Coffee Roasting Explained

Coffee roasting is fascinating, and there's so much more to talk about than we cover here. We'll definitely dive deeper in the future - so do please share any ideas or suggestions for things you'd like to see.
Thank you to Allpress Espresso and Climpson & Sons for letting us film and interrupt your busy working days:
Thank you also to the roasting team at Square Mile Coffee Roasters for the assistance in making this.

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[darkmage]

I think you could make an entire TV series around James traveling to various Coffee Origin locations, talk about what goes on into the flavor profile, and then bringing those beans through the entire process to a cup for tasting at the end of the video. Would be so fascinating.

[anao]

At the age of 6, I remember watching my grandmother toasting coffee over an open fire in an iron pot. Said pots bottom, was blackened with soot with years of use, and she would constantly stir the beans with a wooden paddle that had the signs of being used for that purpose. This coffee had been picked, dried, roasted, and ground in my great-grandmother back yard.❤

[lukewid]

I would love to see more videos about processing (anaerobic, aerobic, lactic, natural, honey, washed, etc). Excellent video James and crew!

[mattbow_]

James I would love to see a 'Coffee Confidential' documentary. I'd love to see you go around the world doing a full length documentary from growing all the way to enjoy the cup.

[infinatepmp]

Respect to who ever organised the beans on the table

[KeppyKep]

I just want to say the camera-work going inside the roaster, and then the animation of the bean getting more and more roasted was absolute incredible!!
High-budget documentary type stuff.

[dawsonjohannes]

James, I’m a mechanical engineer in the manufacturing industry (at a sponge manufacturing facility) here in the States. I am always so impressed with your ability to explain processes scientifically and tactfully. I’m early on in my career, but man what I would do to get back into the coffee industry as an engineer working with these awesome machines. Content like this keeps my eyes on the prize.

[donlourie]

This was an impressive talk. There was not one wasted word: exquisitely organized with very specific visual accents. Well done!

[rainmannoodles]

Starbucks starts at around the point you stopped roasting. 🤣

[deianogueira]

I am from Brazil, and I grew up on a cattle farm where we had a small coffee orchard. I remember tasting the coffee cherries when they were ripe and ready to be harvested and sun-dried. After that, we would roast the beans in an iron-cast manual roaster that was the size of a popcorn pan. The coffee was pretty great.

[Demonictrial]

It'd be interesting to see how a roaster chooses a batch or farm and then after deciding what they want to try, deciding on the profile for the roaster they have in their facility

[Rpkone]

James, as a long-time viewer of your channel, a customer of Square Mile, and someone who is looking to break into the coffee roasting industry, I want to thank you for this video. I have never been more encouraged to follow my passion and do what I love. Coffee is a magnificent blend of art and science, and to see a glimpse of your workflow is awesome. Keep inspiring!

[MorpheusXTRM]

Coming from an island that grows their own coffee, I recall my grandmother roasting her beans; obtained from my uncles farm, with an aluminum rice cooking pot, fire wood and a stick. Keep in mind, she was raised as a farmer in her youth and this was the cheapest way to roast coffee by hand and she was able to roast it black and it always came out perfect. Years of making that from hand must had made the best coffee I have ever remember. This video made me remember those years and if I where to find a recreation of it I would do so to brink back that tradition. Hey James, if your interested in that, maybe in a future video an exploration of islanders roasting coffee might be a good idea but that would be difficult to find someone still roasting coffee that way.

[sebastianpina]

I cannot express how grateful I am about the knowledge that you share with us. Your channel has single handedly helped me to become better at making coffee and not by just following a recipe, but actually understanding what is going through the whole process. You are the best ♥

[roastwrangler]

Concise, focused and accessible — there are few better explainer videos that exist on YouTube than this one. High kudos James — and deepest respect!

[SenorRobb]

It would be really cool to see a series of you starting from the beginning process of the coffee plant, working at the farm, educating us on the importance of moisture, sun, shade, altitude and soil content in order to produce the best coffee bean possible. Then to transition into the drying phase and the importance of which method is best when drying the beans after plucking them from the plant. To eventually continuing with the roast process and tasting in a variety of methods to enjoy the wonderful cup of your dreams!

[jamestamu]

I used to work for a large commercial coffee roaster in the US. We used both Robusta and Arabica beans, combining them in various ratios to control costs while keeping taste consistent. he Robusta would be roasted darker and ground more coarsely, while the Arabica would be roasted medium and ground very finely so as to extract the most (best) flavor. Beans sourced from different countries around the world each had their own profile in order to keep the final taste consistent. Great video, please keep them coming.

[lftr_react]

Ah yes, the 'fluid bed' roaster. The inventor of the modern design of this roaster was issued the design patent in 1998. He sold it to the company I work for and became a partner in the business. We still have the bronzed patent on display in our entryway today.

[MaddieWitlermusic]

I think it might be neat to see a comparison of a few different roast profiles but with the same roast degree, and maybe a discussion of how that can affect the taste. Or maybe more generally, the same coffee roasted many different ways and a discussion of how that affects flavor, would be fun as well. Love this, thank you!

[bobhopeandnohope]

Maybe a video on how you select different coffees to form certain blends, plus how they put together blends with consistent flavour profiles throughout the year