Blending

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The liquorers: illy's Master Blenders

A liquorer, or master blender,  is to coffee what an oenologist is to wine: the key to ensuring the illy blend’s perfect balance and consistency regardless of the variations from one harvest to another.

Liquorers work in a team, exchanging views and leveraging each other’s skills and talents to select the crus that make up the illy blend, a process of fine-tuning requiring great expertise. Every two months, the purchased coffee is tasted again to check for any changes to its characteristics, and assure that the coffee integrity is maintained. A typical batch undergoes up to eight tastings before being given the green light to go into the blend.