An Interview with The Blend

Have you ever been overwhelmed by the menu at your favorite coffee shop? As the espresso machine whirrs and baristas shout words like “macchiato” and “double cortado,” you may find yourself, like us, spitting out the classic “Um, iced coffee please?” We talked with the owner of The Blend + Co., Holly Treadwell, who broke down the menu so college students like us can approach the register with confidence.

The Edge: What’s the difference between your Red Eye and your Black Eye?

Holly: Red Eye is one shot of espresso and the Black Eye is two shots. Both are mixed in with coffee.

E: What is the energy benefit of espresso over coffee?

H: There’s just a little bit more caffeine in espresso. You can use a coffee bean for espresso, there’s just a difference in how it’s roasted. [Espresso is] just a compact amount of caffeine. Coffee can have just as much, depending on the bean, as an espresso bean.

E: What’s your Mexican Mocha?

H: It’s a latte–chocolate, cinnamon, and cayenne. It’s brewed into a latte, so we use espresso and milk, either steamed or over ice. It’s spicy, but it’s good.

E: What about green tea versus matcha?

H: We do a traditional Chinese ritual macha. Basically we have a ceremonial bowl that we put the matcha in and we mix it with either hot water or steamed milk, depending on the barista and how the prefer to do it. It doesn’t make a huge difference because it just turns into a paste, and then you pour the paste into a latte form...with milk. Matcha has great health benefits, and also a lot of caffeine too. It’s really good for this season too because of the antioxidants.

E: Cappuccino vs. cortado vs. double?

H: We do a traditional Italian style of a cappuccino, which is one shot of espresso, two ounces of milk and two ounces of foam. A cortado is two shots, three ounces of steamed milk. They’re all five ounce drinks, it’s just the way you steam the milk.

E: What’s the taste difference between a cappuccino and an americano, and then between a drip and an espresso?

H: Really the difference between a cappuccino is not the taste, but the texture. I really like European based cappuccinos because you have a little bit of frothiness on top when you drink it. It’s more of a texture preference as opposed to taste. But the difference between a cappuccino and an americano, is that [an americano] is a watered down espresso. So you’re going to get a milkier taste with the cappuccino than with the americano.

The more you know about coffee, the less you really know about coffee. It opens up this whole world, and even I get overwhelmed. There’s different flavor profiles based on where the beans are grown and how they’re processed and roasted, that releases this really great taste. To me, it’s more about the bean than the process of making the drink.  As long as you have a good bean to start with, you’ll have a good coffee.

E: How and where do you guys choose the beans that you want to brew?

H: We don’t switch them as often as I’d probably like. We choose to source ethically-sourced beans and we choose to source them at minimal fair trade. That means that the people who are working on the farms… those farms have been certified to treat their employees and the workers well, pay them well, they have legitimate living conditions. Which puts our bean at a way higher price point, we don’t always charge more and we probably should. For me, in the care of understanding where the beans come from, it’s going to play our in the long run whether you realize it or not.

E: What’s your most popular drink?

H: We strive as a shop to not be pretentious. People are like “Oh, yeah can I have a little bit of room?” like they’re asking something embarrassing, and I’m like “No, I drink milk in my coffee, I don’t judge you.”

Our most popular is probably the Black and Tan, which is white chocolate and dark chocolate mixed into a latte. Also the creme brulée, which is caramel and white chocolate. For fall we have the pumpkin obviously, but we also have the Killer Bee, which is honey, cayenne, and cinnamon, and a ginger spice.
 

E: What would recommend for an all-nighter?

H: Come in here and sit all day and drink all the coffee you can. Kidding. I used to pull all-nighters all the time in college, I lived on all-nighters. My suggestion, honestly, would be don’t get a highly caffeinated drink. I think it would be healthier for you to drink little bits of caffeine throughout the evening and then drink a cup of water with whatever caffeine you drink. When you drink a ton of caffeine at once, you crash. I would even drink coconut water in between caffeinated drinks because if you get dehydrated or tired, it’s a boost of energy and hydration.