ROASTING FOUNDATION 1

ROASTING
FOUNDATION
2 ROASTING FOUNDATION
ROASTING FOUNDATION 3

CONTENTS

About the author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
PART I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1 STAGES OF THE COFFEE ROASTING PROCESS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.2 Heating, drying and pressure development. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.3 Volume expansion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.4 Roast loss. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.5 Percentage change. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.5.1 Roast loss calculation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.5.2 Volume gain calculation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.6 Development and roast degree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.6.1 Temperature midway point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
1.7 Cooling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2 HEAT TRANSFER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.1 Types of burners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.1.1 Atmospheric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.1.2 Infrared gas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.1.3 Electric. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.2 Roaster anatomy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
3 TIME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
4 ROAST PROFILE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
4.1 Endothermic vs. Exothermic phase of profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
5 RULES OF THUMB. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
6 ROAST PLANNING AND LOGGING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
7 FIRE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
7.1 The fire triangle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
7.2 Coffee in the roasting chamber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
7.3 Ventilation system / chimney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
7.4 Cyclone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
7.5 Types of flammables and extinguishing methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
8 OTHER RISKS TO CONSIDER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
8.1 Work environment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
9 CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
PART II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
10 STARTING A COFFEE BUSINESS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
10.1 What happens to most start-ups in the beginning?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
10.2 Which ‘fork in the road’ do I take?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
10.3 How do I know I am going in the right direction?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
10.4 What other factors do I need to consider? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
10.5 How do I translate my passion into profit? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
10.6 Who takes the lead and why does it matter? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
10.7 How do I measure my own progress? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
10.8 How do I achieve a successful startup? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
10.9 How do I build the right team to achieve my vision?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
10.10 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
11 RESOURCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
4 ROASTING FOUNDATION

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Morten Münchow graduated from

the University of Århus in biology and
philosophy in 2005 before embarking
on his journey into coffee. Shortly af-
ter handing in his thesis, his first role
as roast master at Kontra in Copen-
hagen, sparked his passion for coffee
roasting.

Two years later, he started his

freelance career as a trainer at the
London School of Coffee (LSC) and
has taught more than 500 students in
small groups so far. He took over the
role as Lead Creator of the Specialty
Coffee Association of Europe’s (SCAE)
roasting certification in 2013 and
has since developed the curriculum
and course content for the Diploma
system at foundation, intermediate
and professional levels. Since the
unification of SCAE and SCAA into the
Specialty Coffee Association (SCA),
he has worked with the leadership
group to merge and develop the two
diploma systems into one. He has
also contributed to the establishment
of the Roaster’s Guild of Europe and
now chairs the Education and Re-
search working group in the unified
Coffee Roasters Guild.
ROASTING FOUNDATION 5

Since 2003, Morten has enjoyed a The Copenhagen-based Coffee Acade-

longstanding collaboration with the my delivers innovative research,
University of Copenhagen’s Food courses, educational resources and
Science Faculty and, with the sup- consultancy services for individuals
port of SCA funding, has generated and companies in the specialty coffee
more than 20 coffee related research industry. The company offers senso-
projects, of which five have been ry skills and coffee roasting training
scientifically published. He has also as well as consultancy services that
co-chaired the SCAE’s former Re- focus on consumer-driven product
search Committee and now regularly development and quality control
contributes to the research output of programs. Morten is also a regu-
the SCA’s Research Centre. lar speaker at high profile industry
events including World of Coffee,
Morten established CoffeMind in Re;Co, Nordic Roaster Forum, CoLab
2013 with the following company amongst other leading specialty cof-
vision: fee forums and Knowledge Talks. He
“We want to transform the way is passionate about helping others in
people are educated and the way the specialty coffee community grow
organizations are built and scaled in through knowledge and entrepre-
the specialty coffee business. This is neurship.
achieved by focusing on how prod-
ucts are developed and quality is con- Drawing on more than a decade of
trolled in workflows with minimized practical, scientific and consulting
waste and maximum relevance for experience, Morten has gained valu-
customers. We strive towards achiev- able insight into many aspects of the
ing a purposeful business strategy specialty coffee industry worldwide,
for ourselves and our clients that is enabling him to deliver effective
aligned with the passion and talent coffee courses and content, including
of business owners, employees and this handbook, with a high level of
customers.” expertise.
6 ROASTING FOUNDATION

FOREWORD

Roasting coffee can often seem like with tasty, repeatable, results. To
an enigmatic topic that is shrouded use an analogy, you don’t have to be
in mystery; a craft reserved only for the best baker in the world to satisfy
a few people with a supernatural your local customers with delicious
commitment to spending enormous freshly baked bread. All you need are
amounts of time and resources in or- good ingredients, willingness to put
der to master the ‘dark art’. Decades in the effort and have an open mind
may pass before individuals can final- to experimentation.
ly acquire the right to call themselves
a roast master after years of tireless My approach has always been to sup-
struggle, trial and error – while read- port my students with the necessary
ing every book, blog and article there information, no matter what stage
is to read on the internet. they are on their learning journey.
This may sometimes lead to oversim-
This book aims to do the opposite plification so that there is a clear un-
and unravel some of these mysteries. derstanding of the knowledge rather
It is an attempt to focus on the cen- than overwhelm individuals with
tral and most important aspects of information as they take their first
coffee roasting so that you can begin steps into the exciting world of coffee
to master the craft in a short space roasting. It is my belief that it is more
of time. Of course, the science of important to clarify than confuse at
coffee roasting is a huge topic but if the early stages of anyone’s career in
you begin to apply the simple model coffee roasting, and to provide clear
outlined in this handbook, you will insights that lead to the next level of
be able to begin to roast confidently understanding.

Morten Münchow
Founder, CoffeeMind
ROASTING FOUNDATION 7

PART I
Part one of this book contains all that you need to
know in getting started with coffee roasting and lays
the groundwork in preparation for the SCA’s Roasting
Foundation exam. Part two provides perspective on how
to navigate the business aspects of coffee roasting.

Although Part two presents information which is outside

the roasting curriculum, it is highly relevant if you
consider starting a business around coffee roasting, or if
you have not started up a business before.
 1
8 ROASTING FOUNDATION

STAGES OF THE COFFEE

ROASTING PROCESS
ROASTING FOUNDATION 9

If you take a green bean and chew time when the beans start cracking
it carefully you will notice that the until the roast is terminated. A dark
green bean neither smells or tastes roast goes through to another crack,
like coffee at all. In fact, it tastes also known as ‘second crack’, but
more like grass or some other form this depends on the product that you
of dry agricultural seed. This is be- are roasting if you decide to go to, or
cause the aromas specific to coffee beyond, second crack at all.
are developed during the roasting
process as the colour of the bean As aromas are developed, the man-
changes from green to yellow, and ner in which the roasting process is
finally brown. carried out has an influence on the
final sensory properties of the prod-
A classic segmentation of the roast- uct. Therefore, controlling this pro-
ing process uses the characteristic cess to progress as designed – and
cracking (e.g. like the ‘popping’ of planned – is at the core of the skills of
popcorn) of the coffee at certain stag- the coffee roaster.
es as important roast progression
indicators where these events map This chapter will introduce the dif-
out the ‘playing field’ for the roasting ferent stages of this process from
process. Even though the bean is de- green to roasted coffee where the
veloping from the moment you drop identification of the different stages
it into the coffee roaster, develop- is crucial in order to experiment and
ment time traditionally refers to the optimize the final outcome.

HEATING AND DRYING DEVELOPMENT

MIN. 0 5 10 15
1 ST CRACK

Fig. 1 Colour change of the coffee bean from green to brown

10 ROASTING FOUNDATION

1.2 HEATING, DRYING AND PRESSURE DEVELOPMENT

From the outset, green beans contain tent is actually quite a lot when you
a significant amount of moisture. consider that a roaster must drive off
At origin, the beans are dried to more than three litres of water from
approximately 12% (i.e. 12 g of water a 30 kg batch as part of the roasting
per 100 g of green bean). The beans process.
need to be dry enough to deter the
invasion of bacteria or fungi but need Ultimately, heat is the driver of these
to be moist enough for the cellular chemical reactions that create aroma.
structure to be intact. This moisture Although the molecular compounds
content helps to preserve the aroma for the browning and aromatic
potential in the green coffee, and ­reactions are present in green coffee,
also slows down the staling process. they need large amounts of heat
energy to kick-start the chemical
The moisture content of specialty reactions required to create the nec-
green beans should range between essary volatile aromatic compounds
9-11% when it arrives at the roastery. (VOCs) that we enjoy in well roasted
Ideally, you should have a relative coffee.
humidity (Rh) of approximately 60%
in your storage room in order for the Technically speaking, the main chem-
moisture level in the green beans to ical reaction that turns the green
stay within an acceptable range of seed into a brown bean is called
moisture content. Inexpensive de- the ‘Maillard reaction’. The reaction
vices such as home weather stations between the small sugars and amino
can tell you the relative humidity in acids of proteins was first described
the air of your storage room. by the French chemist Louis-Camille
Maillard in 1912. His discovery was
Since certain chemical reactions that not coffee specific as the reaction is
are crucial to flavour and aroma de- extremely widespread in all food sci-
velopment won’t start until most of ence where the ‘browning’ of food un-
this moisture has been evaporated. der the application of heat is caused
For example, it is worth considering by the reaction between sugars and
that 12% of green bean moisture con- proteins.
ROASTING FOUNDATION 11

1.3 VOLUME EXPANSION

The beans expand because of the like rising bread. The expansion
pressure that is generated when the degree can be anything from 50% for
water boils and vaporizes at the light roasts and can double in size for
beginning of the roasting process. dark roasts. As the speed of roast
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is created in the influences the expansion, a faster
later stages of the roast when the roast will have expanded more than
vapor and CO2 become the driving the slower roast; even if they end up
forces for the pressure development the same colour.
that forces the material to expand

