I recently roasted my first espresso blends. And let me tell you, they were awful. Not just awful, but completely undrinkable. Who knew there was such a fine art to blending and roasting? Apparently, everyone in the coffee world - except me.

For the first blend I chose the very unscientific process of a handful of beans from each region. Next, I stuck to all Central American coffees. The third blend I created was based on what names I liked the best. I thought for sure that I would create the blend of all blends completely by accident, and that one of these would be the blend with which Hubbard and Cravens would replace their current blend. Let's just say, not quite - not even close.

The Hubbard and Cravens espresso roast is a blend of 9 different coffees. I assure you no one created a masterpiece blend by taking either a handful of beans from each region, or selecting cleverly badged bean blends. In Italy a typical espresso blend contains 13 or so coffees. The blends in France, and everywhere else for that matter, are comprised of innumerable combinations. Everyone and everywhere does it a bit differently; I just do it badly.

In addition to the scores of coffee to be considered for the blend, most also contain a percentage of Robusta beans. If you've been following my columns or know a bit about coffee, you know that Arabica beans are the higher quality, "good beans" and that Robusta beans are the lower quality, "bad beans." But bad beans, like bad boys, have that mysterious appeal. For Robusta beans, that appeal is the crema they create. Most blends in the U.S. have approximately 10% Robusta content, while Italy boasts a 30-40% and France weighs in around a 50% Robusta content.

There is, however, great debate amongst specialty coffee producers about using any Robusta beans at all. Because they are thought of as lesser quality, many producers are hesitant to use them. Not even the USBC can decide, and there are rules and regulations for everything. They only say, "The flow of espresso should appear to have the viscosity of warm honey, and the resulting beverage should exhibit a thick, dark, golden crema." Oh, is that all?

I don't know if my espresso would ever meet the USBC description, but I plan to perfect my own blend (at least to my liking) in the near future. Stay tuned for results in weeks to come. If you're creating your own espresso already, congrats, happy blending, and feel free to give me some tips!