Coffee Roasting Program

Before roasting, coffee beans are green in color and have a beany and grassy aroma. Actually, green coffee beans do not smell like coffee at all. When we roast coffee, we develop 800 to 1000 different aroma compounds. These compounds make the flavour of the coffee. With roast profiling, we can affect the existence of these aroma compounds in coffee and also determine the flavour of the coffee.

Even though roast degree has the biggest role on coffee’s flavour profile, total roast time and time of each stage are also important factors. If you roast fast, you will get more desired aroma compounds. But be careful not to burn the beans! Coffee’s total flavour (fruity, berry-like, chocolatey, nutty altogether) is stronger. Also the amount of aroma compounds, which are created in the beginning of development stage, is higher with fast roasting.

1. DRYING STAGE

The coffee bean has a humidity of 8–12%. We need to dry it before the actual roasting starts. Drying stage typically lasts 4–8 minutes with traditional drum roaster (see below for roaster designs). The temperature in the end of drying stage is typically 160 ⁰C. Especially with drum roasters, you need to be careful so that you do not burn the beans by having too much heat in the start. The drying stage is also important for collecting energy for the bean because the last stage of roasting is exothermic (heat producing).

2. BROWNING STAGE

From 160 ⁰C the coffee starts to smell like toasted bread and hay. This is when the aroma precursors are starting to convert to aroma compounds. Even though browning stage is after drying stage, drying continues during the browning stage.

At the browning stage starts the Maillard reaction that is responsible for browning. In Maillard reaction, reducing sugars and amino acids react making hundreds of different aroma and color compounds known as melanoids. This is the stage when the roast naturally slows down – and some roastmasters also want to slow it down – to ensure flavour development. In the end of browning stage the coffee starts to pop. This is called the first crack and the development stage starts.

The SCAA state that specialty green beans can have no more than 5 full defects in 350 grams of coffee – and no primary defects at all.

Roasting is an artform as well as a science. The producer may have cultivated and processed those beans with passion, precision, and dedication – but without good roasting, the consumer will never taste that.

Choosing the best profile requires technical know-how and often that intuition that comes with experience. But recognising common defects is an important first step. So keep studying, roasting, and learning until you crack the perfect roast profile

Although we like to talk about first and second crack when roasting coffee, it’s important to remember that coffee flavour profiles are the real goal. And for this reason, we also need to consider caramelisation and the Maillard reaction.

At lighter roasts, the coffee will exhibit more of its "origin character"—the flavors created by its variety, processing, altitude, soil content, and weather conditions in the location where it was grown. As the beans darken to a deep brown, the origin flavors of the bean are eclipsed by the flavors created by the roasting process itself. At darker roasts, the "roast flavor" is so dominant that it can be difficult to distinguish the origin of the beans used in the roast.

A Roast Profile is a way to record our actions and decisions in response to feedback from the beans, as they respond to the application of heat on a particular roasting machine and as we try to encourage an intended end flavour for a specific coffee bean.

Hence, a Roast Profile is basically recording what happened during the roast and what adjustments were made to affect the flavour/outcome.

There are a few ways to record a Roast Profile – either manually (in a table or graph format – see below), or with data logging programs such as Cropster, Roast Log, Artisan, Roastlogger, Roastmaster, Coffeesnobs, just to name a few!

A coffee blend as we produce it here at the roastery can be seen almost like a recipe where we combine different flavours to strike overall balance, while producing complexity of flavour. Blends are where we create the perfect taste potential for a set market preference / specific customer demand / bespoke brewing method, allowing the end user to brew it in an accessible way at home or in service.

We ensure we include all of the components of our blends on our bag labels. Each coffee origin, specific farm / processing station name and the country of origin are detailed to allow consumers full transparency. The different origins that make up a blend are on the label, to help customers understand what has gone into that specific coffee blend.

Extending the shelf life of roasted coffee relies on maintaining an optimum environment to protect it from exposure to heat, oxygen, and light. Roasted coffee has an optimal typical shelf life of two weeks, and ground coffee about 15 minutes. Without some sort of preservation method, coffee becomes stale. The first large-scale preservation technique was vacuum packing in cans. However, because coffee emits CO2 after roasting, coffee to be vacuum-packed must be allowed to de-gas for several days before it is sealed. To allow more immediate packaging, pressurized canisters or foil-lined bags with pressure-relief valves can be used. Refrigeration and freezing retards the staling process. Roasted whole beans can be considered fresh for up to one month if kept cool.Once coffee is ground it is best used immediately.

Coffee cupping, or coffee tasting, is the practice of observing the tastes and aromas of brewed coffee. ... A standard coffee cupping procedure involves deeply sniffing the coffee, then loudly slurping the coffee so it spreads to the back of the tongue.

Coffee cupping, or coffee tasting, is the practice of observing the tastes and aromas of brewed coffee. ... A standard coffee cupping procedure involves deeply sniffing the coffee, then loudly slurping the coffee so it spreads to the back of the tongue.

Specific aroma and flavour profiles are described by sensory experts, to differentiate different types of coffees and roasts. Aroma and taste, are the overriding factors determining coffee preference12. Coffee aroma descriptors include Flowery, nutty, smoky, herby, while taste descriptors include acidity, bitterness, sweetness, saltiness and sourness (see Coffee Flavour Wheel).