One of our goals at Earnest Pursuit is to build a wholesale business with Earnest Pursuit coffees sold in cafes, restaurants, and bars. Pretty quickly I realized that to do that, I needed a blend. So after sourcing our first coffee, Let's Chill, I started looking for additional coffees that could both stand alone as single origins and form the foundation of a blend.
Why does a cafe need a blend? A few reasons, and they're all pretty practical.
First, is volume. A standard New York City coffee shop goes through roughly 75 pounds of coffee a week, which rules out micro-lots and limited availability coffees.
Then there is consistency. Customers want "their" coffee to taste the same every time, which means stable supply year over year.
Then you have affordability. Coffee is one of a cafe's biggest costs after rent. You can't show up to sell your coffee and it doubles the price of a latte. That doesn’t work for anybody. Then there’s versatility. Most coffee shop orders are with milk and the coffee needs to pair well with milk, while also being good on its own as an americano.
Oh, and it needs to taste great. That part too.
Figuring Out How to Actually Do It
Making a blend felt daunting. I trust my palate. I do not trust my ability to know intuitively what coffees go well together and in what proportions. I tried to find consultants I could hire to figure this out for me. The answer from everyone I spoke to was some version of: just do it yourself. In sourcing additional coffees for Earnest Pursuit I was already working with importers and cupping. That’s all that creating a blend is anyways.
So that's what I did.
Given the volume and affordability constraints, I was looking at coffees in the $5-9 per pound range. I went through importer websites, spreadsheets, phone calls, and sample requests trying to find the right green coffee candidates.
Once samples arrived, the process was straightforward in theory: cup everything, then at the end of each session make informal mini-blends of the coffees I liked to see how they performed together. Two spoonfuls of coffee X and one spoonful of coffee Y. Things that like.
After numerous sessions I had a shortlist. I tested coffee combinations across Colombia, Papua New Guinea, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Honduras, and Rwanda. I tried ratios like 20% Ethiopian, 20% All Set, 60% PNG, or 50% Colombian, 20% All Set, 30% PNG. I kept everything within the target price range and didn't test blends that would end up too expensive.
One thing I learned quickly: washed coffees blend well together. Mixing a natural and a washed coffee did not work, for reasons that are apparently well understood in the industry and that I don't fully understand yet. As with everything on coffee, I’m sure there's a chemistry explanation for this. I didn’t take any high-level chemistry unfortunately. File that under things to figure out later.
The PNG Moment
When I cupped a washed coffee from Papua New Guinea in December 2025, I was genuinely excited. It was excellent on its own and blended beautifully with All Set. The citrus played well together, the berries were nice, and the syrup brought a mellow and nice sweetness with a smooth body. The Match was born and made from two single origins I would also sell. Or so I thought.
A few months after purchasing the PNG, I went to test it before shipping out orders and noticed something had changed. The coffee had begun to fade. Fading is normal. Coffee is an agricultural product, and like other fruit its quality decreases over time. Three months, though, was fast. The coffee was still tasty, just not at the 85+ level I want to sell it confidently. I sent it to some friends, asked them to taste it. The feedback confirmed what I suspected: good, but not good enough on its own.
Here's the strange part: the fading actually made the blend better. I still don't entirely understand why. But The Match improved as the PNG component mellowed out. Sometimes things work out in ways you didn't plan and you just accept it.
The Blend Never Ends
It feels genuinely satisfying to have made a blend that's delicious, especially starting from a place of feeling completely lost on how to do it. But the work doesn't stop once you've found something you like.
Any good blend needs a backup plan. Green coffee availability changes season to season, and if a component disappears, so does your blend. I've been cupping Guatemalan coffees and additional PNG lots looking for substitutes that match The Match's flavor profile. So far, nothing has hit the mark.
As somebody who drinks coffee blends frequently, I am genuinely so impressed at how consistent they are. I made one blend which I’m happy about, but the thought of having to change the components entirely and have the same taste is a bit scary.
In the meantime, The Match is delicious. That part I’m sure about.