How to Properly Roast Dark Coffees - Not All Coffee Should be Dark

Not all coffee is created equal.

Only some coffee should be roasted dark.

Not all coffee should be roasted dark.

Hi, my name is Adam. After working with specialty coffee for over a decade, I must confess: I love properly dark roasted coffees. I do NOT love burnt coffees. I love richly caramelized dry distillation flavors.

As I write this article I am thoroughly enjoying a Kenyan Peaberry coffee from the Gura region of the Othaya Coffee Cooperative. It is rich, smooth and spicy with a bold body that warms me on this cool wet winter morning. The sweet toasted sugars remind me of the overly baked edges of a peach cobbler.

I am aware that many “specialty coffee professionals” would only roast this fine peaberry coffee medium-light. When I roast it lightly, I certainly can accentuate its bergamot Earl Grey floral qualities, with lime like acidity, but that is only one face of this multifaceted coffee. And honestly, when roasted light, this specific coffee is rather light and tea like. It is lacking in full luster.

If you are a coffee roaster, I want to help you properly explore the darker regions of your coffee roasting experiences. There is so much potential to unleash with omni-roast levels.

Here, in this article, let’s give permission to the specialty dark roasters within a framework of discovering those coffees that can stand the heat and those that cannot, so that we develop properly dark roasted coffees. If you are a coffee roaster, I want to help you properly explore the darker regions of your coffee roasting experiences. If you are a coffee fan, then perhaps we can help you to find a new and improved solution to enjoying dark coffees.

Caveat Emptor - Buyer Beware the Dark Roasted Realm.

1. Beware large coffee companies owned by shareholders which purchase old, defective, low quality, insect damage ridden green coffee with the thought, “we will dark roast it and no one will know the difference!” This is easily spotted by the big brands who dominate the best places on grocery store aisles and charge lower prices than local artisan roasters who are privately owned. They boast of shelf life far beyond the standard 3-4 weeks recommended by all artisan professionals.

2. Beware pre-ground dark roasted coffees as they will oxidize faster. Oxidation is natural to all coffees and all pre-ground coffee will oxidize faster than whole bean. Dark roasted coffee bean fibers have been even more deeply roasted and exposed, thus they are more fragile to oxidation. Oxidation causes flatness, bitterness and boring-ness : ) . In a word dark roasted coffee will go stale even sooner than light roasted coffees. So find it fresh from a local roaster.

3. Beware local roasters who dark roast everything with the belief, “people like it dark so we will roast everything dark.” While there is a place to build your brand on “Dark” and “Bold” there is no place for dark roasting every coffee bean that rolls into your roastery. I will share a story now to enlighten the what and why behind dark roasting some coffees and not others.

Discovering Your Dark Roast Sweet Spot

A good friend of mine is a coffee importer. His name is Francis. He works directly with coffee cooperatives and communities in Kenya which have a direct positive impact for long-term business development. The motto of his company, Jamii Coffee, is, “If we can’t touch the farmer, we don’t touch the coffee.” I love it!

“In a word dark roasted coffee will go stale even sooner than light roasted coffees. So find it fresh from a local roaster.”

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After Covid-19 hit the global coffee market worldwide, Francis (like all other green importers) was left with a dilemma. His stock of green coffee suddenly wasn’t selling, because roasters lost contracts, because local businesses and offices were forced to close. While large businesses, grocery stores and online retailers were able to continuing growing in sales, most of the local and private companies served by Jamii Coffee were forced to close temporarily or permanently.

Green coffee ages, albeit slowly. Under proper conditions, most green coffees have a stored shelf life of 18-24 months after harvest. Some high density, well cared for and properly processed coffees can be enjoyed well beyond 24 months. When we looked at the extra stock from 2018 and 2019 we were faced with a question - what to do with all of the warehoused coffee while the new 2020 crop is on a boat coming to the USA? I setup a highly controlled roasting experiment with 4 different coffees all roasted at 3 distinct levels to explore the inherent potential in the 2018 and 2019 coffees. Afterwards we analyzed them together and compared results.

The results from light to medium to dark roasting on 4 different Kenyan coffees was striking!

The 4 coffees used for this experiment were all wet processed Kenyan coffees grown at high elevations. Samples of 120g were pulled from each: Kenya Tamabaya AA (2018), Kenya Tambaya AB (2018), Kenya Gatugi AB (2019) and Kenya Gura PB (2019). AA is the largest bean size, AB is slightly smaller, while PB stands for peaberry, the smallest screen size.

