Roasting
What roasters actually do all day
Sourcing, sample roasting, production, quality control and a great deal of logistics, of which the actual roasting is a small part.
Roasting
Development, first crack, and reading a roast profile.
Roasting
Cascara, cold foam and the edges of coffee
Byproducts, offshoots and drinks that use the coffee plant in ways the mainstream mostly ignores.
Roasting
Roast defects and how to taste them
Learning to identify what went wrong in the roast tells you whether a disappointing cup is your brewing or the coffee.
Roasting
Roasting for espresso versus filter
The same green coffee needs different treatment depending on how it will be brewed, and the reasons are physical.
Roasting
Small roasters, and how to find a good one
The most consequential coffee decision most people make, and the one with the least useful guidance available.
Roasting
Roast profiles and what a curve means
Roasters talk about profiles and rate of rise, which sounds technical and describes something fairly intuitive.
Roasting
Decaffeination: how it is done and what it costs the cup
Four main processes, meaningfully different results, and decaf has improved enormously from its reputation.
Roasting
Cupping: how professionals taste coffee
A standardised method for comparing coffees, which you can do at home with a spoon and some bowls.
Roasting
Storing coffee properly
Four things degrade roasted coffee, and most kitchen storage exposes it to all of them.
Roasting
Home roasting: is it worth it?
Entirely achievable, considerably cheaper per kilogram, and a genuine amount of work with a long learning curve.
Roasting
Light, medium and dark: what you are actually choosing
The most visible variable on a coffee bag, described with terms that mean different things at different roasters.
Roasting
What roasting actually does
Ten to fifteen minutes of controlled heat that turns a hard green seed into something worth drinking.