Roasting Process

Roasting is an art as well as a science. It takes time, skill, and patience. Although there are specific formulas for roasting coffee, one must acquire hands-on expertise to properly regulate roasting time, temperature, and airflow.

At Park City Coffee Roaster, we use a 12 kilo Probat roaster. Using this smaller roaster allows us to roast daily, in small batches, upon demand. We can customize the roast to suit our style. It gives the roastmaster more hands-on control. The roastmaster uses sight, smell, sound, and temperature to determine when a degree of roast is accomplished.

The roasting process converts starches stored in the bean to sugars. The following stages occur during the roasting process:

1. Coffee beans turn from light green to dark green as moisture is drawn to the surface.

2. As moisture is lost, the bean turns yellowish-brown.

3. At the stage where sucrose, the principle sugar in coffee, reaches the melting point, carmelization begins. Pressure inside the bean caused by a chemical reaction of water and carbon dioxide produces an out-gassing known as first crack.

4. Once the melting point is reached, the bean must not be allowed to lose heat or exotherm.

5. Cellulose is the principle fiber of the cell wall of coffee. During the second crack, the cell wall or matrix of the bean fractures and releases the full flavor and aroma of the bean. At this point, a full city roast is achieved.

6. Further roasting releases oils to the surface of the bean.

7. The roasted coffee is immediately air-dried in a rotating cooling tray.

8. The remaining silverskin or chaff collects in the lower portion of the roaster as by product. 

When roasted, coffee loses 20% of its weight, but doubles in size while changing color from light green to deep brown.

We match the degree of roast with the characteristics of the specific bean to bring out its best flavor qualities. The lighter the roast, the more the flavor of the bean can be tasted. As the roast gets darker, the flavor of the roast is more apparent. The roast types are, from lightest to darkest, City, Full City, Viennese, French, and Italian Roast. Darker roasts have a tendency to be less acidic because of the structural breakdown. They also have less caffeine then the lighter roasts.