All 12 coffee samples were roasted on my ROEST S100 professional sample roaster using a strict environmental roasting program, which means that they underwent the same process of heat application, air flow, etc. The Nordic roasting profile was used due to its strong application of heat for efficient transfer into the high elevation, dense Kenyan coffee. Upon first crack I took manual control to ensure each coffee could ease through first crack (light) or just past (medium) or mid-way to second crack (dark). Let’s break down each coffees ROEST experience when put to the test of heat and dark roasting.

First, Kenya Tambaya AA

I suspected, and soon confirmed, that the Tambaya AA would roast the fastest. AA beans are large and beautiful when roasted. Due to the extra surface area, the bean can absorb more of the hot roasting air as it blows through the roasting chamber. This coffee raced easily towards first crack and did not display the classic “crash” that a smaller bean or fresh harvest AA might. As a result, I softened the heat to complete the light, medium and dark roasts accordingly. Afterwards, of all 4 coffee origins, this coffee showed the greatest weight loss as well due to the ease of roasting and heat absorption.

Second, Kenya Tambaya AB

The Tambaya AB was harvested from the same region, at the same time, processed in the same manner as the AA - yet my experience roasting it was entirely different. It resisted the heat more and took longer to reach first crack. At first crack it did attempt to crash, though not dramatically. Riding the roast through light, medium and dark stages, in the end it showed less mass was lost than its larger AA brother.

Third, Kenya Gatugi AB

The Gatugi AB roasted very similar to the Tambaya AB. Although, being a year fresher it showed a bit more desire to crash at first crack. Not much, but there was some additional energy observed in the ROEST drum. In the end, final drop temperatures and roast weights were very akin to the Tambaya AB.

Finally, Kenya Gura PB

Roasting the Gura Peaberry went as expected. The small, round shaped, beans eluded the heat application and took longer to reach first crack than her predecessors. At first crack this coffee attempted a strong nose dive. That’s why I took manual control to amplify air and heat giving an extra boost into first crack. Once the environment stabilized I eased heat application for a nice finish in light, medium and dark as planned. The final drop temperatures and end roast mass were all slightly lower than the Gatugi AB.

In Conclusion - Cupping Results

24 hours, after completing this roast experiment, Francis and I moved to the cupping table to explore what each coffee could tell us about it’s present potential. Remember that the Tambaya coffees were first evaluated early 2019 while the Gatugi and Gura were evaluated early 2020. Much has changed inside the living green coffee bean in this time.

The Tambaya AA shined as a dark roast above the light and medium. They were ok, but rather muted in tone, sweetness and acidity. However the dark coffee had a syruppy body with carmelized sugars and lingering sweet spice. I would not roast this coffee light or medium. It must be dark, until it is finished.

The Tambaya AB stood as a direct opposite. The dark roast was lackluster, while the light and medium roast had beautiful stone fruits, rich body, smoothness, balance, sweetness all in high harmony. I would not roast this coffee dark. It must be light or medium for it to shine (my personal favorite was medium).

The Gatugi AB was divided. Light roasted there was a floral sweet acidity and cleanness. And then, we had to jump to dark -where it was thick and rich and bold like toffee. The medium was … eh… boring in the middle. Why settle for middle when you can enjoy the extremes of both light and dark!?!

The Gura PB was best at medium and dark. The medium that sweet, smooth, mixed berry quality while the dark roast was no only beautiful to look at but also was rich and spicy like a fine dark chocolate. It just wasn’t enjoyable as a light roast. Light roasted, it was tea like. This peaberry coffee likes to go darker!

If you would like to learn more

Check out Jamii Coffee and Crowd Farm Africa to learn more: https://www.jamiicoffee.com/

IF THIS WAS A WORTHY READ,
PLEASE CONSIDER SHARING AND LIKING.

THANK YOU
ADAM

How to Improve Coffee Sensory Skills

How do we find “Flavor Notes” in coffee?

Distinguishing: fragrance, aroma, taste and flavor.

How do I improve my sensory skills?

These are 3 of the most common questions I am asked, in and out of the coffee classroom. In this post, we’ll answer these 3 questions while expanding the discussion. For some coffee fans, this may feel like information overload. For other coffee pros, this may be a good primer to whet your appetite for the SCA Sensory Skills Foundations course. Either way, we will learn and grow together!

Read to the end for my in depth YouTube explanation of the Counter Culture Flavor Wheel!

Humans are the “tool” used to evaluate flavor.

Yes, that’s right. Your nose and mouth work in coffee science.

All scientific inquiry (coffee tasting will be our study) begins with asking a clear question. Our question: “What is the flavor of this coffee?” For coffee professionals “flavor” is a loaded word. It encapsulates fragrance (the dry coffee smell) with aroma (the wet coffee smell) with the taste (how the coffee drinks).

