Coffee Roasting Explained

Coffee roasting is fascinating, and there's so much more to talk about than we cover here. We'll definitely dive deeper in the future - so do please share any ideas or suggestions for things you'd like to see.
Thank you to Allpress Espresso and Climpson & Sons for letting us film and interrupt your busy working days:
uk.shop.allpressespresso.com/
climpsonandsons.com/
Thank you also to the roasting team at Square Mile for the assistance in making this.
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[@darkmage7771]

I think you could make an entire TV series around James traveling to various Coffee Origin locations, talk about what goes on into the flavor profile, and then bringing those beans through the entire process to a cup for tasting at the end of the video. Would be so fascinating.

[@matthewmorgan3240]

Agree, a TV series would be amazing, but I think he pretty much covers all of this in his book The World Atlas of Coffee.

[@oscarrink2772]

Would be an easy pitch to the execs as a KZbin original series

[@RyanTuller]

@vice

[@andiroo07]

I would 100% watch that.

[@mstrange6000]

Road trip style with a comedic side-kick to act as the viewer and ask our stupid questions.

[@jimbobbob9063]

James in his natural habitat

[@JokeswithMitochondria]

A wild James appears

[@tomhappening]

@@JokeswithMitochondria I was curious about your username so clicked on ur profile. Wasn’t disappointed haha

[@ellenrik]

I'd love to see David (oops) Attenborough (sp) do a short video on James in the wild, chasing coffee.

[@LobbySeatWarmer]

*David Attenborough voice*

[@aesop2733]

The man was gestated in a womb full of espresso.

[@donlourie769]

This was an impressive talk. There was not one wasted word: exquisitely organized with very specific visual accents. Well done!

[@lukewid]

I would love to see more videos about processing (anaerobic, aerobic, lactic, natural, honey, washed, etc). Excellent video James and crew!

[@benschweizbach4478]

This is what I came to ask for. I’ve really been enjoying my current bag of 72 hr anaerobic natural process Honduran and while I’m familiar with each of these words individually, when put together they’re a bit mysterious

[@c4li]

yes! i just had some wilton benitez pink bourbon beans and oh my word! i thought i knew what coffee can taste like, boy was I wrong. The process is Double anaerobic thermoshock.

[@claudiomarangone614]

Wha WHAT? At this point, I don’t know what that is but will research immediately! 😂

[@lyricbread]

Yes!

[@Jennandclarke]

Yes, I was just going to mention this. Some of these I didn't even know of, but would love to know more about these processes and how they differ. 🙂

[@mattbow_]

James I would love to see a 'Coffee Confidential' documentary. I'd love to see you go around the world doing a full length documentary from growing all the way to enjoy the cup.

[@LogicalQ]

I just want a neck tie with the beans in the scale of light to dark from this video

[@serviocabrera]

Agree with Matt. Taking tours where great coffee beers are cultivated, and why they taste the way they do.

[@matthewmorgan3240]

Around the coffee world in 80 days ! Roll over Michael Palin / Jules Verne !

[@sh4d0wknight]

Do you mean a Coffeedential? ...I'll see myself out.

[@gtrfreak]

In Guatemala 🇬🇹 😊

[@anao7671]

At the age of 6, I remember watching my grandmother toasting coffee over an open fire in an iron pot. Said pots bottom, was blackened with soot with years of use, and she would constantly stir the beans with a wooden paddle that had the signs of being used for that purpose. This coffee had been picked, dried, roasted , and ground in my great-grandmother back yard.❤

[@KeppyKep]

I just want to say the camera-work going inside the roaster, and then the animation of the bean getting more and more roasted was absolute incredible!! High-budget documentary type stuff.

[@dawsonjohannes613]

James, I’m a mechanical engineer in the manufacturing industry (at a sponge manufacturing facility) here in the States. I am always so impressed with your ability to explain processes scientifically and tactfully. I’m early on in my career, but man what I would do to get back into the coffee industry as an engineer working with these awesome machines. Content like this keeps my eyes on the prize.

[@chillinginthefrozennorth6958]

I don't know anything about you're current situation, but if you have a passion for coffee and mechanical engineering, all I can suggest is go for it! I hope you have a rewarding and successful career in engineering, hopefully in coffee roasting.

[@gin4580]

Damn bro that sounds boring as shit

[@DarrenLer]

Let me know if oxidation is a critical element in the roasting process, good luck in your coffee journey !

