Five Cool Facts About Coffee Roasting
When we start talking about coffee, most of the time we can’t seem to stop. Coffee is one of the most popular beverages in the world that many people simply cannot do without, either for its taste, aroma or energizing effect. At Berto Coffee Roaster, we don’t only build coffee roaster machines, we also love everything else about coffee roasting. In this blog we will share some cool facts about coffee roasting that you might haven’t known before.
1. The world’s first coffee roasters: The Turks
The coffee history said that when coffee was first discovered around 800 A.D. in Ethiopia, the coffee cherries were eaten raw. After coffee started to gain popularity and made its way into Arabia, the Turkish people were the first one to roast coffee beans in the 15th century. Their rudimentary method was by throwing the coffee beans into an open fire, then roasted coffee beans were crushed and the ground bits were boiled, creating a “bean broth” to be enjoyed.
2. A coffee roaster controls 90% of the brewed coffee quality
The roasting process starts with the selection of good quality coffee beans, which accounts for about 60% of the brewed coffee quality. Another 30% goes to the trial and error in the roasting process, final sorting, and storage. This leaves the remaining 10% to the barista who brews the coffee. This is why it is important for passionate coffee roasters to source only the best specialty green coffee beans, with minimal or zero defect, and roast them into perfection.
3. Roasting brings out the flavor of the coffee beans and also kills it at the same time
The coffee roasting process unlocks the flavor of the green coffee beans, and at the same time starts the chemical reactions that eventually lead to the beans turning stale. This is due to the fact that over time during the roasting process, as carbon dioxide gas is being released, oxidation also happens that soon will make the coffee taste stale. Also, the roasting process releases two particular chemical substances, methanethiol, and 2-methyl-propanal, that give the coffee its highly intense aroma but start to lose the intensity as soon as two hours after roasting. This is why coffee beans are usually shipped in their green bean state and only roasted at their final destination, and coffee roasters really have to consider stock and storage time to get the maximum freshness.
4. Dark roast does not mean more caffeine
Although many people assume that dark roast coffee is stronger than light roast, actually the longer roasting process leads to more breakdown of caffeine content. This means that dark roasts actually have lower caffeine content when compared to their light counterparts. However, the longer coffee beans are roasted, the less dense they become, which means they weigh less so there are more beans per cup. So all in all, the liquid light and dark coffee will end up having the same caffeine content.
5. Freshly roasted coffee is NOT the best
The roasting process releases carbon dioxide gas from the coffee bean, this stage is known as “degassing”. Brewing the beans before the degassing process is concluded will result in a metallic flavor in the coffee drink. Coffee roasters should look for the right balance for the degassing time to attain maximum release of the gas and minimum loss of flavor. This means the best time for grinding and brewing coffee can take anytime between 2 to 12 days after roasting.
Where to get your coffee roasting machine?
At Berto Coffee Roaster, we have coffee roasters in different capacities to suit your business needs. Please browse our Products page for more information, or contact us with your questions. We will be happy to hear from you.