Since the human nose, tongue and mouth are the “tools” used to perform this experiment we must understand that the signals produced and translated by your unique nervous system will be subjective in nature. You have a unique upbringing, with unique exposure to food and drink with myriad fragrances and aromas. You have learned to interpret those signals with language. You personally enjoy some fragrances, aromas and tastes in a different way than another coffee fan or professional does. If performed alone, your sensory perception is less trustworthy given these subjective (even unconscious) biases.

Statistical value and strength is added when multiple people smell and taste the same coffee and find agreement about its attributes. A more robust study, provides a greater degree of trust in the results. By sampling coffees across a group of people, we can reduce or remove the individual biases attributed. That’s a good thing and brings us closer to objective measurements. Remember coffee is loaded with countless subtle characteristics. While, we can’t fully declare that there are wrong sensory conclusions, we can identify that some conclusions are less prominent and that others are dominant.

PS. Research has often shown that women are more sensitive to sensory cues. So it benefits your study when the gals and guys together are brewing, cupping, and sharing sharing feedback over the same coffee!

What am I sensing?

1. Olfaction = Smell: the “nose” at work

2. Gustation = Taste: the taste buds at work

3. Taction = Touch: the tongue at work

   We put it all together for a Tasting Note!

Olfaction is Smell

When we bring a dry cup of coffee close to our nose, we begin to smell it’s sweet, floral, fruity, nutty, roasty character. The volatile chemicals bursting from the fresh roasted grounds enter our nose and reach the olfactory bulb. This bulb is filled with sensors that interpret the chemical signals and send electrical pulses to our brain and nervous system. This is how we recognize the difference between peanut butter and smoke or strawberries and fresh cut grass. Each gives off a unique aromatic chemical compound.

Most commonly we think of orthonasal olfaction - smelling things in front of our nose. But another aspect we must bear in mind is retronasal olfaction. When you swallow your coffee, a burst of air rebounds on the back of your tongue and in your throat for a second gust of aroma. That’s why kids who don’t like to eat their vegetables hold their nose before biting and don’t let go until they have swallowed.

Guess what! Those same chemicals are present, roasted into being or roasted (transformed) out of our coffee at various stages. They may emerge only when ground super fresh and disappear after sitting for a few weeks in the bag.

Pro tip: coffee does not taste like strawberries, it tastes like coffee. But some coffee sure has a strong fruity aromatic resemblance with strawberry!

Credit to Wine Folly for this easy diagram. Thanks! https://winefolly.com/deep-dive/science-of-wine-tasting/

Gustation is Taste

“Taste” is a rather broad term. Here we bring it back to its most basic form. The human tongue is a rather simple tool. Used mostly for survival in the process of consuming foods. The sensations of the tongue distinguish (from least sensitive to most): Sweetness, Saltiness, Sourness, and Bitterness. Let’s break these down..

The least sensitive sensation of gustation is sweetness. Many people are able to consume copious amounts of sugar and sweetness without their brain giving warning signals. We neither fear it, nor tire too easily of it.

The next gustatory sensation that is a bit more sensitive is saltiness. While we do enjoy salt (in the right proportions) we cannot tolerate spoon fulls of it, like we can sugar. Too much salt wears down the tongue and causes some adverse side effects if consumed over long periods of time.

Even more sensitive is sourness. This taste sensation begins to turn on our warning lights. As we gustate old-spoiled milk (which was once fresh and sweet) that has become sour we immediately spit it out. Something tells us - this is wrong! Spoiled foods go sour. Drop a splash of white vinegar in your friends water and see what they say. Try again with a pinch of sugar and they likely will not notice.

Humans are most sensitive to bitterness. The last taste is very common to coffee. When someone slides you a REALLY dark roasted coffee you immediately think, “wow! that’s bitter”. Bitterness is present in carbon. Carbon is dangerous for us and many claim it is carcinogenic… thus avoiding grilled foods. Slide a black cup of coffee to a toddler (let’s just imagine ; ) and they’ll immediately spit it out. Bitterness is the taste of caffeine, which is a drug that kids do not accept by taste. Almost every drug from the pharmacy tastes bitter because the chemicals in them are dangerous. Eat a jar of sugar and have an upset stomach. Please don’t eat a jar of pills (or even coffee beans).

Gustation is very very simple. Lao Tzu, in “The Art of War” understood this 2,500 years ago,

“There are not more than five cardinal tastes (sour, acrid, salt, sweet, bitter), yet combinations of them yield more flavors than can ever be tasted.”

PS. “acrid” is like a harsh salt taste. Perhaps this was also an attempt at naming “umami”?

