Roast master, noun: The roast master is responsible for roasting the coffee. Being a roast master requires a lot of experience, patience, care and a “nose” in order to develop the beans perfectly when roasting. Many refer to themselves as sommeliers, and for good reason: the comparison with wine and its experts is quite appropriate – although coffee has significantly more flavors to offer than wine. To be precise: 800 (versus 400 in wine).
Roasting, noun: The last and most important step in refining. Each coffee bean consists of between 300,000 to 400,000 cells. When heated, very complex chemical reactions take place. Sugars and amino acids are reconstituted such that approximately 1000 flavors or chemical compounds are newly formed in each and every cell during the roasting process. The longer and gentler the roasting is, the more developed the flavors become. It’s not difficult to imagine what happens if you proceed without care and expertise. We roast our coffees in drum roasters for at least 11 minutes. The standard for industrial coffee is 2-3 minutes at high temperatures.
Roasting loss, noun (also known as scorching): It describes the loss in weight from green to roasted beans due to water vapor and roasting gases. In filter coffee it is approximately 15-18%, in espresso it’s approximately 18-24% (due to the longer roasting). In industrial roasting (hot air roasting) the hot beans are cooled with water spray and thus reabsorb moisture, which isn’t exactly beneficial for the taste. (see: roasting)
Röstprofil, Subst., n., ist die Vorgabe für die individuelle Röstung eines Kaffees. Es besteht im Wesentlichen aus Dauer und Temperatur und ist davon abhängig, welche Aromen besonders entwickelt werden sollen und ob es z.B. ein Filterkaffee oder ein Espresso werden soll. Dabei gibt es 2 markante Punkte: den First Crack und den Second Crack. Beim First Crack ertönt ein deutlich hörbares Knacken, das durch den steigenden Druck in den Zellen der Bohnen ausgelöst wird. Der Second Crack findet bei einer höheren Temperatur statt. Hier bricht die Zellstruktur der Kaffeebohne zusammen, und es treten die enthaltenen Öle an die Oberfläche. Dadurch glänzen dunkler geröstete Bohnen oftmals.
Second Crack, engl., ein Phänomen beim Röstvorgang: Bei dunkleren Röstungen/höheren Temperaturen knacken die Bohnen ein zweites Mal, ihre Zellstruktur verändert sich, Öle treten an die Oberfläche. Gilt für viele French Roasts, Crema- und Espresso-Röstungen.
Semi-washed, adj. (also called semi-lavado): A method of preparation for coffee. Prior to fermentation, only the outer skin of the berry is removed, in contrast to wet preparation where the pulp is also removed. It is mostly used for Arabicas that are cultivated at low altitudes, e.g., „Brazilian Naturals“.
Stinker, noun: Term for a coffee bean that smells foul. It occurs through over-fermentation, i.e., if a bean was forgotten in the pulper or in the fermentation tank. Just one single stinker in a roast batch can make the entire coffee undrinkable.
Sun drying, noun (also dry preparation): The oldest and easiest method of preparing coffee. Instead of being pulped, the entire coffee berry is dried in the sun. The berries need to be turned regularly and protected from the nighttime humidity. It can take up to five weeks until the optimum residual humidity of approximately 12% is achieved. Afterwards the pulp is removed mechanically. Sun-dried coffee tastes sweeter and more intense than coffee that was prepared wet, however, it is not as nuanced. (see also: semi-washed)
Wiener Röstung, Subst., f., die hellste der dunklen Röstungen. Zum Teil haben die Bohnen durch Kaffeeöle einen Glanz, die Säuren kann man noch gut herausschmecken.
