|
It's more than a color: it is the cumulative, positive, and
dramatic result of roasting each coffee in a unique way,
helping each one reach its maximum flavor. The color can be duplicated -- but
the taste cannot.
The coffee bean begins its life as the prize inside a bright red coffee cherry.
It takes about five years before a coffee tree produces a harvestable crop of
cherries, and each tree only produces the equivalent of a pound of roasted beans
per year. To prepare the pebble-like green coffee beans for roasting, growers
process them using either the natural or the washed method. Through the natural
method, ripe coffee cherries are allowed to dry on the tree or on the ground
before the beans are removed by hulling. Through the washed method, the beans
are immediately separated from the cherries, submerged in a vat of water, and
then dried on large patios or with modern equipment.
Green coffee beans are heated in a large rotating drum, then their
transformation begins. After about 5 to 7 minutes of intense heat, much of their
moisture evaporates. The beans turn a yellow color and smell a little like
popcorn. After about 8 minutes in the roaster, the "first pop" occurs. The beans
double in size, crackling as they expand. They are now light brown. Very sour
one-dimensional flavor notes are dominant, while more complex coffee flavors
haven't yet developed.
After 10-11 minutes in the roaster, the beans reach
an even brown color, and oil starts to appear on the surface of the bean.
At this roasting time (different for each coffee, but usually somewhere
between 11 and 15 minutes), the full flavor potential begins to develop in
the beans, bringing all of their attributes into balance. The "second pop"
signals that the coffee is almost ready. The moment that the coffee is
released into the cooling tray is a memorable one. The smell of freshly
roasted coffee fills the air, along with the sound of
applause created by the final clapping of the "second pop."
|
We're passionate about the way we roast our
coffee. 