50-100%
Kg 15-20%
Kg

Fig. 2 Volume expansion degree Fig. 3 Typical weight loss during the
roast cycle

1.4 ROAST LOSS

If you weigh the coffee before and more than a third leaving approxi-
after roasting you will notice that mately 1-1.5% of moisture content
light roasts will lose around 15% in only remaining in the beans. There-
weight and dark roasts will lose up to fore, if approximately 10% of the
20%. This is particularly important to moisture is lost during the roast out
remember when you budget profit of a typical 15 – 20% of overall roast
into your business plan. As a rule of loss, we can assume that the remain-
thumb, you need to purchase approx- ing amount must be organic mole-
imately 1.2 kg of green coffee to sell cules breaking down to volatile
1 kg of roasted coffee! organic gases. This is primarily
formed of CO2 that leaves the coffee
Typically, the moisture content in due to the high pressure in the beans
roasted coffee will have reduced by developed during roasting.
12 ROASTING FOUNDATION

1.5 PERCENTAGE CHANGE

When talking about roast loss and It might seem overly complicated but
volume gain, it is normal to express what this formula expresses in
these values as percentage changes. simple terms is the relationship
In the roasting curriculum, you will between how much the process
need to calculate this after measur- changes from the start (X) to the end
ing your coffee before and after the (Y) as a percentage. In order to
roasting process. express this fraction in percentage
The general formula for calculating terms you have to multiply by 100.
percentage change is: For practical reasons, let’s take a look
at some examples below.
Y–x
% change = x 100%
x

1.5.1 ROAST LOSS CALCULATION

Let’s imagine that a roast with a Notice how the numerator is negative
batch size of 1kg gives us a starting because Y is smaller than X? The
condition of ‘X = 1kg’. After the roast, percentage change is therefore
we measure the end condition of the negative which seems logical since
coffee and find that ‘Y = 0,83kg. How the process has lost weight. So we
much has the coffee lost in weight in might say that the roast loss is 17%
terms of a percentage? Using the because the word ‘loss’ implies the
formula above we find that: negative signatura of the number.

Y–x 0,83 – 1 –0,17

% change = x 100% = x 100% = x 100% = –0,17 x 100% = –17%
x 1 1

1.5.2 VOLUME GAIN CALCULATION

Similarly for volume gain, we can Notice how the numerator is positive
imagine a process where the initial because Y is bigger than X? The
volume of 1kg green coffee is ‘X = percentage change is therefore
1.25 litres, and after roasting we positive which also seems logical as
measure the volume of the roasted the process has gained volume.
coffee as ‘Y = 2 litres’. Using the
equation below we find that:

Y–x 2 – 1,25 0,75

% change = x 100% = x 100% = x 100% = 0,6 x 100% = 60%
x 1,25 1,25
ROASTING FOUNDATION 13

1.6 DEVELOPMENT AND ROAST DEGREE

First crack is mainly caused by the The roast degree is by far the main
pressure created by the evaporation factor of the roasting process that
and vaporization of the water in the has the biggest influence on the
green coffee. Simply put, the water flavour of the coffee. It is also one of
boils and creates huge pressure the most important aspects of a
within the molecular structure of the given product in your coffee portfolio
bean. When the water turns from that your customers will base their
liquid to steam, the pressure be- buying decision on. As this is such a
comes too much for the bean struc- crucial aspect of the roasting process,
ture to bear and a microscopic crack there is a range of commercial
is formed where some of the steam equipment that has been developed
escapes. The 2nd crack is mainly to measure this.
caused by roast gases (e.g. CO2)
developed during the brown roasting In order to talk about roast degree
phase. and how to handle it on a daily basis
without expensive colour measure-
The part of the roasting process after ment equipment, you can use the
1st crack is often called ‘development end bean temperature and roast
time’, even though it can be argued events such as 1st and 2nd crack for
that the coffee is developing from the navigating the roast degree. Remem-
moment it enters the roaster until it ber that the chemical reactions are
reaches its final ambient tempera- primarily driven by temperature, so
ture in the cooling tray. It does make the bean temperature correlates to a
sense to pay particular attention to certain roast colour. This only holds
the roasting process after 1st crack as true for similar roast profiles. If you
the aroma development starts to perform significantly different roasts,
change very quickly as the coffee each profile will have a different bean
beans become browner. temp to roast colour correlation.
Also, it is worth noting that seasonal
The higher temperature the beans variations in ambient temperature
reach at the end of the roast, the and relative humidity affects how the
darker the colour of the coffee. This bean temperature correlates with
is often referred to as ‘roast degree’. roast colour.
14 ROASTING FOUNDATION

Db

1 ST CRACK 2 ND CRACK

START POP
START POP
POP POP
POP POP
POP POP POP POP
POP POP POP POP
POP POP POP POP POP POP
POP POP
POP POP POP POP
POP POP POP POP POP POP POP POP POP POP

COLOUR (=END BEAN TEMPERATURE)

Fig. 4 Cracking intensity as a distribution curve for both 1st and 2nd crack

As can be seen in the figure above, As a general rule, bitterness increases

the 1st and 2nd cracks are shown over and acidity decreases with increasing
a normal distribution. The two cracks roast degree. Therefore, light roasts
are characterized by a distribution can be very acidic and dark roasts are
where each crack has a subtle more bitter. As you can see from
beginning, followed by a peak and Figure 5, you can map the tempera-
then a subtle ending. The beginning ture at 1st crack and 2nd crack before
of 1st crack is not when you hear the using this value to design and repeat
first single ‘pop’ from your roasting a certain ‘roast degree’ that you have
chamber but is normally noted when found suitable for a given coffee. The
the overall batch is ‘rolling’ as the profile that you may want to develop
arrow indicates. If you have ever is typically a value between 1st and 2nd
cooked popcorn you will be familiar crack depending on your customer’s
with this as the first few random preference.
pops often precede the overall peak
of the whole batch popping. The first In a recent study, (Giacalone &
crack announces the end of the ­Münchow et al. 2018) we conducted a
‘heating-drying’ and vapour pressure sensory evaluation (i.e. quantitative
phase and the beginning of the descriptive) with a mixture of color
development phase. This is where and time modulation roast profiles.
the brown colouring of the bean It was clear that the color modulated
becomes dominant and where the around 80% of the sensory variation
speed of development of coffee and the timing aspect only by approxi-
aromas increases very quickly. mately 20%.
ROASTING FOUNDATION 15

ACID
ITY ESS
ERN
BITT

ROAST DEGREE (DARKNESS)

Fig. 5 Roast degree – acidity vs bitterness

From a commercial perspective, the moved towards a significantly lighter

appropriate roast degrees are found roasting tradition over the past ten
on the cupping table. This is prefera- years.
bly combined with consumer studies
where you can decide which roast Whilst I personally enjoy a light
degree is preferred for a certain roasting style, it is still a challenge for
coffee or customer and then use the many coffee roasters to create a light
bean temperature to replicate this. roast that is still well developed. As a
Different coffee consuming countries consultant and trainer, I tend not to
around the world have very different think of roast degree in ‘right’ or
preferences when it comes to roast ‘wrong’ terms but to design a profile
degree. In northern Europe for that is the preference for the expect-
example, light roasts have been an ed customer segment. In all cases, a
emerging trend where there is a skilled roast master will be able to
preference for very light roasts in maximize the ‘terroir’ of the coffee at
Scandinavia and the UK. Only a any roast degree demanded by a
decade ago, an espresso roasted to particular customer segment.
the start of 2nd crack was considered
a Scandinavian light roast. Today, a
2nd crack coffee roasted for espresso
is now considered a dark roast in
these countries which suggests that
the specialty coffee market has
16 ROASTING FOUNDATION

1.6.1 TEMPERATURE MIDWAY POINT

For teaching purposes, we have considered a ‘technical medium

developed an easy approach to roast’, namely, the bean temperature
create similar and relevant roast point midway between the start of 1st
degrees across a range of roasters in and start of 2nd crack.
different training centres. This is

°C

AIR TEMP 1ST CRACK 2ND CRACK

200
BEAN TEMP
DEVELOPMENT

MIDWAY POINT
100 Δ°C

TIME
0 5 10 15
TURNING POINT END

Temp. 2nd – Temp. 1st

Temperature midway point = + Temp. 1st
2

Fig. 6 An illustration of a technical ‘temperature midway point’ roast

ROASTING FOUNDATION 17

As the graph shows, if you roast a

coffee where 1st crack (e.g. Temp1st)
occurs at 190°C and 2nd crack at
210°C (e.g. Temp2nd), your tempera-
ture midway point is 200°C. Mathe-
matically, it looks like this:

Temp 2nd – Temp 1st 210 – 190 20

Temp midway point = + Temp 1st = + 190 = + 190 = 10 + 190 = 200
2 2 2

Here, the roast degree of the coffee is should, be adjusted accordingly to

neither very light nor very dark and take into account a relevant roast
responds well from a sensory per- style. If you never intend to roast
spective on different roast profiles. dark for your customers, the training
Very light roasts are difficult to work might reflect this in choosing a
with in a training situation as there is lighter colour than the temperature
very little room from 1st crack to midway point. This, however, takes a
experiment with during development bit more training by the teacher to
time which is a central challenge make sure that the students are able
during training. If your customer to identify sensory differences in
preference in the market demands a samples with a slightly smaller
specific roast degree, the training between-sample difference.
18 ROASTING FOUNDATION

1.7 COOLING

Once the desired colour of your they will instantly vaporize from
coffee is reached, you want to stop water to steam and this endothermic
the roasting process quickly to reaction causes a sudden drop in
preserve the aromas developed at temperature, stopping the roasting
this particular roast degree. process almost instantly.

