Barista Magazine

FEB-MAR 2015

Barista Magazine is your home for the worldwide community of coffee and the people who make it.

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THOUGH THEY DO ONE of the most important jobs in our industry, roasters are still sort of the unsung heroes of specialty coffee—and I'm talking about both the people and the machines. While many professional baristas can at this point rattle off the names of several of their "famous" peers (competition winners, or maybe some of the contributors to this very magazine), and still others can even list the first names of several "famous" coffee-farm owners (Aida comes to mind), how many of us can name one of the individuals who makes those tough little seeds into our precious, aromatic, and intoxicating coffee beans? Furthermore, sure, they make green beans brown—but how do they do that, exactly? Roasting is arguably the most magical—and perhaps the most complicated—part of the whole coffee process. The sheer number of variables that affect what happens both inside and out of the roasting machine are stagger- ing: How old is the green, and what's its moisture content? Where's it from and what's its relative density? How high should the heat get cranked, and how quickly, and how long? Not only that—and those questions are just the be- ginning—but the type (not to mention size) of the roasting machine and the batch of green also come in to play, as well as the intended roast level or degree. By the end of this article, hopefully we'll have brought your understanding of the roasting process to at least first crack, and along the way we'll introduce you to a few of the people doing the job and making the magic. While there's no way to fit as comprehensive a breakdown of roasting as we'd like within the pages of this issue, this should be at least enough to get the drum turning. Understanding the Basics of Roasting By Erin Meister 73 www.baristamagazine.com

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