Sorting and Grading

Sorting and Grading Once the coffee beans are freed from they're layers they are sent through a mill that removes as much of the remaining Silver skin as possible. Because they have not yet been roasted, their colour is a cloudy yellowish beige. They are convex on one side and flat on the other, and have a long, furrowed line running lengthwise down their middles. The beans are now graded by size, shape and weight. When the sorting process is complete the beans are bagged in burlap sacks holding up to 150 pounds in weight of beans.

Roasting the Beans

After green coffee beans are bagged they are shipped and warehoused. From the port city warehouses, the coffee sacks are distributed to roasters, which are commonly found in ports, but there are also many smaller roasters, sometimes called 'boutique roasters'. Whether coffee is decaffeinated or in its more natural state, it always makes a stop at the roaster before landing in your cup.

Roasting releases the oils and acids that give coffee its unique flavour. You may be surprised to learn that it is not the amount of coffee you put in your coffee maker but the type of roast that chiefly determines whether brewed coffee is mild or strong. The roast is everything.

The Roasts

The amount of time the beans spend in the roaster determines the strenght and flavour of the brewed coffee in your cup. Five different roasts have been developed ranging from very light to very dark. The roasts are as follows:

Cinnamon Roast, Regualr Roast, City Roast, Dark Roast and French Roast.