Taction (Tactile) is Touch

The final part of our equation is found in your sense of touch. When we bring the coffee to our lips we feel it’s temperature. This can be pleasant, painful, or disappointing. Next, if it’s not too hot, we feel the coffee on our tongue. It may be heavy (like cream or milk) or it may be light (like tea or water). Perhaps the feeling of the coffee is somewhere between (smooth, rich, silky). We call this mouthfeel and it can be an important attribute on tasting notes or descriptors.

The coffee may coat your tongue in a sticky manner creating a long lasting flavor sensation. Does the flavor linger long or disappear? As you swallow (gustation carried through) the coffee then you may have this combined sensation of aftertaste. This is in part a retro-nasal action, but it is also in part the tactile sensation of your tongue, mouth and throat being coated with coffee.

Pro Tip: when we aspirate and slurp our coffees we accomplish 2 important things.

One - we vaporize the aromas in the coffee for more olfactory stimulation.

Two - we spray the coffee across the mouth for greater taste and tactile sensations.

Now you go try!

Click on image to download from Counter Culture.

How to grow in sensory skills!

If you made it this far, good work. You likely want me to get to the good stuff and tell you the quick and easy way that you can master the art of sensory perception in coffee. Right?

I wish it was as easy as a simple lesson. However, like all good skills - coffee sensory analysis requires practice. But as long as you’re putting in the work - let’s be sure to practice the right things. Here goes:

My list for ways to grow in coffee sensory analysis:

1. Practice smelling and tasting on a light or empty stomach. A full stomach dulls the senses. If you must eat, try a banana, apple or toast.

2. In the same logic as above, test your coffee or perform cupping early in the day. By night time your body and senses are tired and less receptive.

3. Eat and drink more slowly. Chew longer. Drink slowly. These sensory habits will certainly lead to better health habits as well.

4. Get a good night sleep. Make sure you’re not feeling sick. Lack of sleep and sickness often lead to dulled senses and/or upset stomach. If any symptoms like this exist your body will be more focus on healing and preservation than enjoying sensory stimulation.

5. If you have sinus problems or a stuffed nose, do blow it. Having clear sinuses will help you perceive what you smell.

6. Alternatively, do you have a dry nose? Take a cup of hot water and just breath in the warm steam. By warming and wetting your nasal cavity you will increase the sensitivity to aroma and fragrance. This is the same reason a healthy dog has a wet nose and why other dogs will lick their noses - it increases sensitivity to smell.

7. Avoid drinking too much coffee before sensory work. The more caffeine you ingest the less sensitive you are to the next cup of coffee. Your pallet and tongue also become fatigued.

8. Avoid soap or lotions with perfumes. Go perfume neutral and ensure that the room you are in is free of candles or other strong smells.

9. Learn to attend to your senses all day long. As you go through the day you need to catalogue all of the fragrances and aromas you encounter. Sensory analysis works because your brain has a library to draw from. As you record experiences daily - your library grows and you quickly know how to recall and name what you sense. Every moment can lead you to mastery. Read on:

10. Daily Olfaction: When you walk into a new room, stop to notice the fragrances present. It is hairspray or perfume? Old furniture or leather? Etc. When you eat a meal, every meal, stop and ask what am I really smelling? Can I recognize any spices or seasonings?

11. Daily Gustation: Isolate flavors in your drinks. How sweet or sour are they? Are there different levels and combinations of taste sensations? When you drink water is it slightly salty or sweet (perhaps mineralized) or do you recognize odd taints in it (like in city water)?

12. Try reducing or eliminating sugar for a few days. After it has been removed, slowly reintroduce it in small amounts. You will find your sensitivity has increased. Do the same for salt if you have a high salt diet. I did this in China for a few weeks. I ate plain boiled oats for breakfast. I cut out all soda, snacks and sugary treats. Later adding just a few raisins to my oats made me feel like a king! : )

13. Isolate sensations. When you know what sugar feels like (not tastes like) then find that feeling in a nice light roasted black coffee. Recognize sour in a lemon and then find it in your light roast. If your grocery store has tonic water get some unsweetened. Or if you have an Asian market nearby, look for bitter melon (it looks like a long bumpy cucumber). Once you can isolate sensations, then you can also recognize them when stirred together. When you have a sweetened tonic water you can taste the sweet and bitter at work together on your tongue.

