Roasting our coffee beans in-house has completely changed our relationship with coffee. Establishing a unique connection with each origin and understanding its behavior in every roast enables us not only to produce a consistent taste but also a bond. Each batch is roasted with care and precision, and we aim to convey that in 'Our Roasting Process.'
How it's done
Roasting is a delicate craft that we have devoted years to learning. Each origin behaves differently as they roast and it takes a trained eye and nose in order to make accurate adjustments. Our roaster has several different elements that need to be adjusted and monitored throughout the entire process. There are up to eight elements that we log throughout each roast in order to maintain a consistent roast with every batch. Our key roasting moments are turning point, drying, cracking, and dropping. In between each of these there are adjustments we make to the fan and the flame. This is done in order to not avoid a batch that is too smokey or burnt tasting and is heavily monitored with our roasting software.
Turning Point: The turning point in a roast is simple, when the heat begins to rise again after falling. For some context the roaster is essentially a big drum that is constantly rotating. It rotates in order for the flame underneath to evenly heat the drum and evenly roast the beans as they move around. Well, this drum gets very, very hot and when we drop our room temperature beans into it the temperature of the drum drops with it. As it starts to rotate with the beans inside it begins to heat up again after some time. When this happens it is known as the Turning Point.
Drying: Raw beans are not the signature brown color we all recognize as coffee beans. Instead, they are a light green color that have a smell of earthiness to them. More along the lines of grass or hay rather than coffee. As they roast their colors change from green to a light brown or almost blonde color. This is one of the key signs of Drying. The other sign is the smell. That earthiness is replaced with an almost buttered popcorn scent. When both of these criteria are met the roast has officially reached the Drying stage.
Cracking: After the beans complete the drying process they start to darken and expand. This expanding is when our dry beans are completely devoid of moisture and begin to build up pressure inside the beans. In an attempt to compensate with the buildup of pressure and heat inside, the beans literally begin to crack open. This kind of sounds like popping popcorn. This cracking is a crucial moment in the roasting process and the timing of this cracking actually tells us a lot about the adjustments we've made previously and what we need to adjust for the remainder of the roast.
Dropping: Dropping is literally when the roast is dropped from the drum into the cooling chamber. When a roast is dropped then your beans have reached the final stage and can be officially considered coffee beans. The temperature at which the beans are dropped is what distinguishes a light from a dark roast NOT the origin, although origin is a factor considered when deciding to drop. Factors include temperature, development, and of course origin. At Coffee Records our light roasts are typically dropped around 405, medium around 410-415, and Dark around 420. Development is based on the length of time since cracking. This goes hand in hand with temperature and the greater the temperature the greater the development of the roast. As far as origin being a factor, any origin can be roasted to any level. But it is how well the flavor profile of that origin works with that specific roast level which determines when it should be dropped. For example, Ethiopia's flavor profile consists of floral and fruity notes. This flavor profile would not stand out with a darker roast as the rich and bitter taste that comes with a higher temperature would ultimately overpower those delicate flavors. But roasting it light would give Ethiopia's flavor profile a chance to shine through whilst still providing a classic coffee taste.
