Off Topic: Coffee Roasting

Photo: Jeff Kubina.  Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.

 Thursday I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Will Benitez of Katz Coffee, a local coffee importer, roaster and wholesale purveyor.  I only wish I had good pictures of my own.

Illustration public domain.

Will showed me the roasting and production area and explained how coffee is selected, graded, imported and roasted.  I had never seen green coffee beans before, and I didn't know that the darker the roast, the less caffeine remains in most beans.  As a gardener, I have seen coffee plants (very handsome) and other tropicals in the coffee family, but only as ornamentals.  It's too cold here to grow coffee successfully -- did you know that all coffee is grown within 1000 miles of the equator?

 

We then visited the cupping room and tasted a wonderful Guatemalan-Sumatran blend.  I'm partial to Sumatran coffee anyway (at least, when I'm flush), but this blend seemed brighter and fruitier.  See how sophisticated I sound already?  Will demonstrated Le Nez du Café by Jean Lenoir, a professional coffee tasting training tool.  There are 36 little bottles of concentrated aromas that comprise the essence of coffee.  I tested myself on #17:  I guessed "almond" but it was "apple."  It's harder than it sounds!

Photo: Wolfie, licensed  under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license.

Katz is the roaster behind great coffee-house beverages at places like Onion Creek Café, Benjy's and t'afia.  As someone who grew up against the scented backdrop of Maxwell House, roasting over on the East Side, I love that there is a local, independent alternative.  Kudos to Katz!