![]() ![]() It’s an Either/Or choice, a Fool’s Choice, that we can refuse to make. This tension can seem impossible to resolve at first glance, but that’s a False Dichotomy. It also makes it nearly impossible to pass along our experience because each coffee is just too unique to say anything definitive.Īt the same time, roasting every coffee more or less the same denies the reality of the remaining 20% that is different: density, organic acids, and lipids to name a few. When we roast coffees all the same we miss out on much of the beauty that manifests itself in the final cup. Approaching every coffee in a completely different manner denies this reality and sets us up for a lot of stress and hinders our ability to produce replicable results. ![]() The second are those who treat every coffee as completely unique, adjusting every available variable for each coffee with no discernable pattern.Īs is so often the case, we believe that the most effective path lies somewhere in between these two opposing extremes.įrom a botanical, structural, and chemical standpoint, every coffee is over 80% identical. All maps are simplifications of reality, that’s why they’re useful.įolks in the first camp are those who treat all coffees as essentially the same they may vary the drop temperature for a light, medium, or dark roast but that’s about all. These are oversimplifications, so please don’t be offended. Over the last decade in coffee, we have seen most coffee roasters fall into one of two main categories. If and only if the odd cup out is correctly identified AND what is different about it is correctly identified are the results considered valid. That means there are three cups and one of them is different (a la Sesame Street, “which one of these is not like the other…”). This warrants a separate post but, in a nutshell, the only viable method for proven increase in cup quality is triangulation. We think cup quality is the most important thing, because, after all, coffee is for drinking. Many of the changes suggested have no basis in flavor impact. in engineering to call BS, we’ve taken it about ourselves to do just that. Since a lot of information out there requires a B.S. That means a lot of thermodynamics and heat transfer classes. This one has to make it in Michael did study Mechanical Engineering after all. However, while folks argue over the finer points of expanding and contracting the Maillard Reaction, lovely people like yourself are missing some of the foundational aspects that are pretty well agreed upon. ![]() We’re not saying everyone will agree with these suggestions. We’ve learned a thing or two and we’d love to pass along the 7 Steps to Optimize Your Roasts that seem to be: We’ve spent the last decade reading every book we’ve heard of, watching most of the videos on YouTube (not all, let’s be real), and attending workshops all over the world. It really shouldn’t be this complicated to learn how to roast and develop your personal style, but unfortunately it still is and we feel your pain! We’ve been there sifting through the dogma and development time ratios to try and patch together a cohesive roasting philosophy. In addition to personal preferences, there are seemingly conflicting theories from equally qualified individuals – some of which defy the laws of thermodynamics. Many thanks!Īs the available information on roasting grows at a dizzying pace, it can often feel like you’re drowning in recommendations. However, I never would have thought to create this framework without their inspiration. The ideas are my own based on my experience. Author’s Note: I am indebted to Scott Rao and his incredible book “ Coffee Roaster’s Companion” as well as Rob Hoos and his book “ Modulating the Flavor Profile of Coffee” for lighting this fire in my mind.
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