What is Intelligentsia Summer Solstice Blend?
A blend built once a year to mark the summer solstice, from three origins chosen for brightness.
Seasonal blends are a roaster's showcase. Freed from the requirement to taste the same in March and October, the blender can use whatever is at its best and price it accordingly. Intelligentsia make this one each year for the longest day, framing it around warmth and abundance rather than around a flavour target.
It is $30.00 for 12 oz, the joint most expensive coffee they sell, whole bean or ground with a subscription. Colombia, Ethiopia and Kenya on origin, Bright on roast, caramel and stone fruit on flavour, filed for automatic drip.
Intelligentsia Summer Solstice Blend Taste: What It Actually Tastes Like
Caramel and stone fruit at their lightest roast, from three of the origins that do brightness best.
Colombia gives the blend its sweetness and structure, Ethiopia the stone fruit and florals, Kenya the acidity and blackcurrant. It is the same East African pairing behind Fruit Bat, with Colombia added as a base, and it is the most ambitious filter blend on the menu.
It is roasted Bright and filed for automatic drip, which is generous: at this price most roasters would push you towards a hand brew. It will reward one, but it is built to work in a machine.
How fresh is it when it arrives?
Roasted in Chicago and shipped direct, in two sizes with a subscription.
The 12 oz bag is the sensible choice for a household. A 5 lb bag opened on a counter is losing ground for weeks, and a subscription answers freshness better than bulk buying for anyone drinking a bag a fortnight.
Whole bean holds far longer than ground and costs the same, so it is the default unless there is no grinder in the house.
Where the coffee comes from
Colombia, Ethiopia and Kenya named, under the Direct Trade tag.
Direct Trade is Intelligentsia's own programme rather than a third-party certification: they publish the terms and stand behind them instead of paying an outside body to audit. It promises more than most seals and is harder for a buyer to verify independently.
Intelligentsia publish roast profile, flavour profile, origin countries and trade terms as structured tags rather than burying them in prose, so very little on this page had to be taken on trust.
Three named origins on one blend is the most this roaster publishes for any coffee that is not a single lot, and Kenya in particular is expensive and rarely blended.
Intelligentsia Summer Solstice Blend vs Intelligentsia Fruit Bat Espresso
Against Illumination at $20.00, this adds Kenya and a season and costs half as much again.
Illumination is the year-round Ethiopian-led blend, organic and Direct Trade, at about $49 a kilo. Summer Solstice adds Colombia and Kenya, drops the organic certification, and asks about $77 a kilo. It is the better cup and much the worse value.
Against Fruit Bat at the same $30.00, that is the espresso version of the East African idea. This is the filter one.
If a bag of coffee is meant to be an event, this is one. If it is Tuesday, take Illumination.
Intelligentsia Summer Solstice Blend price per kilo: how it compares
About $77.60 a kilo in the 5 lb bag, which is the highest price here for a coffee you brew in a machine.
It is level with Fruit Bat and above the Honduras Geisha per kilo, which is a striking place for a drip blend to sit. Kenyan coffee is the reason: it is one of the most expensive origins to buy green, and a blend that leans on it cannot be cheap.
Against Illumination at about $49 a kilo, that is the year-round version of a similar idea for a third less. The honest question is whether the Kenyan component and the occasion are worth the difference.
Who should buy it (and who should not)
Right for someone who buys a special bag when the season turns; wrong as an everyday coffee.
Buy it if you follow seasonal releases, want Kenyan coffee in a filter blend, and treat a bag as an occasion. Three named origins on a Direct Trade blend at their lightest roast is as ambitious as filter coffee gets from a roaster this size.
Take Illumination or El Gallo instead for daily drinking, at half to two thirds of the price. And take note that this blend is remade each year, so it is not a coffee to settle into.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Summer Solstice Blend?
Intelligentsia's annual seasonal blend, made each year to mark the longest day. The current edition uses Colombian, Ethiopian and Kenyan coffee, is Direct Trade, and is tagged caramel and stone fruit on their Bright roast profile. It is $30.00 for 12 oz.
Why is Summer Solstice so expensive?
Kenya. Kenyan coffee is among the most expensive origins to buy green and it is rarely used in blends for that reason. At about $77.60 a kilo this costs more than the Honduras Geisha, and the Kenyan component is most of the explanation.
Summer Solstice or Illumination?
Illumination is $20.00, Ethiopian-led, organic and Direct Trade, and available all year. Summer Solstice is $30.00, adds Colombia and Kenya, and is remade annually. Summer Solstice is the better cup; Illumination is much the better value for daily drinking.
Does Summer Solstice change every year?
Yes. Intelligentsia craft it each year for the solstice, so the origins and the character move between editions. That is the point of a seasonal blend, but it means it is not a coffee to settle into the way a house blend is.
How should I brew Summer Solstice?
It is filed for automatic drip, which is generous at this price: most roasters would push a bright three-origin blend towards a hand brew. It will reward a V60 or a Chemex, but it is built to work in a machine as it comes.
How much is Summer Solstice per cup?
At about $77.60 a kilo in the 5 lb bag and 15 grams a cup, roughly $1.16, or nearer $1.32 from the 12 oz bag. That is around double the everyday blends and about the same as a cup of the Honduras Geisha.
