Burr Roasters- Good to Know

It’s every where. Every coffee bag, every K-Cup, every coffee pot at 7-11, even the low-rate, dollar store, proclaim their product contains 100% arabica. But, do you know what arabica is? What it means?  If you don’t, don’t feel alone.  Arabica is a well-worn and over emphasized word; it’s a noun, it’s an adjective. I dread the day it becomes a verb. Don’t get me wrong. Arabica beans produce some of the most amazing coffee flavors; blueberry, strawberry, honey, coco, and a vast array of other wonderful flavors. The Specialty Coffee Association has even published a flavor wheel to help us describe what we taste. You can view and download a high res copy from Counter Culture Coffee  here . So, why, you ask, am I showing you this flavor wheel?  I want to highlight the multitude of flavors that can be tweezed out of arabica. But, that’s not the only reason.  I want to also discuss the “other” bean. The lowly robusta and ...

There’s a myth in the coffee world- well, actually, there are two versions of this myth. The first one is based on physical sensory and the effects of caffeine, and it goes, “lighter roasts have a higher caffeine level because less of the caffeine is cooked off during the roast.” The second version is also based on physical sensory of the taste buds, observing that dark roasted coffee has more “kick” to it. A punch in the face, as it were. There’s a little truth to the 1 st version, but the why is not so obvious at first.   Let’s investigate. We’re going to talk a little chemistry.   The boiling point of Caffeine is 455 ℉.   Only the very darkest roasts ever get to those temps, and even then, the caffeine is inside the bean, meaning unless the beans are very charred, maybe to Italian Roast, the caffeine will remain inside the bean, or at least have minimal loss during the roast. At Burr Roasters, 453 ℉ is the very highest temp our coffee ever gets and that’s t...

In coffee circles, there is a term, the golden ratio, that describes the amount of coffee to water for a good cup of coffee; not too strong, not too weak. The generally accepted ratio is 1:17, or 1 part coffee to 17 parts coffee. And this works great- if you weigh your coffee out, if you're accurate and precise at 0500 in he morning……however, most of us use a scoop to shovel coffee into the maker at the break of dawn. We’ll talk more about weighing coffee later, but for now lets assume you’re using a scoop and do not want to do the maths to convert to weight when the rooster's crowing. The 1 st thing to know, and this is the one time you’ll have to measure for calculations, is how much coffee your scoop holds.   Get out your measuring scoops and get a good estimate of how much it holds then we can proceed. Now that you know the volume of your scoop, here’s how we calculate your 1:17 golden ratio.  Water Coffee Cups Oz. Milliliters ...

  I get asked this on occasion and I must admit, I've been roasting as long as i've been a coffee drinker and never thought about it much. Before I opened the roastery, I would make enough coffee for about 4 or 5 days, so freezing had never been a requirement for me.  At home, best practices for coffee storage is to keep only what you can consume in a week (two at most) and remains my top recommendation. But, understanding that this coronavirus is changing habits as we all continue to practice social distancing, i wanted to look at the ins and outs of long term coffee storage. And, while I do not recommend freezing coffee, (there are just so many factors that can impact coffee experience- moisture, changes due to freezing, absorbed freezer flavors) some of us will find it necessary or more efficient to freeze.   Moisture gets the good stuff out of the bean and into your cup, but when coffee is unintentionally exposed,  moisture is the enemy of freshness a...