Roasting profiles

South FLorida's MicroRoastery and CoffeeBar

The art of small batch roasting

What happens when you roast beans

Coffee beans are actually the dried seeds from coffee cherries, the fruit of coffee trees. Just like popcorn, coffee beans will expand to almost double the size when heated to approximately 400 F. During the roasting process the beans go through several stages of development. They start out green, still containing about 10-15% water.

The expansion shrugs off the skin (as chaff), and smoothes the bean surface. The heat will start caramelizing the natural sugars in the bean and turn the color from green to cinnamon, and then progressively darker. Finally, when all the water of the bean is evaporated, the aromatic oils in the beans cellular structure will heat to a point that they burst through the cell membranes. This is called the "second crack" in roasting, and its popping is quite noticeable. The oils will quickly migrate to the surface where, if roasting prolongs, they will "fry" the beans giving them the characteristic color and flavor of dark roasted coffee.

Roasting profiles

The roast profiles that you can choose In your order form, we pre-selected our recommended (mild to medium) roast for the specific blend, but you are more than welcome to deviate from that, especially if you prefer dark roasts. That is what a Micro-Roastery is all about! The roasts are listed from lighter ("East coast") to darker ( "Seattle/New Orleans/Peets" style), with "French Roast" as our darkest roast.
Roast profile (by increased roasting time)	Description
Green beans Not roasted - Contains about 15% water	Unlike roasted beans, green beans can be stored for two to three years without any problems, if stored properly. For the hobbyists among you, we can supply you with green beans of your choice at 30% discount. In the case of green beans we have to charge you for shipping, however. Just select your coffee and call us, or .
American roast Very light; not practiced by the Roasted Bean	The roast is stopped just when the beans are doubled in size, and the color is slightly darker than cinnamon. Few coffees will yield a good taste profile with the American roast as most bean varieties at this stage firmly hold the aromatic oils inside. Coffees are very light in taste, and sometimes sour or "green". Cost-conscious roasters will never go past this point, since the bean still holds some water weight (which is sold by the pound)
Full City roast No trace of oil; Ideal for drip coffee with no trace of the, sometimes bitter, roast flavor of dark roasts.	No water is left in the bean, and the chestnut color indicates full caramelization. This roast is very suitable for drip coffee, especially for high-grade coffees. The natural acidity of the bean will help transfer the flavors to the water, whereas the flavors are not masked by the characteristic pungent taste of a dark roast.
Full Flavor roast Occasional trace of oil; Drip coffee and light-roast Espresso	Some coffees, like the Puerto Rican Yauco Selecto, will still hold back some of their full potential until they are roasted into the second crack, thus releasing some of the oils from inside the bean. We stop the roasting before the bean develops into a dark roast, however.
Vienna roast Dark with traces of oil; Drip coffee with a hint of roast flavor; French Press	The roast is continued after the oils are released, but not long enough to char the surface. The bean will reabsorb most of the oils after cooling down.
Espresso Roast Dark with medium oil; Caribbean style espresso roast	Espresso roasts are as diverse as there are cultures. Our espresso is Caribbean style. The roast is very close to that of a "Vienna roast": darker than the Espresso used in Italy, but not as dark as the "Seattle" espresso.
French Roast Dark and oily; for the lovers of a strong, dark roast.	The roast is continued after the oils are released, and long enough to char the surface to a large degree. Most of the oils that migrated to the surface will remain there.
Roast blends Trying to combine the good of both worlds (and sometimes succeeding)	Blends always try to create synergy between individual flavors. The same concept goes for creating a blend of different roasts. Our South Florida Blend does exactly that: combining the acidity of African coffees with the body of a Sumatra Mandheling full flavor roast and the pungent roast taste of a Colombian French Roast. <return>

Micro-Roasting at The Roasted Bean

At The Roasted Bean, we carefully select the finest quality "green" beans from around the world, and then roast all of our coffees in small, quality controlled batches -- anywhere from 1 lb (minimum) to 20 lbs (maximum) at a time. This assures that your coffee is truly ROASTED TO ORDER!! It allows us to better fine tune our roasts to the character of the bean -- and not use some large-scale "average" roast setting.

We employ several roasters of different operating principles. For those of you familiar with the different roasting traditions, we are probably one of only a few roasters who use both a drum roaster and an air roaster.

Ask a traditional drum-roaster about air roasting, and you'll be told that you cannot get good "bean development". Air roasters will tell you about the drum roasters being traditionalists that continue to bake coffee beans unnecessarily. We can assure you that both provide quality beans. Air roasting is our process of choice for small batches, providing us with more control and reproducibility. The drum roaster still gives the best feedback on "first-batch" roasting, where the roasting profile is explored.