Where, Why, How
We have built the coffee workshop in a vaulted wine cave beneath our house. Using only a 3kg roaster to safeguard quality and evenness, I keep extensive notes on how different beans react to various temperatures and roasting times, and also on my customers' preferences, to ensure they get precisely what they want, every time they order.
Ideally I would love to go and select the coffee I sell myself, but the travelling would require time and resources I simply don’t have! Instead, I have devoted many weeks to sourcing my green coffee from suppliers sympathetic to the fair trade ethos, ensuring I didn’t compromise on quality.
I bought my old copper roaster from a coffee merchant in the Dordogne. Though it roasts smaller amounts, I prefer that as I have greater ‘hands-on’ control, and besides, against the stone wall, it adds a certain charm to the workshop’s atmosphere.
One thing I enjoy about roasting is that each origin is different. You have to be on your toes otherwise you can so easily over-roast valuable beans. Getting the Brazilian and Costa Rican organic roast right is the most challenging, but I think I now have the measure of them!
The workshop is everyone’s favourite spot; I don’t know if it’s the dulcet tones of jazz, or the delicious and enticing aromas, but family and friends love congregating there, along with our dogs and cats, and we frequently find our five chickens settled outside too!