How does coffee come to us?
When the coffee is ready for the trip, it is packed in jute bags to breathe during the trip. The coffee bag is marked with the date of harvest, the size of the beans and the processing method. A coffee bag is like a farm business card. In addition, this makes it easy for us to find the coffee we have ordered for roasting in the coffee repositories.
We welcome the arrival of the coffee and check its quality
It's always fun to get coffee shipment from any coffee country! But first of all we check the quality. Using a special tool, we take a sample and check the coffee moisture in the coffee lab. If it's about 12%, then coffee bags go to storage and wait for roasting.
STRUCTURE OF THE COFFEE BEANS
The coffee bean is covered with a yellow hard shell – a parchment shell. It covers the second coat beneath, the light gray, called a silver skin. The beans can be yellow, gray, green, and bluish-gray – depending on the variety.
The main types of coffee are Arabica and Robusta
Arabica beans are the queens of the coffee world ! We call them so because they are the best coffee variety in the world! In addition, very often, other plants are used to provide shade and planted next to them. Therefore, they look like queens surrounded by plants-servants, waving with their foliage, as if pampering them. Arabica loves the tropical climate and produces the best quality at altitudes of 600 to 1800 meters. The higher is the altitude where coffee is grown, the better its quality is. Arabica needs sunshine, well-drained soil and rainfall.
It is special due to its rich and mild taste and breathtaking aromas!
Robusta shrubs grow in lower altitudes. It is stronger, and more resistant to pests because it contains caffeine. It grows faster than Arabica and is more productive. It is used for instant coffee and espresso mixes.
How to distinguish these types of coffee?
The stripe encircling the Arabica bean will always have a slight inclination. Meanwhile, the line dividing the Robusta bean will always be very straight.
Roasting – creating a taste of coffee
Roasting is critical, you could say, the sacral stage. For each type of coffee, a certain type and time must be chosen. Here, every second, and even part of the second, matters. Roasters are like watchmakers – accuracy is the essential trait of this profession. Why to use? Because the exclusive taste and flavour of the coffee depend on it. Good roasters can reveal the best qualities of coffee flavour and aroma. Every roster has its own special secrets of talking to coffee and making it reveal all its power!
Roasting leads to the magic transformation of coffee beans. It changes the colour of coffee, producing special taste, aromas, along with the changes in the size of the coffee beans. The roasted coffee should stay undisturbed for up to 72 hours, and only then will it be ready to give you everything it has the best! It's like a miracle, like when the apple blossom turns into an apple overnight.
One day's story from where the coffee is roasted
Probably when drinking coffee, you never think about people roasting it, working with it, how their day looks like and whether they drink coffee? The day at the coffee factory starts early – at 6 o'clock in the morning. People come to work, talk and change – you can enter the roasting section only specially dressed. The production manager discusses the day with the team and handles the daily roasting orders.
We all know that coffee has its flavour, odour, colour, and shape. But do you know that it also has its own music? With us you can hear one of the most amazing sounds – when the green coffee beans run into the roasting oven. This authentic sound means the beginning of the most celebrated stage of the coffee path. And when the coffee runs out after being roasted – this sound means that there will be a feast in your home soon.
Interestingly, people know the bean sounds and can determine by the sound whether everything is going well!
Roasting levels and what you need to know about them
Light roasting
Lightly roasted coffee is characterized by expressive fruit or berry acidity. Coffee beans will be lighter in colour. It is very suitable for preparing filtered coffee.
Medium
This way is excellent for revealing the balance of acid and sweet tastes simultaneously in the roasted coffee. It will produce beautiful brown coloured beans. They are highly suitable for brewing in a cup.
Dark
Coffee roasted in this way is used for espresso mixes.
Very dark
Not very popular in Lithuania, but very popular in Italy and France.
Coffee is both science and art. Everything and everyone contributes – the sun, the wind, the rain, the coffee pickers, the laboratory staff, the roasters, the tasters and even our drivers, carrying coffee to the buyers. Everything matters!