14. Plan extra time at the grocery store. Spend 15 minutes in the produce section smelling the vegetables. Fruit and veggies have great attributes you can smell (especially if organic and fresh). Try the live spice section. Then head over to the dry spice section and bulk food section. Smell and categorize everything, but be discrete of course ; )

15. Use a Coffee Tasters Flavor Wheel. The New SCA Flavor Wheel, the Old SCA Flavor Wheel and the Counter Culture Flavor Wheel are all super useful and you can grab them via these links. Work from general to specific - from inside to the outside. For example when a coffee smells sweet is it floral or chocolate or fruit sweet? You identify it’s like fruit so is it a red fruit or tropical fruit or citrus fruit. It’s a citrus fruit sweetness. Maybe you just stop there with your tasting notes. Well Done! Or perhaps you go further and say, it’s a little sweet and tart like a grapefruit. Lemons are not so sweet, but oranges are far too sweet. Perfect! Using process of elimination working from general to specific is the way to go.

16. Try the rigorous experiments in the Coffee Lexicon by the World Coffee Research, or head back to the the grocery store. Perhaps it’s time to pick up some milk chocolate, dark chocolate and bakers chocolate… for scientific research of course ; ) While you’re at it grab a good variety of unroasted and unsalted nuts if available from the bulk section.

17. Finally, have fun. Don’t compare yourself to “the pros”. Many coffee people (myself in the past) may feel bold and make great declarations about wild tasting notes. Just say, “oh that’s nice. I don’t taste marmalade and sassafras root, it’s just sweet and spicy to me.” Perfect! Smile and keep honing your skills.

A joyful brain is a growing brain.

Enjoy the Sensory Journey my friends! If you’d like to learn more and try getting certified with the Specialty Coffee Association, then I developed a course for you!

Insert plug with link for Sensory Foundations course : )

Let’s Review.

How do we find “flavor notes” in coffee?

How do we differentiate all that goes into a “flavor note”?

And, how do we grow in our coffee sensory skills?

If you can’t answer, or begin to practice, these 3 above then please reach out and let me know what questions you have. I enjoy hearing from friends and students in my courses and look forward to helping you on the path to coffee mastery.

If this was a worthy read, please consider sharing and liking.

Thank You! ~ Adam

How to Grade Green Coffee - Size, Defects, Scoring Quality.

How is green coffee graded?

What is a coffee quality score?

And, what grading criteria do we USE?

We’ll answer these 3 questions and more in the following discussion. For some coffee fans, this may feel like information overload. For other coffee pros, this may be a good primer to whet your appetite for the SCA Green Coffee Foundations course. More to come.

Coffee is “green” before it is roasted.

Coffee must be roasted before we can brew and enjoy it.

If you are a coffee roaster, then you have probably been solicited by green coffee sellers. They promise a beautiful crop and offer to send or drop off samples free of charge. They ensure you that this green coffee is off high quality at a great price.

However, it is very common that you may receive a 100g-300g sample which was cleaned by hand, to help you (the green buyer) to have a great first impression. This would in turn lead you to consider buying on the basis of a non-representative sample. After all you’ll be getting the real deal, from a 60kg bag.

As a roaster you may be convinced - this coffee is great! It’s clean and tastes great. “Give me 10 bags!” However, months later when the 10 bags roll in strapped to a +600kg pallet you may find that the coffee looks less clean. We’ll talk about “clean” and “defects” soon.

This may be a dramatic (I hope as a roaster you have had many positive experiences), but it does happen quite often that samples do not represent the actual product. So let’s consider what variables contribute to creating our Green Coffee Grading Scale. As a buyer, it’s essential we are on the same page as our seller.

When Grading Coffee on a Scale:

1. We grade by size

2. We grade by defect count

3. We grade by cupping scores

4. We grade by other criteria (elevation, etc.)

   Together - we harmonize for common language

Size Matters, Or Does It?

Let’s talk about coffee size ratings and how they can easily lead our judgement astray. There are 2 major principles at work here when discussing size of coffee beans. One is much more important for final quality than the other. However, valuing (pricing) the coffee may not correlate in the end.

First, coffee beans should be sorted, shaken, sifted according to size. As a specialty coffee buyer, we seek a homogenous size when purchasing. A beans size should be as close as possible to it’s neighbor. Small beans are all together, medium beans are separated, and so on.

We measure size with coffee screens. Each size on a coffee screen is an incremental measure - the size of a hole in the screen. Those increments increase stepwise by 1/64 an inch. The most common screen sizes (diameters of holes) range from 10-20. Stated another way, super small beans fall through 10/64 inch (4mm) diameter holes while super large beans are suspended (not falling through) holes with a 20/64 inch (8mm) diameter. We would grade those small beans “screen size 10” while we grade the large beans “screen size 20+”. The graphic below offers some clarity and breakdown with conversions for various countries.

As you can see above (we are not to the 2nd point yet) there is some language introduced which could be misleading. Calling super large beans “AA” or “Supremo” sounds much better than a “B” or “Terceras”. Many taste tests have been done and we cannot conclude that large beans taste better (or worse) than small beans. More on that soon.