As a rule of thumb, the coffee should In theory, this is harmless if the

cool down to less than 30°C in less amount of water is controlled where
than five minutes after being the water vaporizes quickly and is
dumped into the cooling tray. If it removed through airflow as steam
takes too long to cool down the without leaving the roasted coffee
coffee (i.e. more than five minutes) with increased moisture content.
the coffee will taste baked and loose Unfortunately, this process is often
some acidity. You can find inexpen- performed in the industry with a
sive infrared thermometers that can water-to-coffee ratio that will leave
instantly measure the temperature the coffee with a higher moisture
of the coffee in the cooling tray content so that the added water is
without touching the coffee. This is a sold as coffee which is a lucrative
preferred tool for both precision of business. Specialty coffee has a
temperature evaluation and for water content of between 1–1.5%
hygienic reasons. after roasting, whereas water
quenched low-quality coffee will have
The quenching of coffee is sometimes water added to an amount that
practiced in the commercial (i.e. low leaves it with up to 5% of moisture
quality, not specialty) coffee busi- content after roasting. The increased
ness. When water vaporizes, it uses a water content of commodity-­
lot of energy, which is perfect for quenched coffee will also cause the
cooling down hot material. Some coffee to stale more quickly as the
roasters have an inbuilt spray head moisture speeds up the degassing
that can add water as small aerosols process (i.e. aromas are lost through
(i.e. water with a large surface area the de-gassing process) that drives
due to it being dispersed in many staling in coffee, and therefore loss
small droplets). When these small of freshness.
water droplets hits the coffee surface
ROASTING FOUNDATION 19

I have, however, seen quenching

used with extreme care on high quali-
ty beans without a noticeable degra-
dation to the quality. To optimize
such a careful process some moisture
meters are able to measure the
moisture content of roasted beans.
An assessment of the amount of
water used can determine if quench-
ing is small enough to avoid raising
moisture levels in the roasted beans.
 2
20 ROASTING FOUNDATION

HEAT TRANSFER
ROASTING FOUNDATION 21

The main driver of the roasting The size of the flame, or other heat
process is heat being transferred sources such as an electric heating
from some heat source in the coffee element or a wood fire, is the param-
roaster – whether that be electricity, eter that controls the speed of the
gas or even wood fire – to the beans. energy input or heat added into the
The first parameter a roast master coffee roasting chamber.
should be concerned about is heat
added during the roasting process Bean temperature is measured by a
and the timing of different amounts probe placed in the roasting chamber
of heat added at different stages of where the majority of the beans are
the roast. predicted to be, determined by the
direction of rotation (see Figure 7).
It is important here to distinguish Bean temperature measurements,
between heat and temperature. Heat however, can vary significantly on
is transferred and absorbed energy different machines. This is because
in a material and temperature is a different places in the drum have
measure of the amount of absorbed varying temperatures and different
heat energy in the material. Heat degrees of thickness resulting in a
can be transferred to coffee beans in delay of heat. The length and width
three different ways: of the probe will also have an impact
on the temperature value and rate of
1. CONDUCTION: Heat is transferred change (e.g. a short probe might be
when the beans make contact cooled down by the roaster c­ abinet).­
with the hot roasting drum; As a result, comparisons of bean tem-
perature measurements can rarely
2. RADIATION: Heat energy is trans- be used between different roasters
ferred via electromagnetic waves but only as a consistent value on the
that radiate from the drum to the same machine.
beans, and;

3. CONVECTION: Heat is transferred

by means of hot air mixing with
the bean mass.
22 ROASTING FOUNDATION

Often referred to as smoke, drum, begin by exploring the anatomy of a

exhaust, or surrounding tempera- roaster. Even though a few different
ture, the air temperature in drum designs exist, we will limit this discus-
roasters is measured by a probe that sion to classical drum roasters which
is positioned where the air leaves the consist of a single or double-walled
batch of roasting beans. To explain roasting drum which is heated by a
temperature measurement, let’s heat source.

CAR METAPHOR

TEMPERATURE = SPEEDOMETER

FLAME = ACCELERATOR

Fig. 7 Distinguishing the difference ­between heat and temperature

ROASTING FOUNDATION 23

2.1 TYPES OF BURNERS

2.1.1 ATMOSPHERIC 2.1.3 ELECTRIC

An atmospheric burner is the sim- In principle, the heat source in these

plest kind of gas burner. This technol- roasters works just like a hairdryer or
ogy allows gas to escape through a toaster where an electric current is
nozzle and relies on oxygen in the air passed through an electrical resist-
to mix and sustain combustion at ance which heats up and starts to
atmospheric pressure. The gas-to-­ radiate heat energy as a conse-
oxygen ratio is not necessarily the quence. A traditional filament light
most ideal as the amount of oxygen bulb also works by the same princi-
is not strictly controlled by a mechan- ple. Electric heat sources can transfer
ical blower. However, the simplicity the energy by direct radiation just
of the method makes it a rock solid like a toaster will radiate heat to the
and attractive solution for many bread. For drum roasters, this
roaster manufacturers. In the case of radiation can hit the beans directly if
atmospheric air roasters, the com- the electrical heat source is either
busted hot air enters the roast inside the drum or outside a perfo-
chamber and mixes with the beans. rated drum. If the heat source is
outside a solid drum the radiation is
2.1.2 INFRARED GAS absorbed by the drum which in turn
heats up the coffee. In all of these
Some roasters combust the gas in
roasting systems mentioned, convec-
isolated heating elements such as a
tion plays a big role as atmospheric
ceramic or metal structure that
air passes through the heat source
radiates heat into the drum. The
and eventually makes its way to the
drum wall absorbs the heat energy
beans. Electrical heat sources are
and conducts this to the beans by
often criticized for being slow to
means of contact and radiation. Air is
respond but this can be compensated
also blown between the hot radiating
by making planned changes earlier
heating element and the drum where
on in the roast. It is the difference
it flows through the roasting beans
between using and electrical or gas
and gives away heat energy. Here,
stove top; electric reacts more slowly
the air entering the roasting drum is
but as you get used to the reaction
not combustion gas.
time, you can still cook delicious
food.
 24 ROASTING FOUNDATION

2.2 ROASTER ANATOMY

Here, we can see that a ventilator measures the heat of the air after it
downstream in the system creates has passed through the beans. The
suction (i.e. negative pressure) hot air with the chaff from the coffee
towards the roaster and blows (i.e. is then sucked into the cyclone where
positive pressure) in the direction of the chaff will fall into the chaff
the chimney. The suction draws collector. Meanwhile, the smoke (i.e.
atmospheric air over a heat source air with aroma and small particles) is
before the heated air passes through either passed into the chimney stack
holes or perforations on the back of and outside, or through a filtration
the drum towards the roasting beans system or an afterburner, which is
where the temperature is estimated sometimes also called a fume inciner-
with a bean probe. The air probe ator.

CHIMNEY

ROOM AIR AROUND 20°C

HEATED AIR AROUND 200°C

HOPPER

AFTERBURNER/
SMOKE FILTER VENTILATOR

AIR TEMP.
PROBE
CYCLONE

ROASTING
DRUM BEAN PROBE

CHAFF
COLLECTOR

ROOM AIR COOLING BIN

HEAT SOURCE

Fig. 8 Anatomy of air circulation ROASTER CABINET

through a drum roaster
ROASTING FOUNDATION 25

In the case of fluid bed roasters, the can also be a bean probe positioned
heat source does not radiate directly directly into bean mass. Fluid bed
onto the beans or the drum. Air is roasters comes in all sizes; from a
heated separately from the roasting small 50g batch size (e.g. Ikawa) to
chamber which is then redirected 600+ kg (e.g. Neuhaus Neotec)
into the bean pile. It is often the roasters.
temperature of the air that is blown
into the batch of roasting beans that DRUM ROASTER
is measured. The temperature can
also be measured after the air has
passed through the beans, or both.
On bigger fluid bed roasters, there
AIR TEMPERATURE

BEAN TEMPERATURE

FLUID BED ROASTER

BEAN TEMPERATURE

AIR TEMPERATURE

Fig. 9 Simple anatomy of a fluid bed roasting system

 3
26 ROASTING FOUNDATION

TIME
ROASTING FOUNDATION 27

Time is important for three reasons:

1. A material needs time at a certain temperature in order to have any

heat-induced chemical reactions to happen at all. The degree to
which the material is affected by heat depends on the time the ma-
terial has spent at this temperature; not just the magnitude of tem-
perature itself. This is the reason why the correlation between bean
temperature and color is roast profile specific as a slower roast will
display darker coffee beans at lower bean temperatures since time
is also adding color to the mix. In other words, a fast roast needs to
end at a higher bean temperature if it needs to be the same color as
a slower roast.

2. Heat is added to the surface of the bean and needs time to diffuse to
the centre. As long as the bean continues to be heated, this results
in a gradient of falling temperature from the surface to the centre of
the bean. One of the big differences between a slow roast in the spe-
cialty coffee business, otherwise known as gourmet roasting, and a
fast roast of low quality-oriented coffee is that the temperature gra-
dient created when the heat is added quickly can be very steep. This
is known as a ‘flash’ roast when the total roast time is less than three
minutes. In flash roasted coffee, the bean surface can be over-roast-
ed and the centre under-roasted. Whereas in a slow roast, there is
time to wait for the coffee to reach a roasted state where the flavour
potential is optimised – regardless of the time it takes.

3. Faster, light roasts tend to have a more pronounced/steeper color

gradient due to the higher speed of roasting than classic slow roasts.
A gradient is not necessarily good or bad. The good/bad decision is
made at the cupping table and during consumer tests.
28 ROASTING FOUNDATION

Fig. 10 Examples of different temperatures gradients in slow versus fast or ‘flash’ roasts

Coffee colour = taste

Heat travels through the bean from the outside to the inside.

Slow roasted coffee tends to have an A small gradient is okay and some
even color from surface to centre. coffees and roast styles work well
with a small gradient.

