What's a Breakfast Blend?

We're carrying a lot of blends including Breakfast Blends which begs the question "What are Breakfast Blends anyway?"

If like me, you assume it's a higher caffeine coffee to help you wake up in the morning, then you're, well, wrong.  

Breakfast Blends contain the same caffeine levels as other coffees.

I surveyed our roasters and others not yet on ROASTe.com and found that Breakfast Blends tend to be darker roast and contain earthier and more powerfully flavored beans from places like Brazil, Indonesia, Ethiopia and Kenya.  Beans with subtle flavors are left out, so you're less likely to taste beans from Costa Rica, Colombia, higher altitudes, volcanic soils, etc.  They're more likely wet processed than dry, giving them a wilder or at least more fruity flavor. 

Photo: Wonderferret

Why?  Because your taste buds are weakest in the morning, strongest at night.   Coffee drinkers can't tell much difference between coffees at that time.  So the stronger flavored, darker roasted earthier coffees in the morning, the better.

For the same reason that Olympic records are most likely to be broken between 2-4pm in the afternoon than at any other time of day, coffees are most flavorful and distinguished between about noon and 4pm.  Your body is warmest at that time and highest performance.

So our Breakfast Blends tend to be flavorful, robust, dark roasted, earthy, wet-processed and less focused on nuances than other blends or single origin coffees.

And on the topic of circadian rhythms, the best time of day to have a dental exam is first thing in the morning, before your first cup of coffee.  Your pain threshold is highest in the morning for the same reason that your senses and taste buds are weakest then: the body isn't fully awake.

Just makes sure after the dental exam you brew a nice cup of coffee that came from ROASTe.com!