[@Demonictrial]

It'd be interesting to see how a roaster chooses a batch or farm and then after deciding what they want to try, deciding on the profile for the roaster they have in their facility

[@deianogueira1]

I am from Brazil, and I grew up on a cattle farm where we had a small coffee orchard. I remember tasting the coffee cherries when they were ripe and ready to be harvested and sun-dried. After that, we would roast the beans in an iron-cast manual roaster that was the size of a popcorn pan. The coffee was pretty great.

[@eramzehra7093]

That sounds amazing

[@mariana2799]

Same same

[@hikmatulhudabinadlan5714]

same with me from Indonesia

[@MorpheusXTRM201]

Coming from an island that grows their own coffee, I recall my grandmother roasting her beans; obtained from my uncles farm, with an aluminum rice cooking pot, fire wood and a stick. Keep in mind, she was raised as a farmer in her youth and this was the cheapest way to roast coffee by hand and she was able to roast it black and it always came out perfect. Years of making that from hand must had made the best coffee I have ever remember. This video made me remember those years and if I where to find a recreation of it I would do so to brink back that tradition. Hey James, if your interested in that, maybe in a future video an exploration of islanders roasting coffee might be a good idea but that would be difficult to find someone still roasting coffee that way.

[@ilcomendante]

Which island if one may ask?

[@SeanofAllTrades]

I believe that's how they do it in Ethiopia as well

[@eramzehra7093]

Sounds awesome

[@lftr_react]

Ah yes, the 'fluid bed' roaster. The inventor of the modern design of this roaster was issued the design patent in 1998. He sold it to the company I work for and became a partner in the business. We still have the bronzed patent on display in our entryway today.

[@26Rpkone]

James, as a long-time viewer of your channel, a customer of Square Mile, and someone who is looking to break into the coffee roasting industry, I want to thank you for this video. I have never been more encouraged to follow my passion and do what I love. Coffee is a magnificent blend of art and science, and to see a glimpse of your workflow is awesome. Keep inspiring!

[@rainmannoodles]

Starbucks starts at around the point you stopped roasting. 🤣

[@bryanthelion610]

As an avid home roaster and a long-time engineer in the industrial manufacturing world this is super cool to see. It’s wild how many components on these roasters i recognize, makes me want to up my game, take some drawings to a local machine shop, & Frankenstein my own roaster

[@MaddieWitlermusic]

I think it might be neat to see a comparison of a few different roast profiles but with the same roast degree, and maybe a discussion of how that can affect the taste. Or maybe more generally, the same coffee roasted many different ways and a discussion of how that affects flavor, would be fun as well. Love this, thank you!

[@rh9909]

This!

[@ian54589]

Came to comments to request this as well

[@ScarsOfAFracturedSou]

Yes!!! I understand that roasters have differing profiles, but when they aim for a the same goal (ie. Light or City Roast), how different machines affect overall taste from a single origin differently.

[@mrcrow_GG]

In part two I'd like to see roasting different processed coffee (natural, washed, anaerobic/experimental). I often see naturals/anaerobic/etc coffees to be roasted darker than the washed coffee. When I talked with some roasters they told me that it could be challenging roasting these "wild" processed coffees - at first glance, it may look like they are roasted darker but if I understand that correctly, they are roasted on the same level but they only look darker.

[@bonwick]

Long-time home roaster here (started on iRoast, then Behmor, now Aillio Bullet R1). Generally the dry-process ("wild") coffees benefit from lighter roasts because the origin flavors have a lot of fruit and berry that darker roasts often kill. As for color though, it's tricky. As the coffee roasts the things you can measure and observe are time, temperature, rate of rise (how fast the temperature is changing), color, smell, sound (first and second crack), and surface texture. And all too often, these give conflicting signals. I find that calling the end of a roast is usually a "preponderance of the evidence" decision with plenty of reasonable doubt. And I've been doing it for 20 years.

[@douglasracionzer8900]

I enjoy the quirkiness of home roasting on my popcorn machine. I get raw beans cheaper than roasted beans and roast a batch a week. Great fun!

