Our Roasting Standard
Our Roasting:
Our roast master has over 30 years of experience all over the world. For the last decade he been in Portland perfecting the air roasting process. By air roasting, the beans are suspended in hot air with no metal contact. Even the cooling period afterwards the beans are suspended in air keeping them away from metal surfaces.
Why do we use this long, time consuming process? When coffee beans come in contact with high heat or hot surfaces it scorches the outer surface. Once the outer surface is sealed from the scorching it traps the oils and moisture, this leads to releasing of toxic PAHs, burnt and bitter flavors. Roasting needs to happen from the inside out, this allows the moister and oils to come to the surface. When opening a fresh bag of our coffee you will notice the oils on the bean. This process allows the coffee bean to “blossom” its natural flavor profile and personality. That is why when you by conventional coffee it can differ on the taste from bag to bag. Air roasting is more consistent in the taste and quality.
We also air roast in small batches to keep the roast fresh as possible to consumer. This keeps it from sitting on the shelves and eliminating the possibility of the beans going rancid from the natural oils.
Mold and mycotoxins are a serious health concern, with accepted levels for consumption differing from country to country. Mycotoxins form from some molds. If mycotoxins are present, only a small amount can be eliminated at high roast temperatures. Unfortunately, these high temperatures may increase the formation of carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and eliminate healthy chlorogenic acids (polyphenols) in coffee. Mycotoxins can form during storage due to environment conditions (i.e. humidity). By eliminating sitting time and only doing small batch farms and roasting, helps to retain a healthier bean possible.
To be certified organic we went through the strict process with Oregon Tilth. As each state has their own rule and regulations. We made sure at state level we were covered. As a bonus, Oregon Tilth is about education in agriculture which we need to survive as a species. Keeping it going is a positive impact to us all. Check out their site here: