What is Fresh Roasted Coffee?
You hear the phrase everywhere now: “fresh roasted coffee.” But what does it mean, really? Is the coffee that drips out of a Keurig machine “fresh roasted”? If you buy ground coffee from a shop and make it pour-over at home, is that fresh roasted coffee?
Let’s break it down.
Fresh Roasted, Freshly Ground, Freshly Brewed
There is a difference between coffee that is freshly brewed and coffee that is fresh roasted. There is also a difference between freshly ground coffee and fresh roasted coffee. These are all separate elements that all combine to create a great cup of coffee.
It all comes down to chemistry. Roasting coffee is the process of using heat over a period of time to change a green bean into a light, medium, or dark roast coffee. The more carbon dioxide gas present in the coffee beans after roasting, the fresher it is; as oxygen and moisture enter the beans after roasting, they become more susceptible to staleness.
It’s a matter of timing. The roaster has to make quick decisions about how long to apply heat, when to start the cooling process, and when to grind and brew the coffee in order to achieve the desired flavors without burning the beans or producing a stale cup.
There’s some debate as to how long one should wait between the roasting process and the brewing process to produce the most flavorful cup of coffee. It’s ultimately up to the roaster to decide, making the roaster both a scientist and an artist.
Still, it’s safe to assume that the combination of fresh roasted quality beans, freshly ground beans, and a freshly brewed cup can’t be beat.
Why Fresh Roasted?
So, why choose fresh roasted coffee? In a word: flavor.
Have you ever tasted a cup of coffee from a large drip coffee machine (or a large corporate coffee shop) that tasted burnt and acrid? The coffee was probably over-roasted, and there was probably a long period of time between the time the coffee was roasted and when it was brewed.
The best time to roast coffee is shortly before you know that you can brew it to ensure the freshest, most flavorful cup.
Coffee Corral’s Fresh Roasted Coffee
At Coffee Corral, we roast our carefully chosen coffee beans on site, and we grind beans for our pour over coffees fresh to order.
Check out our online shop to peruse our selection of fresh roasted coffees, or stop by for a cup of coffee that has been roasted, ground, and brewed fresh just for you.