When it comes to the coffee we serve at 7 Corners Coffee shop we like to know not only where it originated, but every step from the coffee farm to the warm cup of coffee in your hands.
As a specialty coffee shop in Downtown Minneapolis, we value working with coffee farms and roasters who provide safe, well-paying, ethically run farms and factories as well as handle your coffee beans with the highest of care each step of the way.
Let’s discuss the roasting process. You may know the basics, that coffee must be roasted, but do you know why, how, and when? Let’s see!
The Importance of Coffee Roasting
Your coffee bean is actually not a bean at all, it is a seed pulled from the coffee cherry, which does in fact grow in trees. This seed is then processed and dried to create the coffee bean you are familiar with. The process of turning a coffee seed into a coffee bean is the roasting process.
Before a coffee seed is roasted, also known as green coffee, it has a beanie and grassy aroma, it doesn’t smell like coffee at all. When coffee is roasted the aroma of coffee is produced because the roasting process is what develops the flavor of the coffee, a pretty important step in the coffee-producing process if you ask us.
The Road to Roasted Coffee
There are three main stages in roasting: drying, browning, and development or roasting stage.
1. DRYING
The coffee bean is naturally moist with a humidity of 8-12% when it is picked. It must dry out before it can be roasted. There are a few different drying techniques but it is commonly done in a drum roaster which takes only 4-8 minutes.
2. BROWNING
The browning stage uses heat to pull out the aroma compounds of the coffee. Drying continues throughout the browning stage.
At the browning stage starts the Maillard reaction that is responsible for browning. In the Maillard reaction, reducing sugars and amino acids react making hundreds of different aroma and color compounds known as melanoids.
3. DEVELOPMENT OR ROASTING STAGE
The development stage is when professional roasters can start to play with the different flavors and characteristics we find in different roasts of coffee. This stage is slowed down to allow the water flavors and aromas to develop. If the process is not slowed down at this point you will get a coffee that is smoky or the flavor may be too sharp.
The length of the development stage is typically 15–25% of the total roast time depending on the desired flavor profile and roast degree.
Taste the Difference of Expertly Roasted Coffee.
Once coffee is roasted it is then ready to be packaged and shipped to your local grocery store or coffee shop. At 7 Corners Coffee we get all our coffee from the master roaster at Silverbird Coffee. A roasting company based right here in Minnesota.
To taste the difference between expertly crafted and roasted coffee, stop into our specialty coffee shop in Downtown Minneapolis today or in Eden Prairie.
