Roasting

Roasting coffee

Coffee, probably known to you by another name, has been given numerous nicknames over the past few years depending on the roasting process. There are several different ways of roasting coffee beans. Keep in mind that the coffee beans are actually not coffee until roasted. Before getting into details of the roasting process, it is quite necessary that you understand a few things on the bean.

A brief overview of the coffee bean

Many folks expect coffee to be a bean since it has been actually named coffee bean. However, that is in fact not the case. Coffee is actually a seed of coffee, the coffee plant. There are numerous different species of the plant. However, they all grow in a tropical climate. This means that only people living in geographical locations that feature the tropical climate can get in the exciting business of roasting coffee, packing coffee and selling coffee for profits.

Roasting Coffee

As stated quite earlier, the coffee beans are actually roasted to produce coffee. This is one of the most exciting processes in the coffee business.

What happens to the bean when roasted?

There are numerous methods and techniques for roasting coffee. However, undoubtedly, they all require a lot of heating and this also means a lot of time. Many people find roasting of coffee similar to popping popcorns. This is especially facilitated by the popping sound in both cases.

Now, when coffee beans are heated to certain high temperatures, you actually get to hear popping sounds. A coffee bean pops twice when exposed to very relatively high temperatures. The first popping sound is actually water escaping from the seed. The second popping sound indicates carbon dioxide also escaping from the bean.

When roasting at significantly high temperatures, they lose their original natural green color and turn to tan, medium brown, all through to darker brown, close to black. Of course, going too far would leave you with nothing but ash. This means that you have to be very keen and sharp.

The Roasting Process

As being emphasized, coffee roasting is the process of yielding coffee off the coffee beans by roasting them. Generally, this can be categorized into two; small-scale coffee beans roasting and large-scale coffee beans roasting. Small-scale roasting is roasting coffee beans for a home consumption, or rather a relatively business. This is typically done using grills. On the other end, large-scale roasting is yielding coffee for a significantly large or wide customer base. This is done using big and commercial scale roasting equipment including the drum roaster among others. In this case:

Coffee beans are loaded into the relevant heating chamber.

The chamber is exposed to high temperatures as it rotates. The heating can be done by gas, electricity and even open flames among other heating mechanisms.

After roasting, the seeds are then cooled through quenching or vacuum cooling and other several cooling mechanisms. After this, packing and distribution of the coffee are up next.

This is a general overview of what factories and all other commercial sales and distributing companies of coffee do when preparing it. Now, say you want to do it at home using any of the small-scale, or rather home coffee bean roasting techniques available, how do you go about it?

In this case, let’s take a look at how coffee beans are roasted at home using grills and other mechanisms. So, in this case:

Preheat your burner for around 10 to 12 minutes.

Pour the coffee beans into the heating container.

The next step is to stir over the heating period of time to ensure an even distribution of heat.

Soon, the seeds will start to change color. This will be accompanied by a relative change of smell. At this moment, it is up to you to decide when to remove the coffee and enjoy it. Remember different roasting stages have different colors and smell. Their taste of the coffee all through these stages is relatively different and unique. It up to you, or your customers and clients to decide what works best in your case. Afterward, the latter is then ground and enjoyed.

Packing Coffee

Roasted coffee is usually packaged or rather enclosed in order to protect them from moisture, oxygen among any other external elements that could impact the coffee’s aroma and taste. This is also done in order to have small and controllable potions that can then be distributed and sold.

There are several different coffee packaging methods and techniques. The most popular coffee packing methods include the following:

Vacuum-sealed and valve-sealed containment packaging

Pod roasted coffee beans packaging

Several other home-effective packaging ideas such as water and air-resistant plastic bag packaging

All these coffee packing techniques are simply done as the name suggests. The bottom line is sealing the roasted beans in air and water-tight packages to preserve its taste and other aromatic characteristics. The packaging technique one decides to go with depends on a number of important factors including your personal or clients preferences and budget.

Sales and Distribution of the Coffee

The coffee business is a very big and vast business. This also means that there is a lot of competition on the same. In every neighborhood, you cannot miss a number of coffee joints and cafes. If you have and want to succeed in this business, it probably best if you focus your attention on the unique appeal provided by your product as a beverage. Don’t pay attention to your rivals and competition; rather focus that energy on imprinting a smile on your customer’s or client’s face.

Sales and distribution of high-quality coffee are quite easy and simple. Remember, quality sells. After packing your coffee into the portions you see fit, you can then sell them locally and on the streets. But the best shot of a good business is identifying a restaurant, coffee joint or café to partner with so as to become one of their coffee distributors. That is if you can’t be their sole distributor.

Summary

In summary, this is pretty much all the information you need to start and grow as a successful coffee merchant and distributor. A few key things you should probably avoid in this business include the following;

Pre-grinding the coffee! Avoid this by all means possible.

Purchasing the beans long before the roasting is due.

Purchasing coffee beans off supermarkets.

Selling coffee is a very exciting business. However, it tends to be overwhelming to the coffee distributors sometimes. However, the secret is that if you keep quality before profits, this is one business you could be very successful. This is especially true due to the simple fact that consumption of coffee will never end, at least not anytime soon.