The second point, is about homogeneity. A coffee roaster wants their coffee to taste as good as it can, no matter where it comes from or how large the bean is. An essential part of roasting great coffee is consistency of roast development. Imagine roasting large items (beans) with very small items (beans). The large will roast at a different speed than the small and require different amounts of heat. When one is properly roasted another will not yet be ready. When the other is finally roasted properly, then former will be overdeveloped or burnt. This is an unfortunate and common phenomenon when large and small beans are all mixed together. There is also much more to be said about blending for espresso, but that will be left to another discussion entirely.

Defects Matter!

The best coffee is clean coffee. So how do we understand what is clean or “dirty”? Defects come from several key areas. One is pre-processing - something resulting from the farm and from nature. Another is during processing - something from mishandling or missteps in the process of removing seed from fruit. Another is during storage - before the coffee ever gets to a roastery (or heaven forbid in your roastery) while it’s sitting in the bag, on a truck or in storage.

Defects are also broken down into 2 categories: Primary and Secondary Defects. Primary defects will knock your coffee out of “specialty” status with just 1 or a couple present. If your coffee has a few Secondary defects it may still qualify as “specialty” but you can’t have too many or it will again fall out of “specialty” status. It’s a simple chart to follow, but the challenge is personally delineating what defects constitute and to what severity each is. This is where working with a professional or getting some basic training in Green Coffee comes in helpful.

Insert plug with link for Green Coffee Foundations course : )

Cupping Scores (should) Matter!

It could surprise you that traditional coffee grade metrics are not based upon cupping scores. I can see a valid argument for and against this. We’ll look at both perspectives.

“Cupping” is a coffee term where we run quality control on a batch of coffee. It’s also super cool and super nerdy for many specialty coffee pros. Imagine a bunch of professionals dipping spoons into community bowls slurping and spitting with expressions of Mmmm… Ohhhh… while making notations on clipboards.

The notes we take in cupping constitute a score where 100 points are possible. No one ever scores a coffee a perfect 100. The most rare and beautiful coffees score in the 90s. Good coffees (and the majority of specialty) fall within the range of 82-88. However, when a coffee scores below 80 points, we must remove “specialty” classfication for it. Below 80 coffees are considered “commercial grade”.

Coffee Cupping Scores are comprised of:

• Fragrance (quality and intensity)

• Aroma (quality and intensity)

• Acidity (quality and intensity)

• Body (quality and intensity)

• Flavor (quality)

• Aftertaste (quality)

• Balance (quality)

• Sweetness (yes/no presence)

• Uniformity (yes/no)

• Clean cup (yes/no)

• and an Overall rating (quality)

What does it mean, to not be clean?

If a coffee is not uniformly clean, then there is a “Taint” (minor infraction) or a “Fault” (major infraction). If a coffee has a Taint it is penalized -2 points for every cup with the taint. Many small human errors within the supply chain can introduce taints. The coffee may still be enjoyable and a common consumer may not notice the Taint. If discovered, the coffee may still be considered “specialty” with above 80 points, but the critical question becomes: “can we remove or resolve this taint?” Unless it’s a roaster error, there is little you can do to remove the taint. At that point, many tainted coffees will be dark roasted to cover up slight taint.

A “Fault” will be much more severe. Faults dominate your impression and the cup. They cannot just be roasted out or masked. These coffees will often be sold for commercial and instant coffee use or they may be flavored with chemicals and syrups to mask the extremely unpleasant character they have taken on.

A coffee with soft or subtle traits (following) may be called a “taint” while those with dominant and overbearing traits listed below would be classified as a fault. These include:

• Fermented or Mouldy

• Musty or Rioy

• Earthy or Potato or Raw Peanut

• Unripeness or Greenness

• Hard or Astringent cup

• Woody or Pulpy

• Rubbery or Petroleum

• And more.
  

Pulling it all together.

The coffee industry has the benefit (and at times encumbrance) of long tradition. Coffee growing nations and practices are disperse and disparate across the world. As a result various practices and standards have evolved. While we have learned from one another, we also have formed regional, national and cultural habits around coffee. One of those key factors includes coffee grading and quality measures as they have evolved through language and time.

Due to the wonderful diversity in coffee around the world, we should never judge a fine Chinese coffee from Pu’er in the same manner as a fine coffee from Sumatra, Indonesia. While some aspects will correlate, many will be entirely different. Likewise to judge a Panama Geisha on the same scale as a Kenyan coffee using only one metric is foolish.

If you want to buy a coffee to roast for other people, let’s consider the bigger picture. What are their needs and desires. How can we best serve them?

What qualities will they love in this coffee?

How will they use this coffee?