If the launch temperature is too high, In some industrial roasts where

the surface can become burnt in an launch and roast temperature are
otherwise well-developed bean. too high, and roasting time too short,
a burnt bean surface and green
center can occur simuteanously.
 4
ROASTING FOUNDATION 29

ROAST PROFILE
30 ROASTING FOUNDATION

To summarize, temperature and time are the basic parameters of a coffee

roasting process. We can map out how a coffee is treated during a specific
roast and it typically looks like this:
TEMPERATURE

AIR TEMPERATURE
BEAN TEMPERATURE

TIME

Fig. 11 Example of a generic roast profile including air and bean

temperature ­progression over time

As mentioned, the bean temperature • Flame size of a gas based roaster

drives the chemical reactions in the • Effect of an electrical heating ele-
roast. This is why a roast master ment in electrical roasters
would like to have a measurement of • Air temperature in a convection-
the bean temperature at any given based roaster.
moment of the coffee roasting pro-
cess so that the roast degree can be Even in a flame-on-drum roaster that
estimated at any given time. The relies on contact (i.e. when the beans
speed of the roast depends on the touch the roasting drum surface
speed of energy input into the roast- during rotation) and radiation (i.e.
ing chamber, which is controlled by: natural radiation from the hot drum)
ROASTING FOUNDATION 31

the majority of heat transfer to the Likewise, the relationship between

beans still comes from the hot air (i.e. air and beans in a roasting process
convection). follows the same principle. If the air
is hotter than the beans, heat trans-
An important evaluation of roast fers from the hot air to the beans. The
profiles in any roaster type is the bigger the temperature difference
temperature difference between air between air and beans, the quicker
and bean at any given point of the the energy is added to the beans.
roast. Thermal heat always goes from Hence, you will have a faster roast
hot to cold materials if the material time but run the risk of it being too
gets into contact. If your hand is quick.
warm and you touch a cold glass, for
example, heat goes from your hand Figure 12 below illustrates why there
to the glass so that the hand is left is a relationship between flame (1),
slightly chilled and the glass is left air temperature (2) and bean temper-
slightly heated. If your hand touches ature (3).The flame setting is there-
a hot stove top plate the heat goes fore an indicator of what happens
from the plate to your hand. Howev- later to the air temperature and the
er, if you take two equally hot hands air temperature is an early indicator
and make them touch, no hand is for what happens later to the bean
heated or chilled because they have temperature.
the same temperature.

AIR TEMPERATURE
BEAN TEMPERATURE

1
3
TIME

Fig. 12 Relationship between flame (1), air (2) and bean temperature (3)
32 ROASTING FOUNDATION

In the roasting process, we aim to hit up very quickly. This is fine at the
the midpoint between baking (i.e. too beginning of the roast where the high
slow) and scorching (i.e. too quick) moisture of the green beans are able
the coffee. Another general rule is to to take in a lot of energy without the
avoid extreme conditions in the roast bean surface being damaged. Later in
to make the roast profile as gentle to the roasting process, the beans
the beans as possible during all become much more fragile so it is
stages of the roast. important to reduce the speed of
energy input (e.g. flame size, effect of
The heat source of the roaster heats electrical heating element, or tem-
up the air going through the roaster. perature difference between air and
Therefore, if you have the flame on bean in a pure convection roaster) as
full power the air temperature shoots indicated in Figure 13 below.

0 5 10 15
GREEN YELLOW CINNAMON EXOTHERMAL

POP

FLAME
1

AIRFLOW

FLAME
2

AIRFLOW

BIG TEMPERATURE DIFFERENCE

LEADS TO QUICK ROAST AND AIR TEMPERATURE
POTENTIAL SCORCHING BEAN TEMPERATURE
1 2

Fig. 13 Flame reduction and different profiles

ROASTING FOUNDATION 33

4.1 ENDOTHERMIC VS. EXOTHERMIC PHASE OF PROFILE

The speed of energy input (e.g. flame releases energy is called exothermic.
size) should be reduced around 1st After 1st crack, the roasting system
crack to slow down the last part of now has two heat sources; the heat
the roast and optimize the colour source provided by the roaster (e.g.
gradient in the beans. Note that it is gas flame in a gas roaster, heating
important to be gentle to the increas- element in an electric roaster, wood
ingly fragile bean surfaces. There is flame in a wood fire-driven roaster)
also another reason for the reduction and the heat developed inside each
in the speed of energy input around and every bean. The switch in the
1st crack which is related to the bean’s thermodynamic state starts
exothermic nature of the coffee once off very slowly in the beginning but
it goes into the roasting process past progressively becomes a bigger and
1st crack. When the coffee is green bigger factor as the roast continues
and moist, the progression of the past 1st crack. It is therefore advisa-
roasting process is driven by a ble to reduce the external heat
continuous input of an external heat source several times before 1st crack
source because the green beans can so that the roasting process is not
only absorb energy in this phase. A too quick as a result of all the energy
chemical reaction that absorbs being generated from both heat
energy is called endothermic. On the sources.
other hand, a chemical reaction that

POP

ENDOTHERMIC EXOTHERMIC

Fig. 14 Thermodynamic ‘switch’ between a coffee’s endothermic and exothermic state

 5
34 R OS CA
A SETRIOA
NG S T IN
FOG UCU
NRDR A
ICU
T ILO
UMN

RULES OF THUMB
 ROASTING FOUNDATION 35

How long should the main different personal roasting and corresponding
stages be to create a nice profile? product style.
This is not easy to answer given the
many different combinations of Please consider these rules of thumb
green coffee, manufacturers of coffee similar to the 25-second rule of
roasters and sensory preferences of espresso. You will never win any
different consumers. barista competition only applying the
25-second rule since you need more
Here are some ‘rules of thumb’ that subtle experiments to hit the ‘sweet
should help to guide you in the right spot’ in a coffee. However, the same
direction with your first few roasts. 25-second rule is useful to apply to
This is so that you can quickly move your first brew just to get you on the
to more sophisticated roasting right direction on your first steps.
experiments where you can taste The same applies to roasting; nothing
the results and develop your own more, nothing less.
HEATING AND DRYING

ENDOTHERMIC

Inlet temperature (smoke): 200 (170-230) Celcius

Time until 1st pop: 9 (5-13) minutes

POP Reduce flame after 1st pop

DEVELOPMENT

EXOTHERMIC

Roasting time: 3 (1-4) minutes

End temperature (product): 200 (185-225) Celcius

Fig. 15 Endothermic and exothermic phases in coffee roasting

36 ROASTING FOUNDATION

If you’re not sure about a recom- of the most important waypoints in

mended inlet temperature (a recom- your subsequent roast profile design.
mendation should be indicated in the
roaster manual), start with 200°C but The optimum time to 1st crack can
charge temperatures can vary widely go all the way down to five minutes
from between 170°C - 230°C on differ- on small 100 g sample drum roast-
ent roasters. ers or small convection-based sam-
ple roasters, and up to 14 minutes
If you are not familiar with the on large 300 kg commercial drum
roaster, a useful method is to roast roasters. The time from 1st crack to
the first batch with a full batch size target colour (i.e. development time)
and full flame all the way to 2nd crack. could be down to one minute for light
This is the worst profile you can ever roasts, or sometimes closer to half
execute from a quality perspective a minute for extremely light roasts,
but this single roast will give you a and up to 4-5 minutes for a dark or
precise impression of the energy po- really dark roast. The simplest way
tential of the roaster. Be very careful to roast darker is to apply a basic
when you do this and be ready to roast profile with steadily increasing
terminate the roast if you can see temperatures during the end of the
that it is progressing dangerously fast roast before taking the beans out at
as there is a danger that the coffee a higher bean temperature.
may catch fire. You can use the data
from this roast as a foundation for In terms of end temperature, this
your subsequent roasts and it will can be any value between 185°C and
save you a lot of trial and error when up to 225°C. However, please bear
profiling a given coffee. In my expe- in mind that this depends not only
rience, I often achieve something on how dark you will roast but also
that is close to this rule of thumb where the bean probe is installed
after two or three roasts using this in a particular brand of roaster. To
method. Although you will ruin the orientate yourself in the desired
coffee on the first roast, I consider it temperatures for end colour, con-
a cost-effective approach to reaching sider mapping out what your bean
a desired roast profile. Other than temperature shows at 1st crack and
revealing the speed of the roast, it 2nd crack before using this range to
maps out the playing field in giving chart expected bean temperatures
approximate bean temperatures for for different roasts degrees.
both 1st and 2nd crack which are two
ROASTING FOUNDATION 37

As mentioned, the above recommen-

dations are suggested as a useful
starting point. Once you achieve
these rules of thumb with your roast
profile, then your learning and per-
sonal roast profile style development
starts. They are purely designed to
help you avoid roasting defects such
as scorching (i.e. lack of acidity and
a particular ‘roasty’ note reminiscent
of bread crust) or baking (i.e. flat,
lacking in sweetness with a papery
or bread-like flavour). If you achieve
something in between the terroir of
the coffee comes out most clearly.
This can, of course, be expressed
differently and it is here where your
own personal style and business
model – such as the preference
profile of the customers you want to
serve through your business – comes
into play.
 6
38 R OS CA
A SETRIOA
NG S T IN
FOG UCU
NRDR A
ICU
T ILO
UMN

ROAST PLANNING
AND LOGGING
ROASTING FOUNDATION 39

As we have outlined earlier, the cause for the profile. The roast plan is
speed of energy input should start therefore a strategy on how to affect
from high to low. For example, a the roast. The preheating sequence
higher energy setting at the begin- is an important part of the roast plan
ning of the roast is recommended since it affects the subsequent roast.
when the beans are able to tolerate a This build-up of heat in the roaster
lot more energy; this is because they will spill back into the batch and add
are still moist and dense. As we move energy parallel to the heat source.
through the roast cycle, the beans You will need to preheat the same
become more fragile and are less way in order to get the same result
able to conduct heat from surface with a given flame control sequence.
to centre. This should be reflected This requires a ‘between-roast’ proto-
in the overall roast plan with a high col that puts your system in the same
flame at the beginning of the roast state before each roast.
and successive planned reductions
throughout the roast. There are no The effect of between-roast accumu-
universal truths but these should be lated heat energy has a large impact
considered as guidelines when you in a drum roaster since there is a lot
approach a machine that you don’t of metal in the drum and the body
yet know, and with coffee that you of the roaster. In convection-based
have not roasted before, but want to systems, this effect is much smaller
get to solid ground quickly. and in many cases it is negligible
since only the air is working as a
Figure 16 below is a an example of heat conductor because of its low
a roast plan. Before roasting, it is heat capacity. Once you preheat the
better to establish a plan for what to system and you have a plan for flame
do with your input parameters (e.g. and airflow inputs, note these values
flame) than improvising during the down in the preheat column. As soon
roast. The profile itself (i.e. logging of as you hit your target charge temper-
temperature over time) is the result ature while the temperature is rising,
– or effect – of a specific flame and add the green coffee into the roaster.
airflow control sequence that is the
40 ROASTING FOUNDATION

The reference target temperature

will often be the air temperature, ide-
ally increasing, in the empty roaster
rather than the bean temperature.
Once the coffee is added to the roast-
er, you can control the roast with
reference to the bean temperature
reading rather than the air temper-
ature since the bean temperature
probe gives you an excellent indica-
tor of the current state of the coffee.
A roast plan might look like Figure
16 below with three gas settings
(e.g. 1=low; 2=medium; 3=high) and
airflow from 0-100%.

