Introducing the Roast Development Kit + Virtual Roasting Class

Introducing the Roast Development Kit + Virtual Roasting Class

Understanding the Process: Koji Fermentation

Continuing our series on coffee processing, we learn about koji fermentation, a unique process usually associated with the brewing of sake. BY TANYA NANETTISENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT Photos courtesy of Forest Coffee If brewed properly, a cup of coffee can offer countless variations of flavor and aroma. The quality and complexity of these attributes depend on many different […]


The Slingshot Chalice Puts a New Spin on Espresso Dosing

Hong Kong and Australia-based coffee equipment maker Slingshot Technology recently launched the Chalice Distributor Cup, a multipurpose espresso preparation tool for baristas. Displayed in its final production form at the…


Know Your Sweeteners: Honey: Part Two

We continue our deep dive into honey, bringing to light environmental and animal rights concerns related to the product, and how the industry is addressing them. BY EMILY JOY MENESESBARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE Feature photo via Unsplash This week we started our discussion of honey, uncovering how it’s produced, the differences between varieties of honey, and […]


Coffee News Recap, 2 Feb: Applications open for Australia’s Richest Barista 2024, De’Longhi reports 4.6% revenue increase after La Marzocco move & other stories

Every Friday, Perfect Daily Grind rounds up the top coffee industry news from the previous week. Here are this week’s coffee news stories. The word of the week is: expansion. Mon, 29 Jan AeroPress launches limited-edition Clear Pink brewer. The coffee brewer is made from the same Tritan material used in the standard Clear model. […]

Introducing the Roast Development Kit + Virtual Roasting Class

Why it’s easier for wealthier producers to grow specialty coffee

It takes money – and sometimes a lot – to grow specialty coffee. Producers not only need to continuously maintain and improve quality and yields, but they also have to invest back into their farms. Whether it’s replacing equipment and machinery or planting more resilient varieties, producers need to turn a profit to operate their […]


Lvl Up Coffee Hits High Scores In Normal, Illinois

Specialty coffee in the central Illinois town of Normal has reached a new stage of quality with the opening of Lvl Up Coffee Bar. Brought to life by coffee roaster…


Brewing at Home and on the Road With Diego Campos

We talk to the first Colombian World Barista Champion and Diamante Coffee Farm founder Diego Campos about his brewing habits. BY TANYA NANETTISENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT Photos courtesy of Diego Campos The focal point of a coffee worker’s professional life is, obviously, coffee. Whether for a customer, to check a specific production batch, or to verify the […]


Conflict in the Red Sea: Why coffee roasters need to prepare for shipping delays

Like many other industries, conditions in the coffee supply chain can change quickly, and in turn, have a huge impact on all actors and stakeholders. Price volatility is one of the more pertinent – which is influenced by many factors. These include fluctuations in supply and demand, extreme or unexpected weather events, global economic downturn, […]

Introducing the Roast Development Kit + Virtual Roasting Class

Joven and Atucún Join Forces to Empower Young Farmers

The two brands have collaborated to create a unique coffee bar and support young farmers in the coffee and cacao industries. BY VASILEIA FANARIOTISENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT Photos courtesy of Joven Coffee  For their first-of-its-kind bar, Joven Coffee and Atucún Chocolateria combined coffee beans, extracted cocoa butter, and organic cane sugar. Committed to supporting young farmers […]


The Slingshot Chalice Puts a New Spin on Espresso Dosing

Hong Kong and Australia-based coffee equipment maker Slingshot Technology recently launched the Chalice Distributor Cup, a multipurpose espresso preparation tool for baristas. Displayed in its…


A Look at Digital Coffee Future’s Digital Origin Education Program

The new program connects coffee producers to one another, provides them with educational resources, and more. BY VASILEIA FANARIOTISENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT Photos courtesy of the Cocaerol, Comal & Amprocal cooperatives in Honduras Since 2021, Digital Coffee Future (DCF) has been working on a digital training program to address the needs of coffee producers. In September […]


How do you roast coffee for milk?

It’s impossible to deny just how popular milk-based coffee drinks (such as the flat white, latte, and cappuccino) are in coffee shops around the world. According to 2020 data from Project Café USA, the latte was the most ordered drink in the UK, and the third-most popular beverage in US coffee shops. In line with […]

Introducing the Roast Development Kit + Virtual Roasting Class

Introducing the Roast Development Kit + Virtual Roasting Class

minimum dose size?

Jan 31, 2024 |

I use the Hario switch to brew my coffee and am trying to reduce my caffeine consumption. Hence I would like to brew smaller cups of coffee. I am currently using 10g of coffee with 160g of water. (1:16 Ratio) I am wondering if there is a minimum amount of coffee...

Introducing the Roast Development Kit + Virtual Roasting Class

First, please let me apologize for taking so long to offer the “Roast Development Kit” I had promised in The Coffee Roaster’s Companion.  It’s finally here, and I am certain it is going to have a beneficial influence on roasters’ understanding of coffee defects.