What price is appropriate for them?

If this was a worthy read, please consider sharing and liking.

Thank You! ~ Adam

Coffee Community - What Makes Kenyan Coffee So Special - Part 3 Business Model: MuKaRiMu

HI FRIENDS,

ADAM AND FRANCIS HERE AGAIN.

With an update from Francis about upcoming Mukarimu coffees. You’re going to want to check them out, request samples and get roasting with some of the best of the new crop!

Learn more and follow or make contact below.

What started decades ago as a concept called “Fair Trade” was well intentioned (and well begun). However, as time went on, the specialty coffee industry realized that much more needed to be done to ensure that coffee growers, cooperatives and communities were well cared for. Rather than a simple one-time fair price transaction models were put into place with great, but often short lived, positive impacts. In some nations due to government support or cultural fit, models grew deeper roots and found better success than others. One such movement of great respect (at large scale) is the Relationship Coffee Model by Sustainable Harvest. However, not all nations can benefit without adequate leadership on the ground.

In this chat Francis and Adam begin to unravel a bit of the story behind a project Francis has invested himself and Jamii Coffee in. The Mu. Ka. Ri. Mu. farm and coffee represents 4 generations in a family with the first 2 letters of each patriarchs name applied to the new coffee business model: Mukarimu. Inspired from the Meru Valley of Kenya, Mukarimu coffees grow east of Mount Kenya where they ripen and are harvested in the spring rather than the fall (like those west of Mt. Kenya in the Rift Valley). With over 100 families in the community now building a new industry around coffee growing, the Meru Valley and Mukarimu leadership will soon become a regular name in the specialty coffee industry.

Join Francis and Adam as we continue to unpack the exciting developments (and tasty coffees) just now coming to market. A project started in 2016-17 is just now coming rip with high hopes for 2021 and beyond!

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More From Francis at Jamii Coffee https://www.jamiicoffee.com/

Get Email Updates & Deals at: HTTP://EEPURL.COM/CZU5R1

If this was a worthy read, please consider sharing and liking.

Thank You! ~ Adam

Coffee Community - What Makes Kenyan Coffee So Special - Part 2 The Devils Coffee

Contact Francis and order samples at Jamii Coffee https://www.jamiicoffee.com/

If this was a worthy read, please consider sharing and liking.

Thank You! ~ Adam

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A rough copy of the script follows

Francis: So Adam, tell me more about yourself who you are and where you're from. What led you to this? 

Adam: Okay, who am I and what was my journey? Well you know I just turned 40, so I'm an old man now. I'm not gonna tell 40 years worth of stories but as I mentioned I grew up in a small town on a farm in Michigan. Do you know what Adam means? The name Adam comes from Hebrew and if anyone has heard the story of Adam and Eve from the Bible, it means man of earth. My father, being a farmer, said I want my first born son to represent what I do. You can also say dirt, like my name is Dirt. We’re gonna make it worth more than that though. 

Because I grew up on a farm, agriculture and growing things is really important to me. I love that aspect of creation. Creating business and creating opportunities. These are some of the things that really excite me. 

When I was in university, I visited a Costa Rican coffee farm. It was there picking coffee cherries by day and futbol by night. I was really slow picking coffee with these kids. It was their family farm and they could pick coffee really fast. You strap these baskets on your waist and you may have straps over your shoulder. You're harvesting these coffee cherries putting them into baskets and then make your way back down the hill dumping them into the pile. At the end of the day you gotta take the cherries up to the central market. And then you could have dinner and you play futbol. So that was something that kind of made me fall in love with coffee because I saw how close it is to a family on a farm. And you know it's the work of their hands. I never realized that about coffee when I was growing up.

After graduating I had the chance to go to China to teach English. After teaching English for a while, the Chinese were wonderful, the nation was developing. They wanted coffee, so I started a coffee roastery. I had no idea at the time what I was getting into and you can imagine thinking, “let's start a business in a foreign country!” I did speak Mandarin Chinese (a little bit) but not enough. And so we start roasting coffee and it sent me on this whole journey of learning and training and failures and successes and friendships all around this cup. That actually let you and I together to be able to meet. 

Francis: Yes, yeah actually because I met Adam through coffee here. I think we both traveled from far away right. We traveled a long distance to get here. I came to the Portland area of Oregon from China (Adam) I moved from China to Portland. From Kenya, we both came from foreign countries landed here. And it's kind of strange here. Yes yes it is. It couldn't be a better place to land if you love coffee and if you appreciate coffee and if you want to learn more about coffee. Yeah I think this is the best place. So like you, I kind of started from my childhood growing up on a farm. 

Adam: Could you walk us back? How did we meet in America and then walk us back to how you got here. 

