what is the difference between the different blends of coffee (mild, medium roast, etc.)?

Answer 1

Roasting coffee and blending coffee are two different processes. A coffee roast refers to the cooking of the beans. There are different types of roasts from light, mild, city, commercial, medium, dark, Italian,Viennese,French, and espresso. Depending on who is doing the roasting, they may use a variety of the names. The beans comes from different parts of the world and have different characteristics that lend themselves to different types of roasts. In general, the darker the roast, the less the caffeine, but the more burnt the roast, the more the overtones of flavors that taste burnt are.
Blending is the art of matching beans with complimentary flavors together to get a richer, more flavorful set of characteristics. The best example is called Mocha Java which is usually a mixture of Ethiopian and Indonesian beans.
Coffee drinking is like wine-tasting in that the conditions of the preparations (such as cleanliness, pH of water and soil, drought and/or flood conditions in the growing season) all contribute to the taste.
Two common mistakes made in coffee preparation is not cleaning their coffee-maker frequently and over-brewing
It is important to learn the different flavors of different coffees before you attempt to blend them as too frequently bad (non-complementary) blends are marketed by "Starbuck's experts" also known as people who don't know anything about coffee!
Think of coffee drinking as an art form and you shall always be able to find good coffee somewhere
Good Luck!!!


PS. Did you ask this question more than once?

Answer 2

It has to do with the strength, flavor and acidity of the bean (or beans if its a blend) as well as the roasting process. I believe the longer the beans roast, the more the oils come to the surface imparting a much stronger, some say bitter flavor to the coffee.