to taste. Come on in to try our current offerings with our house drip Ruca, a shot of our Amoret, or by grabbing a bag of Big Juice. (:
Happy sipping!
Mel Kreppein
Meet Mel, a Gurnee native with a passion for people, the planet, and coffee. When she’s not managing and crafting beautiful lattes at our Libertyville café, you can often find her going on walks and hanging out with her cat, Prudence.
