Freshly picked coffee beans have all their flavor potential locked away inside. When heat is carefully applied using a combination of science and good culinary instinct, the firm, green, but inedible beans are toasted in preparation for grinding and brewing. Many specialty coffee roasters are skilled at enhancing regional flavor characteristics through controlled roasting designed to create specific tastes and aromas.
Without roasting, coffee would not exist. Raw beans are smaller before processing, but still have the same basic shape. Large-scale producers use spacious, rotating cylinders that can are heated to nearly 550 degrees. As the beans tumble inside, the oils they contain undergo a chemical change termed pyrolysis, causing them to double in size while releasing flavor and fragrance.
Although commercially roasted and pre-packaged products cost less, smell wonderful while brewing, and contain the right amount of morning caffeine, they cannot compare to beans that have been specially grown, harvested, and slow-roasted to perfection. Like any artistic skill, the latest equipment and innovations are helpful, but the finest products are created using a combination of sight, smell, and even sound.
Similar to wine-growing regions, the flavor of raw beans can vary according to micro-climate and soil components. Those with an established reputation in one area may seem quite different when raised and picked in another, and those variants can be enhanced or changed through roasting. Most roasted products are visually classified according to color, as well as their final temperature.
Less intensely flavored varieties are perfect for light roasts. Some may contain greater amounts of caffeine, but surface oils rarely appear, primarily because heating does not last long enough to allow them to escape from the interior. Medium roast styles are similar, and are slightly darker in appearance. Most have no surface oil, and are popular with consumers in the United States. Medium-dark roasts present a noticeable aftertaste if eaten.
True dark roasts have a deep chocolate brown color, noticeable oil on the surface, and leave a bitter aftertaste if chewed. Color depth is controlled by the length of time spent under heat, and some styles appear nearly charred when finished, producing very strong beverages such as espresso. No matter what variety of beans is used, the length of heating eventually alters flavors dramatically.
Processors who take extra care in roasting not only improve and intensify the flavors that already exist, but can improve the consumer reputation of a particular coffee variety or growing region. Instead of just loading the beans and turning a switch, these artisans understand the variations that commonly occur even within the confines of a single farm, and adjust roasting processes to fit.
They make allowances for humidity, outside air temperature on the day of roasting, and the desired style or taste. Experience enables specialty roasters to know when a bean is finished simply by smelling the batch, or by checking the color. The final product is based on human senses as well as science. When delicious aroma and flavor are the goal, there is no substitute for an educated palate.
Without roasting, coffee would not exist. Raw beans are smaller before processing, but still have the same basic shape. Large-scale producers use spacious, rotating cylinders that can are heated to nearly 550 degrees. As the beans tumble inside, the oils they contain undergo a chemical change termed pyrolysis, causing them to double in size while releasing flavor and fragrance.
Although commercially roasted and pre-packaged products cost less, smell wonderful while brewing, and contain the right amount of morning caffeine, they cannot compare to beans that have been specially grown, harvested, and slow-roasted to perfection. Like any artistic skill, the latest equipment and innovations are helpful, but the finest products are created using a combination of sight, smell, and even sound.
Similar to wine-growing regions, the flavor of raw beans can vary according to micro-climate and soil components. Those with an established reputation in one area may seem quite different when raised and picked in another, and those variants can be enhanced or changed through roasting. Most roasted products are visually classified according to color, as well as their final temperature.
Less intensely flavored varieties are perfect for light roasts. Some may contain greater amounts of caffeine, but surface oils rarely appear, primarily because heating does not last long enough to allow them to escape from the interior. Medium roast styles are similar, and are slightly darker in appearance. Most have no surface oil, and are popular with consumers in the United States. Medium-dark roasts present a noticeable aftertaste if eaten.
True dark roasts have a deep chocolate brown color, noticeable oil on the surface, and leave a bitter aftertaste if chewed. Color depth is controlled by the length of time spent under heat, and some styles appear nearly charred when finished, producing very strong beverages such as espresso. No matter what variety of beans is used, the length of heating eventually alters flavors dramatically.
Processors who take extra care in roasting not only improve and intensify the flavors that already exist, but can improve the consumer reputation of a particular coffee variety or growing region. Instead of just loading the beans and turning a switch, these artisans understand the variations that commonly occur even within the confines of a single farm, and adjust roasting processes to fit.
They make allowances for humidity, outside air temperature on the day of roasting, and the desired style or taste. Experience enables specialty roasters to know when a bean is finished simply by smelling the batch, or by checking the color. The final product is based on human senses as well as science. When delicious aroma and flavor are the goal, there is no substitute for an educated palate.
No comments:
Post a Comment