Breakfast Blends
Every week, I find myself in the coffee aisle of my grocery store, all sense of time lost, gazing at the wall of fresh coffees. I try to find a new bean or blend every week, and have really enjoyed all my new findings. But some days, I???m just tired. I have no patience for reading coffee descriptions, comparing blends, prices etc. It???s on these kinds of days I just grab the first one of my preferred roaster???s Breakfast Blends I see. I guess you could say Breakfast Blends are my backup plan.
While sipping my cup of Allegro???s Organic Breakfast blend, I started wondering what the difference was between a Breakfast Blend and any other blend. So I did what any tech-obsessed lady would do. I Googled it. After some clicking around, I found www.coffeereview.com. Wow. A huge resource, it is a little daunting at first glance. But, I found what I was looking for: an article about Breakfast Blends. Kenneth Davids and Danny O???Neill???s article entitled ???Breakfast Blends 2006: An American Tradition Goes Cosmopolitan??? did the research for me: ???A medium-roasted blend containing coffees that are gently but not overbearingly acidy, balanced, intended to be enjoyed black or with just a touch of milk and sugar, but in any case refreshing and delicate enough to sustain multiple refills and complement heavyish eggs-and American breakfasts.??? According to Davids and O???Neill, today???s breakfast blends are very similar to those brewed decades ago in any breakfast diner. As always, some coffee makers updated their flavors, with hints of fruity, muskiness usually characterized by Ethiopian blends (rather than the mostly South/Central American beans used in earlier breakfast blends).
So, while I enjoy experimenting, it turns out I???m a traditional kind of girl at heart. My preference for coffees that I can sip with my morning snack is well met by Allegro???s Organic Breakfast Blend. A nice, not too bitter but very flavorful coffee, I find this one is a little more complex than some other brands. For a largish producer, you could do a lot worse than Allegro. So, a little more informed, I will enjoy my breakfast blend, until I find the next new coffee begging me to taste.
