The Art Of Roasting Coffee: A Deep Dive Into The Machinery And Process

Many people enjoy a simple cup of coffee with little knowledge of its origin or production. But many more do take an interest in these factors, carefully selecting and savoring each unique cup of coffee they indulge in.

As they can tell you, the preparation and processing of the coffee bean often influences its taste in an incredibly noticeable way. Each coffee producer has their own method of processing their coffee beans but understanding the basics of this process and the type of machinery they use can help you appreciate your coffee and its taste better.

Harvesting, Wet Fermentation, Slow-Drying, and Curing

To understand why so much emphasis is placed on roasting, it is important to acknowledge the origin of coffee and its early stages of processing. Harvesting is usually conducted only once a year, and the best coffee producers have their crop hand-picked to ensure each coffee cherry is ripe.

During fermentation, coffee producers will ensure their batches are kept in a unique water mixture at a very specific time and temperature, so the right microorganisms have a chance to work their chemical magic.

In the later stages of processing, the product is slow-dried and cured, controlling the temperature, so the chemical reactions in the bean take place at a steady pace, activating the flavors within.

This careful process from harvest to the green coffee bean is lengthy and diligently overseen by dedicated coffee producers. However, roasting is undoubtedly the most important aspect of influencing the coffee end-product.

Each bean is sorted depending on its features and colors, ensuring each batch maintains the same consistency.

Sorting Before Roasting

Roasting is conducted only after a rigorous sorting process. Each bean is sorted depending on its features and colors, ensuring each batch maintains the same consistency. Some coffee producers sort their beans into much smaller batches, so they activate different flavors during the roasting process.

Beans from particular strains of coffee plants, coffee plants grown in different environments, or cherries picked at different stages of ripeness will be noticeably different from one another and produce slightly different flavors. Some coffee producers go so far as to sort their beans before roasting, sort them again after roasting, and then roast their beans once more.

What Does a Roast Achieve?

After so much discussion on the other processes involved in creating coffee products, it may be startling to realize that roasting is exactly what the name suggests. To roast coffee beans, you simply apply heat until they turn from light green to dark brown. In fact, this process can be done on your regular stovetop; if you purchase green unprocessed coffee beans, you can roast them at home in small batches. Deceptively simple. However, if you are familiar with different coffee roasts, you will undoubtedly understand just how complicated this process can become.

A coffee roasting machine is designed with several factors in mind: batch size, time, temperature control, and temperature distribution. Each one of those factors must be carefully considered.

Even if you are using the same machine, you cannot depend on it to produce the same exact batch twice, so a machine that facilitates a reasonable batch size is necessary. Of course, by adjusting the time and temperature during the roasting process, coffee roasters can easily heighten or subdue different flavor profiles in their products.

This is why machines are so important. Roasting machines that empower roasters to control every minute aspect of the roasting process are able to reproduce great batches more closely. While on the lower end of the spectrum, you have hobby stovetop roasters, on the higher end, you have specialized machines that carefully time each roast and evenly distribute heat to each individual bean.

It takes time to understand your machine or whatever equipment you are using, so roasters become intimately connected with their devices. A good roaster will be able to accurately predict how their equipment will roast a particular batch of coffee beans.

The Perfect Roast

Many coffeehouses are known for their roasts. Roasting is the key to activating the flavors within the coffee bean and defining your product.

Starbucks is a famous example of a company known to roast their own unique, delicious blends. A good roasting process can make or break a coffee house. Even laymen can detect when a roaster has struck gold, and it is reflected in the company’s success.

Actionable Takeaways

• Producing coffee can be a time-consuming process, but it pays off in the final product.
• Roasting is the most important part of coffee production, dramatically changing the flavor of the product.
• To be a good coffee roaster, you need the right equipment. An investment that will make or break your brand.