Preheat Start Adjustments during roast

Temp.

Flame

From now on the plan is set and now

you can start roasting and log the
result of the above plan.

Preheat Start Adjustments during roast

Temp. 220 140 160 180 195

Flame 3 3 2 1 OUT

Fig. 16 Basic roast plan

 7
R O A SR O
SCAE T ASTING
ING FO C URRI
UND C ULUM
ATION 41

FIRE
42 ROASTING FOUNDATION

It is not a question of if but when you 1. Fire in the roasting chamber;

will have a fire! Most fire prevention
2. Fire in the ventilation system/
and fire-fighting strategies or rou-
chimney;
tines need to be planned and im-
plemented as part the planning and 3. Fire in the cyclone.
building of your roastery. Therefore,
it is extremely important to have Firstly, let’s introduce a basic under-
appropriate fire routines established standing of what causes a fire and
before you turn on your roaster for how to remove the causes of fire in
the first time. Generally, there are order to avoid them and/or put them
three different possible sources of out if they arise.
fires:

7.1 THE FIRE TRIANGLE

The fire or combustion triangle below ing a fire with a fire blanket removes
is a simple model for understanding the ‘oxygen’ element of the triangle
the necessary ingredients for most and can extinguish a fire. In the next
fires. The triangle illustrates the chapter, we will explore some differ-
three elements a fire needs to ignite ent scenarios where a fire may start
and sustain itself; heat, fuel, and and recommendations on how to put
oxygen. them out.

A fire naturally occurs when all three

elements are present and combined
in the right mixture. However, a fire
can be prevented or extinguished by
removing any one of the elements in
the fire triangle. For example, cover-
EN

HE
YG

AT
OX

FUEL (COFFEE)
Fig. 17 The fire triangle
ROASTING FOUNDATION 43

7.2 COFFEE IN THE ROASTING CHAMBER

My first experience of a fire was at This can very quickly lead to a critical
Kontra coffee, Copenhagen, shortly situation for any roastery as the lead
after our new 30 kg roaster had time for a new roaster can be anything
arrived. I was busy and during the from four weeks to four months.
loading of a roast I forgot to add two Without a viable alternative, this can
buckets of coffee and only added have the potential to put you out of
one. I discovered a fire in the drum business very quickly. It is important
when I checked the coffee for 1st to note that your clients may wait a
crack. It is important to note that a day, perhaps a few days, but 80-90%
half batch that receives a flame will be forced to find another supplier
profile for a full batch will catch fire if you can’t deliver coffee after one
quickly. Luckily, a pre-prepared week.
procedure with a preinstalled hose at
hand was able to put the fire out A recommended system for putting
quickly. out fires in the drum is to have a hose
installed either with a manual pump
Another incident concerns a roast or connected directly to the main
master who had no experience with water supply. If a fire is discovered in
roaster fires and had no established the drum, you should:
procedures to fight a fire. When a
small fire started in the drum, he 1. Shut off the heat supply (e.g.
panicked and dumped the burning flame);
coffee into the cooling tray. Rather 2. Remove the sample spoon which
than having the fire kept inside the gives you access to the drum, but
well-protected chamber in the on the other hand, doesn’t feed
roaster, he now had a fire in the café the fire with too much oxygen
full of customers. Fortunately, they because the aperture of the hole is
managed to leave safely but when so small;
the fire brigade arrived, their only 3. Add water slowly through the hole;
option was to use their water hoses 4. When the fire is extinguished, take
to extinguish the fire. Unfortunately, out the batch of coffee and inspect
hot metal and water is a very bad the roaster and ventilation system
combination and the roaster was before turning on the roaster;
completely ruined. 5. It is recommended that you roast
a ‘cleaning batch’ that you should
dispose of afterwards before
roasting again for production.
44 ROASTING FOUNDATION

If you add a small enough amount of elements. Please consult the manual
water through the hole you should be and/or contact the manufacturer if
able to slowly extinguish the fire you don’t feel that the instructions are
without leaving too much water in the detailed enough on how to put out
roaster. It is dangerous to use exces- fires without damaging the electrics in
sive amounts of water as this may the roaster. Often, a CO2 extinguisher
potentially come into contact with the is the most common method of
electrical circuits. Please be patient as extinguishing electrical fires. The
the rotation of the batch of burning challenge is how to add the CO2 so
coffee will slowly cool down. It takes a that it stays inside the roasting cham-
long time to put out a fire since the ber long enough to choke the fire by
water added will cool the surface of removing oxygen. How this should be
the beans but it will take longer to done is specific to the roaster technol-
cool the centre of each bean. ogy, and therefore a procedure that
the manufacturer should guide you
For electric roasters, adding water through.
will damage the circuits or heating

7.3 VENTILATION SYSTEM / CHIMNEY

When coffee is roasted the ventila- became very dark while the rest
tion system is first flushed with a lot remained almost green.
of moisture and this is where dry
organic dust and coffee oils begin to At some point, he took the roast out
collect. This is repeated for every because it did not progress in a way
roast so a highly flammable layer of that would produce anything of retail
dry organic material eventually value. However, when he ‘dropped’
builds up over time. the batch into the cooling tray, he
could see that the chimney was
A situation that I know of where a glowing red. Our analysis was that a
chimney caught fire was when a few beans had become trapped due
roast master was unsure if he had to the overfilled drum and made
added 1kgs or 1.5kgs to the roaster their way with the airflow into the
and wanted to see how the roast chimney. Any burning beans that
progressed. He observed that the come into came into contact with the
coffee did not take on colour in the build-up of oils and particulate
expected timeframe and noticed that residue in the chimney can easily
during the roast some of the beans catch fire.
ROASTING FOUNDATION 45

tant that your ventilation system is

installed using easily detachable
units so that they can be removed for
cleaning – or at least have well placed
inspection hatches. It is essential that
all parts of the ventilation system
should be easily accessible for
cleaning.

For example, at Kontra Coffee Roast-

ers, an inert gas system using a
mixture of nitrogen, CO2 and argon
has been installed with small nozzles
facing into the chimney. If this bottle
of inert gas is emptied into the
chimney, the oxygen level will drop
from 21% at normal atmospheric
Fig. 18 Ventilation flue coated in level to less than 1% within one
­organic particulate dust and coffee minute. The gas bottle will keep
oils adding inert gas to the chimney at
least for 10 minutes to ensure the
flames are fully extinguished in case
Therefore, the cleaner the chimney of a fire. It is important to remember
the less severe the fire. The cheapest that it is dangerous to open the
way to protect yourself from the chimney to add either water or foam
severity of chimney fires is to keep it as there is a risk of explosion caused
as clean as possible. Depending on by the oxygen entering the chimney
the specific ventilation installation, it stack.
is recommended that an average
frequency of chimney cleaning If we refer back to the fire triangle,
should be around once every three this system is an effective means of
months. To separate this frequency extinguishing the fire by removing
from keeping your business running, oxygen. Please note that as this
I would advise hiring a chimney system works without water, there is
sweeper to come on an agreed nothing to clean afterwards; this
interval to clean your ventilation saves on cleaning costs and in some
system. In order to make sure this incidents, a new roaster or in the
can be an easy routine, it is impor- worst case scenario, a new roastery.
46 ROASTING FOUNDATION

7.4 CYCLONE

Since the cyclone is a small unit that from its bearings since oxygen would
sits at the bottom of the ventilation be introduced into the system and
system, water can be added to the will fuel the fire significantly. Consid-
cyclone without it affecting the er installing a water spray nozzle in
roaster. In the case of a cyclone fire, the upper part of the cyclone so that
the ventilation system should not be in case of a fire, you can add water to
opened by removing the cyclone quickly bring the fire under control.

7.5 TYPES OF FLAMMABLES AND EXTINGUISHING METHODS

United
Description Europe Asia Extinguish method
States
Solid materials
(e.g. coffee, Most suppression
Class A Class A Class A
wood, paper, ­techniques.
fabric)
Inert gas or foam chokes
the fire by restricting the
access of oxygen.
Liquids Class B Class B Class B
A fire blanket can also
be used if the fire is in a
small area.
Flammable
Class C Class B Class C Inert gas or foam.
gases
Flammable Specialist suppression
Class D Class D Class D
metals required.
Not Inert gas and foam can be
classified used but not electrically
Electrical fire Class C Class E
(formerly conductive agents like
Class E) water!
Cooking oils Suppression by removal
Class F Class K Class F
and fats of oxygen or water mist.

