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In the Beginning |
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It was during experimentation in the initial uses of coffee in Ethiopia in the sixteenth century that the process of sun drying coffee beans and roasting them over a clay pot of hot coals developed into the modern processes that we now use to roast the same coffee for mass consumption. |
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Drum Roasting |
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Initially, mass coffee roasting developed from heating the beans using a gas heated cylindrical horizontal barrel, commonly known as a drum roaster. These roasters range in size from small home models capable of roasting merely ounces of coffee to large commercial roasters capable of roasting thousands of pounds of coffee at a time. Because the beans come in contact with a heated surface, the art of drum roasting is a skilled and time consuming process requiring hands-on attention during most of the 11-15 minute roast time. |
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Air Roasting |
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Also known as fluid-bed roasting, coffee is roasted while tumbling on a bed of hot air. Roast times are slightly quicker than the drum roaster and do not require constant attention due to the coffee not being in contact with surface that may burn or ignite the beans. Air roasted coffee also benefits in taste from the removal of roasting byproducts known as chaff (the outer skin of the bean) that is literally blown away from the roasting beans by the constant stream of hot air. All of these differences add up to an unparalleled consistency to every roast and a clean and balanced taste to each cup of coffee brewed from these beans. |
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Classifying the Roast |
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There are essentially four common classifications or degrees of roasting that describe commercially produced coffee. They are as follows:
Cinnamon / City Roast - Lightly browned or cinnamon colored beans roasted between 400 and 435 degrees Fahrenheit
Full City or Vienna Roast - Deep brown color without any oils present on the outer surface. 435-445 degrees Fahrenheit
French Roast - Dark brown color with just the hint of oils appearing on the outer surface of the bean. 445-460 degrees Fahrenheit
Italian Roast - Dark Mahogany color saturated with oils on the outer surface of the bean. 455 - 485 degrees Fahrenheit
Although most retail stores attempt to classify some coffees as an "Espresso" roast, this is a deceiving classification due to the differences in the degrees of roast of coffees blended for espresso. For example, a typical Northern Italian espresso blend (not to be confused with the degree of roast) is most commonly a range of Full City to French roasts, whereas a typical American espresso blend (sometimes referred to a Seattle Style) is borderline French to Italian roasted.
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