Roasting Process

The way coffee is roasted can have a profound effect on its taste.  Roast too quickly at too high a temperature and the coffee bean will be scorched on the outside.  Roast too slowly at too low a temperature and you will sap the bean of its flavor. 

The roasting process includes the following six phases:

1. Drying Cycle - During this phase of the process the beans will change from a green color to a yellow color.

2. First Crack - This is the phase where the beans have reached a temperature that creates a reaction that causes the beans to give off heat, making a cracking sound.

3. Roast Initiation - The beans will increase to about 160% of their original size and they will begin to caramelize, giving them a brown color.

4. Pause - In this phase, the audible cracking stops, but the reactions continue.  The silence is then broken by the next audible phase.

5. Second Crack - As the beans dehydrate, they become more brittle and the fiber structure of the beans start to expand and carbonize.  They make a sound that is known as "second crack".  Most roasts are stopped just as the second crack is started.  Others are roasted just into and slightly beyond the start of second crack.  This is where the beans carbonize and the oil come to the surface of the beans.  This is considered a dark roast.

6.  Stopping the Roast - Once the optimal amount of roasting time has elapsed, the beans must be cooled quickly.  This is usually accomplished by introducing large amounts of cool air or water.