Table 1 Types of flammables, the classification by region, and extinguishing methods

 8
ROASTING FOUNDATION 47

OTHER RISKS
TO CONSIDER

8.1 WORK ENVIRONMENT

In a coffee roastery, heavy bags of over or even injured by heavy bags

green coffee are sometimes trans- of coffee falling when loading and
ported with small fork-lift trucks and unloading. Therefore, great care
stacked on tall shelves. In an environ- must be taken when moving heavy
ment like this, dangerous situations items around the roastery.
can arise such as someone being run
 9
48 ROASTING FOUNDATION

CONCLUSION

Coffee roasting is a craft and a was only around 20%. From a qual-
science. The road ahead is never an ity control perspective, color is the
easy ride if you are considering the most important parameter to keep
intermediate and professional levels. track of. Timing is also important and
But I hope it is clear from reading this should be monitored with roast log-
foundation-level handbook that cof- ging software which is covered more
fee roasting is not a ‘dark art’ for the extensively in both the intermediate
few but a pretty simple and straight- and professional level.
forward process as baking bread. As
long as you pay attention to the time The intermediate level is designed to
and color during the process and a let you create the product you in-
some trial and error, you will achieve tend and is designed for people who
great results. have taken the first steps towards
making coffee roasting part of their
The foundation level is designed to professional life at a production level.
let you experience and observe the It also focuses on deliberate profile
roasting process because it address- design as well as a more advanced
es individuals who consider if coffee sensory analysis of roasted coffee.
roasting is right for them. Here, the Meanwhile, the professional level is
focus is on the most important pa- designed for teachers and consult-
rameter which from a broad product ants who need to be able to not only
development perspective is the final observe and create a precise roast
color of the coffee. As mentioned profile that delivers desired results
earlier, studies have shown that color on any roaster, but also to analyze
modulated around 80% of the sen- and expertly interpret the entire
sory variation and the timing aspect roasting process.
ROASTING FOUNDATION 49

PART II
 10
50 R OS CA
A SETRIOA
NG S T IN
FOG UCU
NRDR A
ICU
T ILO
UMN

STARTING A
COFFEE BUSINESS
ROASTING FOUNDATION 51

In part two of this roasting handbook, key financial indicators to understand

we will take a look at the crucial the ‘numbers’ involved in the running
business aspects of starting-up a cof- of a financially profitable and sustain-
fee-related company. It has proven able coffee roastery.
to be a subject of major interest for
my students during roasting courses I have also initiated a research project
because most of them are on the way mapping out the diversity of business
to start up or – in the early process models of coffee roasteries that is
of starting – a coffee roasting busi- meant as a strategic tool for coffee
ness. If you are employed in a coffee roasting startups to design and adjust
roastery founded by someone else, the business model of coffee roasting
knowing more about the business businesses using The Business Model
will lead to increased job satisfaction Canvas. The work is ongoing and is
and more productive conversations expected to be finalized in 2018. The
with the other departments of the project was presented at The Roasters
company. It will also benefit the dia- Guild Camp in 2017 and you can see
logue between you, your colleagues the video and read more about the
and your customers. project by visiting the Coffee Mind
website (see Resources).
My general experience as a teacher
and consultant is that the ‘problems’ It is also vital for the strength of the
with the business aspect of a coffee community that the business aspect
career are both common and very of what we do is strengthened since
pronounced in the specialty coffee the risk of a failing business is some-
community. This is the reason that thing that is a far bigger risk than a
I have been advocating that our bad roast, an under-extracted cup
Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) of coffee or perhaps even a fire in
should support our members and your roastery. In this respect, nothing
the wider community more with less than your own happiness as a
information and recommendations business owner is at stake as no one
around business design and strategy. wants to suffer the difficulties of a
An example of this is a great piece of struggling business or going bank-
work conducted by Heather Ward in rupt. Just imagine the difference in
researching and compiling the Roast- the strength of our community if it
er/Retailer Financial Benchmarking was full of thriving and existentially
Report which is available in the SCA aligned businesses rather than strug-
Store. It is a collection and analysis of gling ones?
52 ROASTING FOUNDATION

Although this topic is outside of the frequently pay attention to an area

curriculum, I have found it an often that was not my main area of focus
overlooked factor of frustration for and very far from my comfort zone
my clients and have therefore chosen – let alone education and general
to give it a significant amount of background. Avoidance seemed not
space in this handbook. to reduce but only magnify the prob-
lems, so gradually, I chose to tackle
Firstly, I did not enter into the coffee this thorny issue head on and started
industry as a business expert. Nor to focus on and appreciate these ac-
do I have a background or talent in tivities in light of the positive results
this area, so as a company founder rather than the activity itself.
I found myself in the exact same
situation as many others in the spe- The following chapter is therefore
cialty coffee industry. In this sense, an attempt, in my experience, to
the driver for my activities was very describe a common scenario that
similar in my love for coffee and all coffee startups often find themselves
the fun that I have with teaching, in. It seeks to provide a perspective
research and consultancy. on what to focus on; so that you can
start to apply some of these insights
However, the business aspect of being immediately into your plan of start-
a coffee consultant and teacher ing a company or would like to opti-
always felt like a necessarily evil on mize how you run your already estab-
the path that I had chosen to pursue. lished business. Inspiration on how
It always seemed extremely distant to establish and implement better
from my interests in science and practices into your business as well
coffee, and therefore of little interest. as developing your knowledge and
Yet, problems and challenges contin- skills further is found in the reference
ued to arise, meaning that I had to section at the end of this book.
ROASTING FOUNDATION 53

10.1 WHAT HAPPENS TO MOST START-UPS IN THE BEGINNING?

A specialty coffee business is com- is to start up a coffee business where

monly started by people who love they can indulge in their hobby all
coffee. The vast majority of coffee day, everyday. In the beginning this
professionals in small to and medi- is, without doubt, an exciting pros-
um- sized coffee enterprises (SME’s) pect. However, not knowing what ‘the
are passionate about the product other things are’ can become an
they sell, and the community they increasingly common source of
are in. This is not necessarily the case frustration.
for other businesses or very big

? ? ?
coffee companies. I have met really
passionate people in large companies
so this is not to denigrate big busi-

? ?
ness at all, but rather to identify the
blind spots for the business aspects
in coffee-related SME’s.

? ?
? ? ?
Often, it starts as a feeling and ends
in endless lists of ‘to-dos’, emails,
Over the years, it has become more meetings and a seemingly infinite
and more apparent to me that this number of started-but-not-yet-com-
personal passion for what we do is pleted projects and unfulfilled
what makes the coffee community so promises. Also, the number of
special. That said, this exact circum- working hours quickly escalates and
stance also makes us likely to face a it is easy to come to the realization
particular set of challenges. The that there are simply never enough
dream that many coffee people have hours in the day.
54 ROASTING FOUNDATION

Of course, the scenario outlined is So, you love your coffee, and you
not unique to coffee-related startups hope your customer does as well.
as any person starting a business Perhaps you are lucky enough to
based around their passion is in the start your business in a market
same situation; and the field dealing where there is already an audience
with theory and practices in this area who likes your product. The lucky
is called entrepreneurship. Therefore, ones are those that can quickly take
let’s introduce the concept at this their business to a level that is
point that anyone who is starting a sustainable where they can make a
business with a focus on coffee is in living. From a business development
engaged in the business of ‘coffee- perspective, this is actually the least
preneurship’. interesting situation. This is not
because the situation is bad, it’s
The first challenge for a coffeepre- great; but where is the business
neur is selling a coffee-based product strategy from start-to-launch that will
to the customer. support further growth? My consul-
tancy experience has shown that a

? big enough customer base for busi-

nesses from the point of launch is
rare – and here is where the chal-
lenge starts. What can we do about
it?
ROASTING FOUNDATION 55

10.2 WHICH ‘FORK IN THE ROAD’ DO I TAKE?

From a business perspective, there I would call this the dream of the
are effectively two different ap- freelancer since the vision behind
proaches to this situation. Either you this business is an extension of the
are looking for a job where you are structures surrounding a worker who
simultaneously both the boss, the effectively creates their own employ-
employee and the ambition is to take ment where they trade work hours
the business to a level where you can for money on a 1:1 ratio. This scenar-
cover the costs and take out a io is where the object of focus is the
reasonable salary. In this model, the love for the cup of coffee felt by the
dream has been realised where business founder. The income, on the
executing a labour of love in coffee other hand, is based on the number
becomes the ends itself. Even the of coffees that can be sold while the
motivation for hiring an employee is founder of the business personally
based on ensuring that the number prepares all, or close to all, the cups
of working hours is kept to a tolera- of coffee.
ble level.

A BIT MESSY
COINCIDENCE A LOT OF HOURS
?
DESIGN COMPLETELY OTHER SKILLSET
56 ROASTING FOUNDATION

This is of course great – if that is truly another challenge. How do you step
the dream. In this way, the business back so that you are not the one just
becomes sustainable by hard work delivering the product to customers,
and coincidence rather than strategic and in effect, becoming the bottle-
organizational work and business neck to ever scaling the business
design. further? Based on my experience,
effective business development is
However, if a business is not a only possible when adequate time
success from day one or if the market can be invested in the development
changes after a period of success, and implementation of the company
challenges can soon start to present vision and its derived protocols. In
themselves. Maybe, the other fork in this process the elements in the
the road comes into view and you development of the vision are shifted
want to spend more time focused on away from the strict focus on the cup
business development. of coffee to a deeper understanding
of all of the aspects of value that you
Typically, business development can deliver. In essence, this provides
leads down another path which is the space to work on the develop-
correlated with the dream of scaling. ment of the systems and culture that
Engaging with the process of strate- can deliver these values in a scaled
gic business design requires time for organization.
creative thinking which presents
ROASTING FOUNDATION 57

10.3 HOW DO I KNOW I AM GOING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION?

In the past decade, a new movement Instead, a lean startup methodology

called Lean Startup has been circulat- focuses on testing these assumptions
ing and gathering momentum in the outlined in the business model.
global entrepreneurship community. Rather than view the business model
It is a model that has developed a as a timeframe of rolling out the
number of simple, intuitive but yet plan, lean startup thinking looks at
effective approaches to business how the elements in a business are
design as a tool to make a solid configured and interrelated at a
business plan. Many entrepreneurs certain instant in time – whether that
will be familiar with the traditional is now, in the past or sometime in the
business plan when asked by the future. In effect, this is a powerful
bank or an investor to complete. It is tool to map and innovate the overall
an effort to convince the lender that business model by mapping out one
their business idea is lucrative – if of several different scenarios. The
only they could get some starting Business Model Canvas below is a
capital. Essentially, a business plan is great starting point to get an over-
a series of assumptions, of which view of your business idea, or ideas,
some assumptions may or may not and also a means in which to under-
be tested over time. stand the business landscape on one
page.

DATE BUSINESS ITTERATION NO.

