According to statistics, most of the U.S. drinks coffee (nearly 66%), and about one-third of those are between the ages of 13 and 18.
With such a wide span of ages, it’s not surprising that there’s a wide span of preferences in taste: Folgers Breakfast Blend, Starbucks coffee, donut shop coffee, dark roast, and whole bean coffee.
The variety is almost endless. However, many coffee drinkers don’t know what makes the taste of their coffee so appealing, only that their day starts much better with it.
What Does Breakfast Blend Coffee Mean?
Since a breakfast blend coffee aims to provide you with a jolt of caffeine and an excellent coffee flavor without annihilating your taste buds, most breakfast blend coffee is mild and lacks a lot of body.
However, this doesn’t mean it’s weak unless you brew it that way.
A breakfast blend typically uses light roast coffee to create a balanced blend that is slightly sweet, slightly acidic, and higher in caffeine than your later-in-the-day brew.
Some coffee lovers drink breakfast blends throughout the day because of their milder taste and a higher level of caffeine, but this is strictly a personal choice.
If you use more coffee beans or grounds per cup, your breakfast blend will be stronger and contain higher caffeine.
Typically, coffee brewed using a scoop will be stronger than brewed by weight, such as K-cups or pods.
Although it seems counterintuitive, many darker roast coffee beans have lower caffeine content than lighter roasts because the heat of the roasting process destroys some of the caffeine.
Use a coffee grinder and filtered water for the ultimate flavor, and grind the beans immediately before brewing your coffee. This applies to both breakfast blends and other types of coffee.
Most breakfast blends aim for a crisp, light, and mildly acidic balance without a complex flavor. However, everyone has a different coffee palate, so the coffee blend that suits one person may not appeal to another.
Fortunately, black coffee has no calories if you don’t add sugar, cream, or flavored syrup, so you needn’t feel guilty about trying wide different varieties of breakfast blend coffee.
What’s The Difference Between Breakfast Blend and Regular Coffee?
Breakfast blend coffee is lighter in color and usually more acidic than the medium or darker roasts you may drink later in the day.
Some coffee lovers drink only breakfast blends for the caffeine content, but others start the day with darker roasts with a more robust and complex taste.
Many coffee drinkers equate darker roasts with a higher caffeine content, but that’s not necessarily the case.
Although the caffeine content of a lighter roast may be higher, the coffee will lack the complex flavor makeup of medium or darker roasts.
Of the darker roasts, however, Robusta beans have some of the highest levels of caffeine – Robusta beans can provide 1350 mg of caffeine in a 12-ounce cup!
Of the two types of beans (Arabica and Robusta), Arabica beans have a broader selection of varietals.
In contrast, Robusta beans are more bitter and are usually used as a filler in ground coffee or as part of instant coffee or espresso.
What’s The Difference Between House Blend And Breakfast Blend?
While a breakfast blend is designed to start your day with a good infusion of caffeine, a house blend is a specifically formulated coffee blend that’s consistent and of good quality.
A house blend is often explicitly blended for a specific restaurant or chain, and house blends are trendy offerings in coffee shops.
With both types – breakfast blend and house blend – the coffee blend is entirely subjective. Some restaurateurs may prefer more Arabica coffee beans in their coffee blend.
Others may prefer the higher caffeine content of the lighter roasts, and others may like the excellent flavor of Colombian coffees or South American coffees.
A master coffee blender will formulate the ideal blend according to customer preferences.
What’s The Difference Between Donut Shop Blend vs. Breakfast Blend?
Usually, a donut shop blend is explicitly designed to complement the sweet offerings of the donut shop.
It may have lower levels of acid and caffeine than a breakfast blend because a breakfast blend uses a lighter roast coffee. Donut shop blends often use Arabica beans.
Some people prefer the lower acidity in darker roasts because it offsets the sweetness of the donuts and pastries found in a donut shop.
Other individuals, however, like the slight sweetness of a lighter roast when consuming donuts and pastries because there’s less contrast. Since the roasting process eliminates caffeine, the lighter roast coffee beans are more caffeinated and are usually more acidic.
Is Breakfast Blend Stronger Than Dark Roast?
The strength of your coffee will depend on the method used to brew it and the amount of coffee beans or ground coffee used.
When you brew by weight – a K-cup using a Keurig, for example – you’ll get weaker than if you brew by volume.
The standard golden ratio guideline is one to two tablespoons of ground coffee for each six-ounce cup of water.
A scoop is usually two-level tablespoons, so one level scoop should provide a strong cup of coffee. Using more coffee beans or grinds will increase the strength of your coffee.
Using less will decrease it.
Bear in mind, though, that this is talking about the strength of the resultant brew. The caffeine content of the beans doesn’t vary.
The only variation is the strength of the coffee in your cup, which will determine how much caffeine you’re getting.
For example:
- Eight ounces of brewed coffee usually contains approximately 90 and 150 mg of caffeine.
- A lighter roast breakfast blend usually has higher caffeine content, around 150 mg.
- A French roast usually has about 90 mg of caffeine but has a more pungent taste than a breakfast blend with higher caffeine content.
- Black Insomnia coffee will have about 1100 mg of caffeine in 12 ounces
- Death Wish coffee has about 700 mg in 12 ounces
Each of these has a flavor and aroma unique to its caffeine level. Although the dark roast may taste more pungent, it doesn’t necessarily contain more caffeine.
What Type of Coffee Is Breakfast Blend?
There is no industry standard for breakfast blend coffee, and there’s an almost unlimited variation of the possible coffee beans, so your breakfast blend will be unique to your brand.
To find the breakfast blend that you like best, you can visit various coffee shops or restaurants and try theirs.
Finding your ideal breakfast blend with the excellent flavor you like and the caffeine content you prefer may take some research, but it will make your morning cup of coffee one of the highlights of your day.
How Much Caffeine Is Too Much?
Experts recommend that 400 mg of caffeine daily is safe. That’s the equivalent of about four cups of brewed, regular coffee.
Unless you are extremely sensitive to caffeine, the difference between levels of caffeine in a breakfast blend or a house blend won’t significantly impact this recommendation.
However, other beans far exceed this level, so those should be consumed rarely and only in moderation.
Want To Learn More?
If you’d like more information on the procedures for constructing your morning coffee blend, click here.