The Art of Hand Roasting Coffee
Hand roasting coffee on a 6kg roaster is not for the faint of heart - or the easily distracted. It’s a delicate process that requires skill, intuition, and a high tolerance for long days spent hovering over a machine that feels more like a petulant teenager than a precision instrument. For every batch that emerges as liquid gold, there’s the looming threat of disaster—leave those beans for a few seconds too long and you've turned your hand-crafted "masterpiece" into something that smells like your toaster caught fire.
Let’s take a journey (man - are we ALL on journeys?) through the joys and challenges of hand roasting on a 6kg roaster. And before the Artificial Intelligence Bot Army takes over the world - let us tell you now that we will be the last bastion of doing our thing in a manual way - from roasting coffee to writing blogs. It may be slower, and clunkier, but its authentic and honest and we'll fight to the last drop of (someone's else's) blood before we let a Large Language Model Idiot run our company ... "sigh"
Right - apologies - where were we? Oh, yeah .. roasting coffee. Lewis, our head roaster guides us through the processes.
The Roaster
At first glance, a roaster seems like a friendly, unassuming piece of equipment. It’s compact, manageable, and doesn’t require a team of engineers to operate. But don’t let its size fool you—this machine demands your full attention. Blink at the wrong moment, and you’ll go from “perfectly caramelized sugars” to “charcoal briquette” faster than you can say “first crack.”
It's quirks are endless: it’s sensitive to humidity, temperature changes, and even Lewis's mood. It’s like trying to manage Taylor Swift on tour—temperamental, demanding, but capable of greatness when everything aligns.
Step 1 - Preparation:
Because Guesswork Is a Recipe for Disaster. Before you even think about turning on the roaster, you’ve got to prepare. And by prepare, I mean obsess over every detail like a contestant on a reality cooking show. We have a phrase - Green Beans, Green Dreams. Picking the right green beans isn’t just a matter of taste; it’s a matter of survival. Each origin has its quirks—moisture levels, density, and a personality that will either make us look like geniuses or idiots. We try to choose wisely.
Step 2 - The Preheat Shuffle.
Preheating the roaster is an art in itself. Too hot? We're roasting marshmallows. Too cold? The roast stalls before it even begins. And don’t forget to pretend you totally meant to start your roast at 198°C instead of 200°C because that 2-degree difference? Crucial.
Step 3 - Mental Preparation.
We take a deep breath: we say a quick prayer to the coffee gods. Knowing that whatever happens, it’s ME, AND ME ALONE! - and NOT the machine, that will get the blame.
The Roast! - A Thrilling Exercise in Controlled Chaos
Here’s where the fun—or stress—begins. We're not just pushing buttons here, you know! We're not just setting it on "HIGH" and waiting for the machine to go "BEEP" like some roasters out there ... ahem. We're essentially conducting an orchestra of heat, time, and airflow, all while hoping the beans don’t rebel.
The Waiting Game - For the first few minutes, you stare at the beans as they twirl in the drum, willing them to behave. The sound of the first crack is both thrilling and terrifying—it’s like your beans are yelling, “This is your moment! Don’t mess it up!”
Adjusting the Heat - Did the temperature spike? Time to fiddle with the flame like a caffeinated mad scientist. Too much airflow? Not enough? Who knows? You’re winging it based on instinct and sheer desperation.
The Plunge into Cooling - Once the roast is done (and hopefully not ruined), you dump the beans into the cooling tray like you’ve just defused a bomb. The relief is palpable. You survived. For now.
Why do we put ourselves - or to be honest, why do we put Lewis - through this ordeal? Because when we get it right, the reward is glorious. The beans emerge as fragrant, flavourful perfection with each roast showcasing the unique character of the coffee. It’s worth every burnt finger, every second of nail-biting tension, and every muttered curse directed at the roaster. It also means that you know you're drinking authentic, hand-roasted coffee which we have spent hours figuring out how to roast to bring out the best.
Hand roasting coffee is like being in a relationship with a moody genius. It’s challenging, infuriating, and occasionally makes you question your life choices. But when it all comes together, you’re reminded why you fell in love with coffee roasting in the first place.
So, the next time you sip a cup of Gunpowder Blend, or our Ugandan Mount Elgon roasted coffee, remember the person behind it. Lewis was a fresh faced 25 year old when he started roasting coffee for us. He looks a little older now - but he's totally fine with it.
Probably.