KEY KEY VALUE CUSTOMER CUSTOMER

PARTNERS ACTIVITIES PROPOSITIONS RELATIONSHIPS SEGMENTS

KEY CHANNELS
RESOURCES

COST STRUCTURE REVENUE STREAMS

Fig. 19 The Business Model Canvas

Poster size pdf available for free on: https://coffee-mind.com/business-model-canvas/
58 ROASTING FOUNDATION

It is important to have a tool where Often, the first question we should

you can experiment with different ask ourselves may sound counterin-
possible versions of the general tuitive but can help to focus our
business idea that you have. In minds on the crucial activity of
particular, it is very useful for coffee business mapping. For example, is
roastery startups as there are many there any customer segment that you
different types of coffee roasteries do not plan to serve? This kind of
that can significantly differ in their mapping can quickly prioritise the
business model. So, from a business customer segments that you wish to
perspective, a coffee roastery is not align with by having a better under-
just a roastery. The decision to standing of who you do not wish to
position which kind of roastery you engage with. This is based on how
wish to establish depends on what their needs will, or will not, help you
would be the most rewarding model to travel in the right direction along
and how this affects the way you your personal and professional
want to live your life. Different journey. It is an important process of
customer segments have different critical thinking because ultimately it
needs and if you map those needs helps to pave the way for coffeepre-
out clearly you will see how they are neurs to continue down the path of
aligned, or not, with your values and personal development that leads to a
how you wish to work. For example, I life of activities that is aligned with
have often been surprised how their core interest, talent and life
coffeepreneurs in the business of purpose. This is the stuff that all
starting a roastery subconsciously entrepreneur dreams are made of.
assume that there is only one busi-
ness model for a roastery – which is
to sell a roasted product to anybody
who drinks or sells coffee.
ROASTING FOUNDATION 59

10.4 WHAT OTHER FACTORS DO I NEED TO CONSIDER?

Another ‘blind spot’ is to focus on the Coffeepreneurs tend to focus on the

physical product. Whether it is a bag outer individual aspect of their
of well roasted coffee beans or a products which is what most of the
perfectly extracted espresso, the education systems also focus on (e.g.
product itself has many aspects Green coffee, Roasting, Barista/
attributed to it other than being a Brewing and Sensory). This is, of
physical entity. Here, Ken Wilber’s course, necessary to create specialty
Integral Approach model helps us to coffee consistently but it is still not
consider all aspects of our product sufficient to have a business where
offering. According to Wilber, phe- you can satisfy all of your customer’s
nomena can be viewed from four needs. For example, some people
different perspectives divided into would prefer a mediocre quality
either inner and outer, individual and coffee quality (UR), served by a nice
collective quadrants respectively. person (UL) in the place where your
This leads to four fundamental friends are (LL), and where the
groups of perspectives illustrated in waiting time is minimal (LR). This
the figure below: might be preferable to another
scenario where an amazing cup of
coffee (UR) is served by an arrogant
INNER OUTER
barista (UL), in a place where your
PSYCHOLOGY THINGS friends would never go to (LL) and
(UL) (UR)
INDIVIDUAL

where the waiting time is too long

Thoughts, Coffee tree, bean,
(LR). This is just one example but
feelings roast profile,
brew, cup, science there are many different possible
facts scenarios for a product feature with
this kind of customer preference
CULTURE SYSTEMS
(LL) (LR) mapping across all quadrants.
COLLECTIVE

Group identity, Protocols,

However, if you choose to go down
tribe membership, workflow, recipes, the path of looking beyond, but
ethics QC
without forgetting, the cup of coffee
that you love to a more a scalable
business framework, this integral
Fig. 20 Ken Wilber’s Integral Approach.
model can be useful.
Psychology (UL) = Upper Left
Culture (LL) = Lower Left
Things (UR) = Upper Right
Systems (LR) = Lower Right
60 ROASTING FOUNDATION

It helps us to remember the ‘other customers (also LL).

aspects’ of the product where value is The model can also be used for
delivered through thoughts and mapping out which kind of life you
feelings (UL), associated with interac- want to live by brainstorming all the
tions with your products delivered quadrants for expected benefits, as
through intentionally designed well as all the risks or possible costs
systems (LR) in a well nurtured per quadrant that will affect your life
company culture (LL) that has loyal quality by starting your business.

10.5 HOW DO I TRANSLATE MY PASSION INTO PROFIT?

In my experience, it is rare to meet itself, or perhaps they are not driven

people in the specialty coffee com- by love at all and are just driven by the
munity who are not passionate about will to survive, or purely for profit? In
coffee. For those who are not pas- contrast, the vast majority of people
sionate, they would be happy selling in specialty coffee are driven out of
something else; this is what I would love and a passion for what they do.
characterise as a Product Indifferent Even so, the ability to sell and create
Business (see Figure 21). In this demand is essential for profitability
model, people tend to love the and this is illustrated in the Passionate
business rather than the product Business Venn diagram below.

HOBBY PRODUCT PASSIONATE

INDIFFERENT BUSINESS
BUSINESS

TALENT TALENT

SELLS
PASSION PASSION SELLS

Fig. 21 A Passionate Business Venn diagram of where a hobby and different business
models might intersect
ROASTING FOUNDATION 61

Here, we return to the dilemma Business where you don’t even like
facing the business owner where the the product yourself – even if it sells
need to design, or redesign, their well. I believe the solution lies in the
business model is driven either by an creative design of your products that
inner passion or their fear of failure. fit within the intersection between
Even in lean startup methodologies, you and your customers.
it is not explicit or very clear about
how to go about solving this dilem- The challenge is to get close enough
ma. This is a question that can only to your customers for them to
be answered by the coffeepreneur experience familiarity with the
where the desire to thrive in a product, but far enough in your own
commercial environment must be direction to give it novelty in your
balanced the by short-term need for customer’s eyes. This is not necessar-
business growth that is not at the ily a mutually exclusive decision that
expense of long-term personal you need to take when developing a
freedom and happiness. As demon- concept, as there is a blueprint that
strated by the Venn diagram, a can combine your personal prefer-
balanced approach that takes into ences and those of your customer’s
account all three factors (e.g. passion, in the final product or product range.
talent, selling) leads to the develop- But having a diversity of product
ment of a Passionate Business. In means that you can satisfy any
other words, it is a business that can customer while offering a product
flourish commercially, while at the range that simultaneously meets the
same time nourishing the needs of needs of your own passion and that
the coffeepreneur who has a passion of your customer's.
and talent for his or her product offer
in the marketplace. This model is also inspired by the
Integral Approach outlined earlier
Take for example roast degree as a where silo-thinking and domain
simplified product parameter to reductionism will either lead to an
consider in your company. Should expensive hobby struggling to survive
you roast as light as you prefer? Or financially or a cold product indiffer-
should you roast as dark as your ent business. According to integral
customers prefer? Roasting too light theory, it is important to pay atten-
might turn into an expensive hobby. tion to, and nourish all aspects of the
Roasting to dark might take you in a business.
direction of a Product Indifferent
62 ROASTING FOUNDATION

10.6 WHO TAKES THE LEAD AND WHY DOES IT MATTER?

Products, processes and leadership All of this may sound logical but there
traits are related hierarchically to is a tendency to forget holistic con-
each level of the 'what, how, who and siderations when starting a business
why' illustrated below. because the focus is often directly
on the product (i.e. the ‘what’) and to
The ‘what’ defines the coffee product some extend also the ‘how’, when
that the business creates. The ‘how’ education is prioritized; but how do
describes the methods and processes align with the deeper levels of the
for generating the coffee product it- ‘who’ and ‘why’?
self. The ‘who’ and ‘why’ describe the
personality of the coffeepreneur and
their motivations for starting a coffee
business.

WHAT?
(e.g. product/s)

HOW?
(e.g. methods, processes)

WHO?
(e.g. personality, culture, habits)

WHY?
(e.g. needs, motivations, purpose)

Fig. 22 Product, process and leadership personality pyramid

ROASTING FOUNDATION 63

The business coaching program Another factor that can hinder a

E-Myth has a central claim that all coffeepreneur’s focus on the ‘why’
problems start and end with the lead- and ‘who’ is managing the balance
ership of the business who explicitly of business need with maintaining
addresses the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of a a healthy personal life. It is under-
business (see resources). If part of standable that responding to busi-
the ’why’ of a business is personal ness necessity such as high financial
development and the ‘how’ is consid- risk and juggling competing deadlines
ered as a vehicle for designing and in a time pressured environment can
delivering a thriving business, then sometimes compete strongly with
problems can be welcomed as cues having a thriving personal life (i.e.
for the improvement of products, cul- exercise, eating healthily, spending
ture and systems. Assuming that the time with friends and family and
‘how ’ systems are honoured, han- other recreational activities). Nearly
dled and invested in from the leader- all coffeepreneurs will experience
ship level (i.e. by giving it full atten- periods of stress at some point and
tion and patience), learnings can be may harbour feelings of anxiety and
implemented in the protocols of the being overwhelmed – which can be
business. If value is not placed on all too common. However, it is impor-
learning, problems might easily arise tant to manage temporary stress and
and turn into cues for a blame game prevent it from settling into a perma-
that all too often is directed from the nent state which can be counterpro-
leadership to the employees. Unfor- ductive. Although stress is inevitable,
tunately, this inevitably shows up and at times can be an extremely
in front of customers at some point positive response in pressurized
which all businesses should avoid. situations, the risk of it manifesting
If you want to develop a successful itself into a long-term state of anxi-
business model then you are more ety is always a danger for reasons of
likely to adopt an organizational personal well-being and happiness.
learning paradigm where you cherish Outlined at the end of this chapter
problems as learning cues for the are some resources which introduce
organization. Whether or not learn- techniques that I have useful when
ing is cherished depends on the ‘who’ dealing with stress.
and ‘why’; where a strict focus on the
product rather than the organization
can potentially hinder a thriving and
scalable organization.
64 ROASTING FOUNDATION