Francis: Meeting Adam was through business connections and I think of that first morning getting a cup of coffee. I think I was coming to sell some of my green coffees. You're a coffee salesman. I was coming to see my cousin Paul, so it was a good opportunity. And then we had a bit of a talk and then you ended up working there. And that's where we ended up building these connections. And then we started talking more and I came to know that you're one guy who knows about coffee. I'm a little bit knowledgable.

So my wife is from Newberg and my cousin Paul who is the head roaster. He's also married he's married to my wife’s cousin, so technically we are cousins by marriage. If we look at your family tree I get confused real quickly. 

Adam: But you're married you got married here yeah. And and so I'm working backwards. 

Francis: Yeah so I got married here and that is the journey that led me to to coffee. When I was dating my wife that's when I started to have Paul educate me about coffee. He started telling me about specialty coffee and the importance of it. And that's when I was like, okay there is something here. 

Adam: You're from Kenya but aren’t all Kenyans coffee professionals? I mean you grow some of the best coffee in the world. 

Francis: I’m learning about coffee in America. Yes and now that was the most interesting thing. I traveled all the way to come and learn about coffee yeah. And also the funniest thing is that I never wanted to do anything with coffee. Before I landed here coffee was the last thing on my mind. We don't drink coffee. Growing up in Kenya we never wanted to drink coffee. I remember my dad used to bring some coffee home. And you could see it in the cupboard. Nobody touched it because the only way we would brew it is to throw it in water and boil it and drink it. Why not have a good cup of black tea? 

But with time we used to drink a little Nescafe crystallized coffee. Yeah yeah we used to call it crystallized because of the crystals. And so you have to say I'm bringing some crystallized coffee.We thought that was how coffee tasted because we never had an opportunity to drink a cup of coffee.

Adam: I'm sorry to interrupt you. It's so sad when I was harvesting some of the best Costa Rican coffee and I love Costa Rican coffee, the next morning we're eating breakfast and they would serve us instant coffee crystals. Here we were picking fresh coffee cherries the day before sending them to market. Who knows where they got sold and then we're drinking instant crystallized coffee for breakfast and it is so bad. It was so bad I don't even want to drink it. So I went outside and found some fresh bananas. I'd rather have the bananas than a bad cup of coffee. But you just thought it was normal.

Francis: What did we used to call it? I'm translating from my native language. We used to call fresh coffee that you would  drink, the devils coffee. I have no idea where that came from. Let’s say are you drinking the day before and the next day you are drinking devils coffee. You're not drinking this Nescafe. Nescafe was fancy. 

If you go to a restaurant and ask them for devils coffee, what are you talking about? So for us growing up in that environment I never wanted to get a coffee. I did not grow up with coffee but I knew how important coffee was for us. It was a large product, the biggest foreign exchange when I was growing up. Right now it's number 5 but it used to be number one. 

With coffee going down from the eighties and farmers not being able to make it you could see the impact on the entire economy. You are not just talking about pockets because it's easy for people to get caught up in the small pockets. 30 percent of Kenyans depend on coffee and the coffee industry. 5,000,000 people so then 700,000 small scale farmers. Wow!  Small scale farmers and farming so we are talking huge huge populations that depend on this. So when it started going down that's when you could feel the entire economy. 

Adam: We want to talk a lot about Kenya coffee farmers and it's clear that that's important they impact the entire nation yes right yeah 30 percent of the people they are impacted by coffee but you were not even in a coffee family. Yeah I'm trying to jump back on your story here. You didn't even grow up in a coffee family, you just drank the beautiful crystals or drink devils coffee. 

Francis: Yeah that's to keep me awake - the devil's cup is what we would drink. Thinking about it you need to be awake and you've been drinking so how do you combat? You've been drinking beer. I think that's really good that he got the name from it.

Adam: When I was in China they used to call us, especially the older generation, they would call the foreigners yangguizi  which is foreign devil. So it would be cool if they called me the foreign devil coffee. Yangguizi kafei. So you were how old were you when you came to America?

Francis: So … continue in video…

Coffee Community - What Makes Kenyan Coffee So Special - Part 1

Hi friends, Adam and Francis here.

We’d like to invite you to join with us as we discuss many of the interesting topics which float around our worlds of coffee. As we dive deeper into knowing one another, we’ll uncover lots about international life and the coffee business. From Kenya to China to Newberg, Oregon… from flight school to growing up on a farm… from micro enterprise and new cooperative relationships from the farm forward there should be something for everyone to enjoy and share. Enjoy and let us know if you want to discuss anything further with us.

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If this was a worthy read, please consider sharing and liking.

Thank You! ~ Adam