Roasting
Over the years, we’ve heard a wide variety of questions about our roasting process. How do we decide to roast a new coffee? Are all coffees roasted in the same way? How long does it take to roast a batch of coffee? These are all excellent questions, and we relish the opportunity to share more about our particular style of roasting and how it came to be.
How We Roast
To start, our evaluation of a particular coffee begins at the sampling stage. We receive samples of green, unroasted coffees that we have either contracted to purchase or are considering purchasing from both our direct trade and import partners. These small samples are then roasted in our IKAWA sample roaster to gain a better understanding of the true character of the coffee. At this stage, we want to understand if the coffee presents a more approachable flavor profile (think chocolate or nutty) or a more adventurous flavor profile (think fruits & florals). We evaluate these sample roasts on the cupping table, and from there decide if the coffee will be contracted for purchase or approved for import and delivery.
When our approved coffees arrive at our roastery, it’s time to get them in the big roaster! We roast on a Loring S35 Kestrel in 40lb or 60lb batches. Based on our experience with a coffee in both the sampling stage and on the cupping table, we know our initial approach to roasting the first batch will fall into one of three profiles: Extended Baseline, Baseline, or Fast Baseline.
These three roast profiles produce dramatically different results in the cup, so it’s important for us to use the baseline roast profile that will highlight and accentuate our favorite elements of any particular coffee.
For example, an initial roast of a floral washed Ethiopian coffee will benefit from the Fast Baseline profile that highlights those fruit and floral notes. A faster roast profile will keep the Maillard and development phases of the roast relatively short to produce a more candy-like sweetness in the cup that will complement the floral notes.
Conversely, a washed coffee from Nicaragua may present more traditional flavor notes like chocolate or cola. In this situation, the coffee will benefit from starting at either our Baseline or Extended Baseline profile. These two roast profiles will extend the Maillard and development phases of the roast, creating a heavier roast profile that highlights the body and more classic coffee flavors present in the lot.
It’s important to note that these Baseline roast profiles are only a starting point! Once we complete the initial roast of a new coffee, that coffee goes through extensive QC testing to identify subtle changes in the roast profile that we can use to maximize the deliciousness of every coffee we roast. In roasting, changes to a roast profile are measured in seconds and individual degrees Fahrenheit. These small moves produce big changes in the flavor profile of each coffee, and it’s our goal to unlock the best expression of each coffee we source, roast, and serve.
