Our "roasting secret"

Ever since coffee was invented, it has had to be roasted, because the green coffee beans are inedible. But what is needed to roast coffee? Here are the 'ingredients': a pan or drum, a stirrer for the pan, a heat source and of course green coffee, i.e. green beans. But that's not all: you also need a lot of time, a lot of love and enormous expertise!

How do you roast with a drum roaster?

The green coffee is transported into the pre-chamber of the drum roaster via a fan. Each individual bean must be placed into the drum, which is preheated to around 170°, at the same time in order to achieve an even roast. It is very important with a drum roaster that the bulk material - the coffee - enters the drum as a whole and at the same time and leaves it to cool down at the same time.

Immediately after the green coffee is placed in the roasting drum, the initial temperature drops. Now the trick is to increase the temperature evenly to 190°-195° by reheating it within about 20 minutes. At the same time, you also have to keep an eye on the color spectrum of the beans.

After about 15 - 18 minutes of roasting, the actual roasting process begins: the cell walls of the beans burst open and the full range of flavors of the coffee begins to develop. The coffee beans also increase in volume - but lose about 10% in weight.

After the final color check, the outlet of the drum roaster is opened and the roasted coffee falls into the cooling drum. In this drum, it is cooled as quickly as possible with cold air to prevent further roasting.

After the coffee has cooled down, a fan transports it through a "stone remover" into a storage container. At the same time, small stones or other foreign bodies - which unfortunately always end up in the green coffee when the green beans are dried - are sorted out in this container.

After 12 hours of outgassing – coffee releases carbon dioxide (CO2) in the first few days after roasting – the blend is cold mixed and packaged.

At Caffè del Gianni we roast our coffee with three ingredients: lots of time, lots of love and beech wood

The focus is on the quality of the different green coffee varieties, which are imported directly from the traditional countries of origin. In order to achieve unity and balance, the samples are mixed and roasted through careful evaluation based on ancient knowledge.

Coffee has been roasted with wood for centuries. This is the only way to create a natural affinity between a wood fire and the coffee beans. That's why it's a no-brainer for me to roast coffee with wood.

"The cost of roasting with beech wood is twice as high as roasting with electricity or gas, but the quality of the product is superior to all others."

Does the wood fire affect the coffee beans?

" Many people think that the wood itself or the smoke gives the coffee flavor. But in fact, it's not like smoking meat."

More important is the natural heat that the wood fire gives off, because like with a gas roaster, the wood flame has no direct path to the bean.

Roasting coffee with gas heaters results in a moist heat, while electric heaters result in a very dry heat. Wood, on the other hand, produces a natural, dry heat and enhances the aromas in the beans. The result is less acid in the coffee, a softer and milder taste and more crema (coffee foam).

The main difference between wood and conventional gas and electric roasters is the quality of the wood heat and the roasting time. While conventional roasters need about 15 to 18 minutes (industrial roasters at 900 degrees only need 2 minutes), drum roasters with wood fire take up to 25 minutes.

The moisture in the beech wood creates what is known as gentle heat, stopping the drying phase of roasting. This extends the entire roasting process, preserving the natural lipids inside and leaving significantly more natural oil in the beans themselves.

Many roasters now track the roasting process electronically using laptops and profiling software.

"At Caffé del Gianni we roast with our senses, paying attention to the smell, sound and appearance of the beans. We don't roast according to profile, we look and listen. We are convinced that everyone can taste that in the cup!"

All green coffee varieties are roasted separately, as each type of coffee has its own characteristics depending on the country of origin and coffee farm. The blending only takes place after roasting and is called cold blending (Stile Veneziano).