10.7 HOW DO I MEASURE MY OWN PROGRESS?

Once we understand the holistic the motivating force that drives the
inner and outer contours of our creation and delivery of a successful
personality, business and market- product.
place, we can start to determine the
direction that we need to take, and According to this model of business
keep track of our progress. In other development it is just as important
words, the ‘who’ and ‘why’ needs to incorporate the ongoing develop-
to be dynamically mapped out in ment of our own Personal Life Plan
specific relation to the ‘how’ and into the development of the Business
‘what’. To help us calibrate our own Plan. This is also a safety mechanism
‘business compass’, E-Myth principles for the coffeepreneur so that he or
are explicitly designed, structured she does not fall prey to sacrificing
and developed to encompass the their own personal life in order to
‘who’ and ‘why’ of the coffeepreneur ‘save the company’. After all, there
in the business development process. is no thriving company if there is no
In my experience, it is important to thriving leadership! E-myth advocates
make sure that a small but consistent writing a Personal Life Plan which
amount of a coffeepreneur’s time is captures the leader’s values, passion
spent on company development no and purpose. It is a living document
matter how small the business. that needs to reviewed on a frequent
basis if it is to aid self-awareness
Overall, this system seeks to derive and be of personal benefit. Decide
the company from the startup found- to spend some time developing your
er’s own psychology and passion. Personal Life Plan before moving to
In many respects, it makes a lot of the Business Plan as it will help to
sense since a live operating psychol- shape the company that you want
ogy and passion of a business owner to develop. The two documents are
will be a great resource for authentic separate but if both resources are
leadership. Moreover, the psychology frequently reviewed, the Personal
of the founder creates the operating Life Plan will inevitably spill into the
culture of the company which is cru- Business Plan with excitement, ideas
cial when the company is scaled with and will serve to support an authen-
a growing team of employees. After tic leadership of the business.
all, an authentic business culture is
ROASTING FOUNDATION 65

It is my belief that the inner jour- and understand your personal ‘blind
ney of self-discovery and personal spots’; this is particularly important
reflection when starting a business is as there is a lot at stake for you, your
one of the most interesting journeys employee’s, your customer’s, your
that an individual can ever under- family and the coffee community that
take. The process will help to clarify you serve.
your projection on the outside world

10.8 HOW DO I ACHIEVE A SUCCESSFUL STARTUP?

So what can we do to direct our well-designed business plan. There

personal actions to support a suc- are thousands of academic and
cessful startup? We can’t create a non-academic publications on how
successful business alone by just to successfully start-up a business.
looking inwards as that is only one Some of these are highlighted in
side of the same coin. My belief is the resource section at the end of
that the answer lies in what you need this handbook. Now let's return to
to orchestrate and project from the the E-Myth system which condenses
world of personal motivation towards the hazy complexity of a business
the outside world in the shape of a into seven core elements illustrated
below:

FINANCE

BUSINESS
MA

DISCIPLINES
NA
D
AN

GE
BR

ME
NT

LEADERSHIP
MA

Y
ER
RK

LIV
ET

DE

BUSINESS
IN
G

ACTIVITIES

SALES

Fig. 23 Seven E-myth core business elements

66 ROASTING FOUNDATION

According to this system outlined centres that should be continuous-

in the influential publication E-Myth ly improved and adjusted as the
Mastery: The Seven Essential Disciplines company develops. This is not to
for Building a World Class Company, be confused with the unproductive
there are seven areas that any cof- activity of micro-management as the
feepreneur needs to pay attention healthy growth of the business at
to and develop. At the centre lies scale will heavily depend on coaching
the ‘leadership’ element which is at and receiving timely feedback from
the heart of the Business Plan and employees and customers. After all,
permeates all the other business ac- they too are working towards a com-
tivities and disciplines. Here lies the mon goal so the development of the
personal values, passion and purpose company is directed through an on-
as well as the business vision and the going dialogue. Of course, this is and
business plan. will always be a continual challenge.
E-myth have established a worldwide
The business vision is connected to network of coaches who can help to
each of the other six elements (e.g. break down this monumental body
brand, finance, management, mar- of work into a longer organic process
keting, sales and product delivery) where the work is served in a steady
through Key Strategic Indicators frequency of bite-sized portions so
which are structuring, monitoring that the process becomes managea-
and directing each element to align ble. This ongoing process will support
with the direction of the company you in making yourself accountable
vision. This work shows up as a doc- for your commitment to the process
ument that describes the company’s of company development.
operating system as best practices
for the company across the seven
ROASTING FOUNDATION 67

10.9 HOW DO I BUILD THE RIGHT TEAM TO ACHIEVE

MY VISION?

As a founder of a business you can your strength and weaknesses as this

either learn to be a business leader will make it easier for you to screen
or you can partner up with somebody and select your business partners.
who can run the business for you, or Being aware of your own personal
with you. The challenge here is that qualifications in addition to building
you have to be very lucky or skilled in the right mix of skills and experience
finding somebody who is aligned with amongst your team will give you a
your values and vision for the com- solid foundation for growth. Unless
pany. If you invite somebody in, how you are happy to abdicate as a leader
can you make sure that the company so that you can focus purely on the
goes in the direction of the life you coffee, I would recommend that you
want to live? Being conscious about find the time to fully understand your
what company you dream of in all own strengths, weakness and areas
quadrants (i.e. psychological, cultural for self improvement so that you
systemic and product) will help you can successfully realise the company
achieve it. It is also helpful to devel- vision with the right team that is mo-
op your own personal development tivated to achieving your goal.
plan with a deep understanding of

10.10 SUMMARY

In conclusion, this chapter seeks to and implementing some of the sim-

shine a light on the other crucial as- ple methods outlined in this chapter,
pects of starting-up a coffee business. your chances of making it a success
It has been my intention to provide will be greatly increased. After all,
some brief insights that will help you while our personal motivations may
to understand your business better be very different, our shared pas-
by analyzing your reasons for becom- sion is what binds us to the exciting
ing a coffeepreneur in the first place. business of specialty coffee. At such
The specialty coffee community is a a vibrant time in the growth of the
global family of passionate people community, the opportunities are
who love coffee and that is what endless for coffeepreneurs entering
makes it so special. However, starting into the industry. Let’s help to keep it
a business will always be a challenge this way by being mindful of the ‘why’
and by applying, refining, amplifying at the heart of it all.
 11
68 ROASTING FOUNDATION

RESOURCES
All material relevant for this book on coffee-mind.com is found calling the tag
"BookLinksRF" (http://coffee-mind.com/tag/BookLinksRF)

COFFEE ROASTING
Modulating The Flavor Profile of Coffee by Rob Hoos

The Coffee Roaster's Companion by Scott Rao

Roast magazine: www.roastmagazine.com

Giacalone & Münchow at al 2018: Common roasting defects in coffee: Aroma

composition, sensory characterization and consumer perception. Food Quality and
Preference. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2018.03.009

BUSINESS
E-Myth Mastery: The Seven Essential Disciplines for Building a World Class
Company, ISBN: 978-0060723231, emyth.com

The Lean Startup: How Constant Innovation Creates Radically Successful

Businesses, ISBN: 978-0670921607

The Startup Owner's Manual: The Step-By-Step Guide for Building a Great Company,
ISBN-13: 978-0984999309

Business Model Generation, ISBN 9780470876411,

www.businessmodelgeneration.com

Value Proposition Design: How to Create Products and Services Customers Want,
ISBN: 978-1118968055

The Financial Times Guide to Business Start Up, ISBN 9781292175867

Startup CEO: A Field Guide to Scaling Up Your Business, ISBN 978-1118548363

Roaster/Retailer Financial Benchmarking Report: https://store.sca.coffee/

products/2017-roaster-retailer-benchmarking-study-print-version

PSYCHOLOGY/PHILOSOPHY
Business Model You: A One-Page Method For Reinventing Your Career,
ISBN 978-1118156315

Immunity to Change: How to Overcome It and Unlock the Potential in Yourself and
Your Organization, ISBN 978-1422117361

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma,
ISBN 978-0143127741
ROASTING FOUNDATION 69

Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone To Take Action,
ISBN 978-1591846444

Integral Psychology: Consciousness, Spirit, Psychology, Therapy, ISBN 978-

1570625541

In an Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness,
ISBN 978-1556439438

Ruling Your World: Ancient Strategies For Modern Life, ISBN 978-0767920803

The One Who is Not Busy: Connecting with Work in a Deeply Satisfying Way,
ISBN 978-1586852511

WEBSITES
Coffee Mind
• Business Models of Coffee Roasteries:
coffee-mind.com/business-models-of-coffee-roasteries/

Re:CO symposiums: recosymposium.org

• Morten’s Behavioral Economics study:
coffee-mind.com/reco-behavioral-research
• Ida’s Sensory Performance: coffee-mind.com/reco-sensory-performance

Nordic Roaster Forum

• Morten and Jesper on Sensory Evaluation of Roast Profiles:
coffee-mind.com/devtime
• Morten on coffee roasting research: coffee-mind.com/defects-devtime

Knowledge Talks
• Roasting Foundation and Research: coffee-mind.com/knowledgetalks2018

Roasters Guild Camp

• Business models of coffee roasteries research:
roasterguildofeurope.com/talks-library/business-models-morten-munchow

Specialty Coffee Association: sca.coffee

Online Coffee News

• Caffeine: caffeinemag.com
• Daily Coffee News: dailycoffeenews.com
• Global Coffee Report: gcrmag.com
• Perfect Daily Grind: perfectdailygrind.com
• Sprudge: sprudge.com
• Standard: standartmag.com
70 ROASTING FOUNDATION
ROASTING FOUNDATION 71

Morten Münchow
ROASTING FOUNDATION
2nd edition, 2018

© CoffeeMind Press

Graphic design: Mark Gry Christiansen

Press: LaserTryk.dk
ISBN: 978-87-93507-03-6

CoffeeMind Press
Hansstedvej 35
DK-2500 Valby
Denmark
info@coffee-mind.com

All rights reserved. No part of this book

may be reproduced in any form with-
out written permission of the copyright
holders. Exceptions are smaller extracts
for reviews.
72 ROASTING FOUNDATION

ISBN: 978-87-93507-03-6 COFFEE-MIND.COM