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The most important step in getting coffee into your cup is the roasting. Roasting coffee is both an art and a science, requiring years of experience and the right type of roasting equipment.Green coffee beans are roasted at temperatures ranging from 370 to 450 degrees for up to 20 minutes. Here at Pierce Brothers Coffee Roasters™ we roast at 455 to 480+ degrees and with our air-roaster, roasting only takes about 10 or so minutes, depending on how long the roaster has been fired up. During this time they lose 18 to 23% of their weight and increase in size by 35 to 60%. With our air-roaster even more weight is lost as the chaff is removed, we roast 45 pounds of green beans and weigh out the roasted beans at around the mid thirties. After roasting the beans change color from a light straw green color to medium brown or dark brown, depending upon the degree and length of roast. After roasting; the once closed green bean splits open and brings out the rich aroma of the coffee. As you've probably guessed, the roasting process is really no more then the "cooking" of the bean. Though the type of roaster can effect the taste; drum roasters let the beans sit for the duration of the process, and the chaff gets burnt on, while the air-roasting process removes the chaff. How much the bean is roasted is what is called the degree of roast. The less it is cooked, the "lighter" or "milder" the roast. There are different terms used for the degree of roast. Some use the words light, light/medium, medium, medium/dark, and dark. These days another common way to classify roasted coffee is by countries -- African, French, Turkish, just to name a few. These all go from light to dark, from milder to bolder in taste. |