chemistry & art in coffee roasting

The Great Northwest Coffee Company

Connecting food to farmers is a common current interest; people not only want to know where their food comes from, but who produced it and how it traveled. This same philosophy is what sets the Great Northwest Coffee Company apart from all others. Each cup can be traced to the person who grew the tree that produced the fruit which held the bean. To Jeff of The Great Northwest Coffee Company it is a family business, one of personal, long-term relationships with the growers who share his same interest: producing fine coffee. The emphasis is on quality, using only specialty or “boutique” grade beans, and connecting with the people who produce them. There is a personal contact in every step on the journey for a Northwest bound bean, and they trace all over the world.

Considered by Roast Magazine to be top in his craft, Jeff has been roasting Thunder Bay’s finest fresh coffee since 1993. There’s chemistry in roasting, but creating a consistent cup is much more of an art. It was through years of studying the chemistry and, importantly, by talking to experienced roasters that Jeff has learned what he has; and even with that he considers roasting something he will always be learning and experimenting with. Using a “roasting profile” (a scale of time and temperature in graph form) roasters can determine the temperature path of each batch, and maintain consistency in their process. By understanding the chemistry of the beans, how they react to heat, and how the sugars in them caramelize, roasters can optimize the flavour of individual bean varieties.

Coffee houses can be dated to 16th century Constantinople, not far from Izmir, Turkey where today the highest quality roasting machines are produced. The industrial cast iron drum is gas fired, and is capable of roasting 100lbs of beans per hour. On average a roast can take around fifteen minutes, but the variables are many and each batch is unique. It’s a wonderful thing to stand over when it’s -25 outside. Tasting begins, after all, with the fragrance of the roast.

Much like wine tasting, the “cupping” of coffee requires technique and a discerning palate. Tasters evaluate sweetness and flavours, note defects, and assess quality. Aspirating the coffee to cover the entire tongue allows droplets to reach all taste buds as well as the throat, while the nasal passages capture the aroma. This is done for each roast batch to ensure consistency.

There is no better tasting cup of coffee than one fresh from the roaster. The Great Northwest Coffee Company’s coffee is available both from the Thunder Bay Country Market, and from their shop on Algoma.

250 S. Algoma St.

(inside Mentor Computers)

Phone: (807) 344-5764

printed in

The Walleye

March 2012