Profile of a Roast
For a coffee roaster, the profile is a graph that shows the roast temperature over time. Controlling the temperature during different phases of the roast can make the difference between a juicy, chocolaty coffee and a sour acrid one. It is not simply the ending temperature that matters. It is also how you manage the temperature as it climbs from about boiling to somewhat above that. It is during this phase that caramelization happens. Many other complex chemical reactions are also occurring.
Too much of a good thing is a bad thing.
Over baking the coffee will burn the sugars, resulting in those shiny looking beans you can get at Costco and the two “big chain coffee shops”. They cause "coffee tummy".
Big Topic -- Or do your eyes glaze over?
This is too huge of a topic to go into more fully here, but remember these three things:
- Temperature over time has a huge impact on the flavor of the coffee.
- Letting the coffee get too hot will burn away most of the tasty flavors that were formed resulting in a very uniform, predictable product: burnt beans.
- The same green coffee roasted to different profiles will truly taste different. Sometimes wildly different. The key is to experiment and find the best profile for each crop of coffee.
I've developed a technique that no one else is using that allows me to roast light, but not have the sourness associated with light roasts. The result is a rich, full taste, muted acidity and no upset stomach.
When I roast, each batch is 12 pounds. Coffee is not drinkable for one or two days after the roasting. Two days later, the coffee has aged and begun to show its characteristics. This is true of all coffees. It needs to age for about 5 days before it really starts to shine. It begins to lose its shine after about 3-4 weeks post roast.
Keep the coffee beans in the bag it arrives in, or an airtight container, unground, and away from heat and light. If it will take longer than two to three weeks to finish the coffee, store the whole beans in the freezer. Never refrigerate or freeze ground coffee. When you take the beans out of the freezer, take enough out to last a week and put the rest back in the freezer. A piece of tape over the vent hole in the foil bag is a good idea. It will keep it in fine condition in your freezer for months.
Nicasio Coffee will taste great using any brewing method.
How many times have you bought a cup of coffee that smelled great, but tasted bitter, acrid and needed to be diluted with milk and/or sugar? You can add milk or sugar to Nicasio Coffee, but you don't need to! Try it black. You'll be impressed with its natural sweetness and rich coffee flavors.
Enjoy it hot or iced. All our coffees are very good iced. You don't have to do painfully slow cold brew or other special processes to get rid of the bitterness. There is simply no need. Simply make drip coffee – refrigerate and you're good to go.