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Among the classes I’ll offer in Seattle this April is a roasting masterclass that will be offered to attendees both in person and virtual.  In January I offered a wildly successful “beginners’” roasting class (which was much more advanced than any industry class) in conjunction with Map It Forward.  For those of you who have never attended such a class, I’d like to explain a bit about them.

First, let’s get the bad stuff out of the way:  the class in January was the first virtual class I’ve offered, and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive, but there are a few things I intend to improve this time around.  The video and sound quality were good enough to communicate the lesson well, but not up to the standards of some virtual attendees who worked in the audio and video industries.  I take feedback seriously, so the production quality of this next class will be better.  Based on requests from previous attendees, I will also email the key slides from the masterclass to viewers ahead of the scheduled class date.  Virtual attendees will have access to the class video for three weeks after it airs.

I’m also launching the Roast Development Kit (RDK) in conjunction with the virtual masterclass.  Those buying virtual tickets will pay $50 less per ticket than live attendees to compensate for not having access to the tasting or being able to ask questions in person.  However, virtual attendees will have the option to purchase the set of roast samples I’ll use in the class, in the form of the RDK ($50) that I had  mentioned in The Coffee Roaster’s Companion.

I’m pleased to announce that The Regalia Company, a new roaster in New York City, will roast the samples for the kit. I co-own Regalia with my friend Paolo Maliksi and his wife Chisato (aka the secret weapon).  From a distance I have been training Paolo to roast for the past several months through email, FaceTime video, Cropster screen sharing, and exchanging roast samples.  I’m proud to say that Paolo, an accomplished cellist, is a diligent and disciplined student, and he is now one of the most consistently good roasters in the country.  Some of the best roasts I’ve tasted in the past year came from Paolo, and he is dedicated to offering light, developed, consistently great roasts.  I don’t even complain when Paolo offers naturals and honeys. :0 Paolo is the only roaster out there whom I would entrust to roast the samples for the (RDK) and my class, now that he has mastered the art of knowing how to judge, avoid, and create both baked and underdeveloped roasts. For those of you in NYC, Regalia is also currently renting time on its 15kg Mill City roasting machine.  Please contact Regalia directly for more information. 

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The first RDK will consist of three frozen and vacuum-sealed 100g roast samples: an underdeveloped roast, a baked roast, and an excellent roast, all of the same coffee.  With the kit we will provide the roast curves, complete with settings used as well as some notes about the coffee and roasts.  We’ll also provide two small packets of mineral salts (magnesium sulfate and sodium bicarbonate), with each packet designed to convert four liters of distilled (demineralized) water into perfect brewing water.  Importantly, using that water means that everyone in the world who tastes the coffees in the kit will be using the same water.  Those buying the kit and following my grind and extraction recommendations should have a very similar tasting experience to that of the live-class attendees.

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As of April 30 Regalia will be offering the RDK to the general public on a regular basis.  Going forward, each month we will offer a new RDK using a different coffee, and we may expand the kit at some point to include coffees with other intentional roast defects as well as various green defects.  I also have hopes of using the kit to showcase the flavor impact of novel processing methods, such as those used by Lucia Solis.

Please click here to purchase tickets to the virtual roasting masterclass and Roast Development Kit

Thanks for reading.

 

Introducing the Roast Development Kit + Virtual Roasting Class

Perfect Little Beans

Chinmey Hill Coffee uses specialty-grade beans with zero primary defects (such as black beans or sour beans) and less than five secondary defects (such as broken beans). This is important because primary defects will greatly affect the taste of the coffee. Having zero defects allows the coffee to be the most optimal flavor.

Window for Optimal Flavor

Chimney Hill Coffee ships our coffee the same day it was roasted, so you will receive it before it enters the window of optimal flavor.  This means you’ll never miss the opportunity to enjoy the coffee’s peak flavor.

Coffee Ratings

Coffee undergoes many scoring processes by professionals who achieved their Q Grader certification. Coffee is first graded when it’s green. If there are defects the coffee is determined to be “not-specialty grade”. For those coffees that pass green grading, they are sample roasted and cupped. (Cupping is the official term for critically tasting and scoring coffees. The official cupping form is standard worldwide, and where the 100-point scoring system comes from.) A coffee’s dry fragrance, wet aroma, flavor, aftertaste, body, acidity, balance, and overall impression are taken into consideration while uniformity issues and defects, will lower the overall score.

Specialty Coffee

Specialty coffee, coined by Erna Knutsen in 1974, refers to a coffee that receives a quality grading score of 80 percent or higher. While “premium” or “gourmet” seem like they’re synonymous with “specialty,” they simply are marketing terms with no defined standards. Specialty coffees are grown in specific and ideal micro-climates, and have distinctive and unique flavor profiles, with little to no defects.

Third-Wave Coffee

We’re currently in the third wave of coffee. The first wave of American coffee put pre-ground, vacuum-sealed cans in kitchens across America. The second wave started with the late ‘60s introduction of Peet’s coffee (by Alfred Peet) through the proliferation of Starbucks. The third wave of coffee focuses on origin transparency, nuanced flavors, and artisan roasting. The term “third wave” is synonymous with specialty coffee.

Introducing the Roast Development Kit + Virtual Roasting Class

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