How to pick the perfect coffee beans for your brews.

Get the right beans for your brews!

Firebird? Daily Grind? Single Origin? Anyone new to the Marvell Street coffee menu could be left scratching their head wondering where to start when it comes to picking their beans. Whether you are a coffee geek or a coffee newbie, it all starts with one question: how are you brewing your coffee?

For the sake of simplicity, there are two main home-brewer camps; espresso machines and then everything else...

Picking the right coffee for your brewer is the most important step, the next is to figure out what type of coffee you enjoy. Let's rip in and start with espresso.

Source: JavaPresse

Espresso Machine

The first port of call for those of you brewing on espresso is our espresso coffee page (no surprises there!). This is where you will see our range of espresso blends and our seasonal single-origin options.

The difference between the two is pretty simple, espresso blends allow us to achieve a certain flavour profile and maintain it throughout the year. We do this by blending 2-3 different coffees, often from different origins, depending on what's in season (seasonality is very important to us here at Marvell Street). Single-origin coffees are also seasonal and often much smaller lots. They can be traced back to the farm, or washing station depending on origin.

So how do you enjoy your espresso and what should you choose based on this?

Strong and Bold - If you want a coffee that reminds you of summers spent drinking coffee in an Italian espresso bar; Cappuccinos in the morning followed by espressos after your siesta, I’d recommend you either try our Organic or Big Block blend, they have both been designed with milk and strength in mind, they are our darkest blends although they are still sweet and clean.

Balanced, sweet and medium body - The people pleaser. Our Firebird and Thunderbird blends seem to hit a great middle ground. Both blends are delicious as espressos or with milk. The Firebird will be a bit more fudgy and fruity over the Thunderbird which is a little cleaner and not as intense, both are very well balanced coffees with chocolate and caramel flavours.

Lively, complex and bright - The Daily Grind blend is our ode to what a specialty blend can be. It is our lightest blend and finds a great balance between fruit, acid, body and milk chocolate. It makes a great companion to those that can’t decide between espresso or milky coffees as it hits the sweet spot for both.

We also offer a constant rotation of single-origin coffees roasted for espresso. To keep it simple we like to break it down into two categories; fruit and chocolate. Usually, coffees from Central America provide the chocolate and nut flavours along with that nice smooth buttery body that many enjoy. On the other spectrum we have African and Colombian coffees that can be fruity, floral, juicy and intense. Whilst this is somewhat of a generalisation as coffees from the same country can vary depending on region, terroir and processing, it allows us to keep things simple. We recommend choosing single origin espresso if you enjoy straight espressos or long blacks though many can be delicious with milk depending on the origin and profile of the coffee, so check out the flavour notes on each bag and use them as a guide.

Source: Bon Appetit

Everything Else

Pour-over, batch brew, AeroPress, French Press, MokaPot, the list of brewing methods for home users is pretty staggering but the majority end up falling into two camps, percolation; where you allow water to pass through a bed of coffee (think V60, Moccamaster, Kalita, stovetop etc.) and immersion; where you steep the coffee in water (AeroPress, French Press, Clever Dripper etc.) The resulting coffees from these brew methods range from being light clean and transparent to rich, punchy and strong. It's all up to how you brew, which coffee you chose and your own personal taste preferences.

Filter Brews (V60, Kalita, Moccamaster, AeroPress):

Using a filter brewer is a great way to try lots of different coffees, it’s quick, easy and doesn’t require as much skill as making espresso. We love filter coffee at Marvell Street and always brew a 3-litre batch each morning (which is usually gone before morning tea!). For the purists who only drink their coffee black, any of our filter roasts will serve you well, take a gander at the filter coffee page and see which colours and flavour notes speak to you. It’s nice to switch between something more fruity and floral one week and something with more body and chocolate vibes the following week.

If you drink your filter brew with milk or cream, as the Yanks do, then you'll want something with a bit more body and less acidity. Firebird and Thunderbird will give you medium strength and low enough acid to be balanced with the milk without getting lost in it. If you like your brew quite mild, a single-origin espresso coffee that has flavour notes with chocolate, nuts and non-acidic fruits will be delicious with milk.

Immersion (French Press, Clever Dripper, AeroPress):

Immersion brews tend to have more body and less clarity than a filter brew, and often are drunk black or with milk. We recommend either selecting a single-origin filter roast or if you like to add milk to your brew then the Daily Grind is a great option. 

A final thought

We hope the guide above points you in the right direction for your coffee purchase, if you are still a little unsure then drop us an email, we are always stoked to help people choose the right beans for their brews.

Make sure you check out our Brew Guides to get you making tasty brews in no time.

Happy brewing!