Roasting

A roasting company's first task (and one of the most important) is to seek out those coffees which meet their standards. Roasters request samples from a number of brokers (who are typically importers as well), roast them all with a similar profile, and carefully taste them side by side. At the cupping table, they must pay close attention to positive and negative flavor attributes and aromas, balance between the various attributes, and consistency from cup to cup. Many coffees are riddled with defects that may affect only one out of every five, ten, or twenty cups, but a good roaster will pass on these lots, and wait for something that tastes consistently excellent.

Once a roaster finds a coffee they want to carry, they will purchase it from the broker, and have it shipped to their roasting facility. Upon arrival, care must be taken to store it properly, following the same guidelines importers adhere to. Inventory control is incredibly important at this stage, and roasters should roast their green coffee within 3-6 months of arrival. Waiting any longer can bring on the tired, baggy flavor profile of past crop coffee.

For every coffee in their inventory, a roaster must determine a suitable roast profile. A roast profile encompasses not only how light or dark a bean will be taken, but how it gets there, in terms of time, temperature, and air flow. For a new coffee, multiple sample roasts will be undertaken, each following a different roast profile, and the results will be tasted side by side to determine what is the best route to take. Deciding exactly how to roast a coffee can take days or weeks, as the roaster fine tunes the process and makes minute profile adjustments until the bean's full potential is realized.

Degree of roast is dictated by the temperature at which the operator halts the roasting process and begins cooling the beans. This can range from the light, mottled cinnamon color which is observed around 415 degrees F, up to a dark "french roast" stage which can approach 470 degrees. There isn't one degree of roast that is the best for every coffee, but in general, lighter roasts (410 - 440 degrees) favor the unique qualities and intricate aromas developed within each bean at origin. As a coffee is taken darker, origin character is lost (along with acidity), and smoky "roast flavors" become more prevalent. As temperature climbs past 465 degrees, flavors of carbon and smoke are about all that remains, with very little supporting acidity or sweetness.

The process of sampling, tasting, and creating a roast profile happens on an ongoing basis. New coffees come in weekly or monthly, and roast profiles must be continually updated for each coffee as it is used. Minute changes occur as the green coffee gets older, and must be compensated for by changes in the profile.