[@Freeedy]

James, since retirement 3 years ago I have lived mostly in my wife’s country of origin, Vietnam. I’m continually discovering all sorts of different flavours and coffees especially in some of the more remote parts as I travel around. I suggest you should make a documentary about coffee growing, roasting and consumption in this country. It’s a thoroughly interesting coffee producing country. Btw I thoroughly enjoyed and learned a huge amount about coffee and roasting, 🙏

[@Whamola]

I use to work next to a large scale coffee roaster. People who didn't work there would tell me that were so jealous about how much fresh coffee smells I would be around. When we'd turn on the heat or air conditioning the whole warehouse would fill with the smell of burned popcorn. Yum that fresh roast smell...

[@roastwrangler]

Concise, focused and accessible - there are few better explainer videos that exist on KZbin than this one. High kudos James - and deepest respect!

[@SenorRobb]

It would be really cool to see a series of you starting from the beginning process of the coffee plant, working at the farm, educating us on the importance of moisture, sun, shade, altitude and soil content in order to produce the best coffee bean possible. Then to transition into the drying phase and the importance of which method is best when drying the beans after plucking them from the plant. To eventually continuing with the roast process and tasting in a variety of methods to enjoy the wonderful cup of your dreams!

[@ariavalencia-213ua]

More videos on coffee processing methods like anaerobic, aerobic, lactic, natural, honey, washed, etc. would be awesome! Excellent work, James and crew! 👍☕

[@Testperson001]

Yes please

[@smilecollector4683]

😅😊 0:53 😊

[@smilecollector4683]

😅😊 0:53 😊😊😊😊

[@rock_joy]

Lovely channel, I was about to ask for the same

[@justinloring6571]

There is a cool podcast called making coffee with Lucia Solis where she goes really deep into coffee processing. Really cool, and I have recommended the podcast to many people who are curious about the different processing methods that have been around and the ones that are starting to pop up and become more popular.

[@jamestamu83]

I used to work for a large commercial coffee roaster in the US. We used both Robusta and Arabica beans, combining them in various ratios to control costs while keeping taste consistent. he Robusta would be roasted darker and ground more coarsely, while the Arabica would be roasted medium and ground very finely so as to extract the most (best) flavor. Beans sourced from different countries around the world each had their own profile in order to keep the final taste consistent. Great video, please keep them coming.

[@sebastianpina709]

I cannot express how grateful I am about the knowledge that you share with us. Your channel has single handedly helped me to become better at making coffee and not by just following a recipe, but actually understanding what is going through the whole process. You are the best ♥

[@ThumpingThromnambular]

Wow, a whole video of him explaining how to tear apart a cup of coffee's self esteem bean by bean. Thank you for passing your wisdom.

[@silpheedTandy]

"Psh, you call yourself speciality? I've seen coffee more special than you at the dollar store!" remember folks, please be kind to your coffee beans! they've been through a lot!

[@dmdrosselmeyer]

This. This is why you're still Daddy Hoff. No one else is doing things like this; equipment is cool and all, and those videos are helpful for sure, but this is the kind of coffee content I crave! A studio needs to give this man a large budget and a television show. As someone else commented a travel show would be super cool, would provide opportunities to talk about all kinds of subjects relating to coffee production and culture, and would be a perfect follow-up to the "World Atlas of Coffee". Short of that, a deep dive into varietals and/or processing would be super neat and I think would be very helpful to a lot of people!

[@roberttower8059]

I've been roasting at home weekly for 15+ years. By now I thought some of the novelty would have worn off but I'm just as in awe and fascinated by the process as I was at the beginning. I'm still in near disbelief at just how much variability there is with even slight changes in the process. I don't think I'll ever get over it! I would be interested to hear your thoughts on the various roast levels/techniques and the resulting flavor/character profiles.

[@BrainStewification]

Not sure if this is something you could go into, but it would be interesting to dig into the chemistry more for me. What types of chemicals make up what you call the origin characteristics. I'm a big tea person and I once went to a convention where someone broke down the chemicals found in different types of teas -- black, oolong, white, green -- and what scents/flavors those impact based on smelling them on their own, and how they can vary over cultivars/terroirs. Would be interesting to hear some of that for coffee.

[@ethanhayes9989]

These intros are becoming disgustingly good. You and your production team are doing excellent work.

[@danteort]

Hi James, Obviously in the sea of viewers this is but a drop, but I wanted to mention I've been a curious purveyor of your videos for a number of years, and I have been a home-roasting coffee enthusiast for something like 15 years. Honestly don't remember how in the heck I got into roasting coffee at home, but somewhere along the way it became a thing for me. Now it's just part of my weekly routine (for myself and for some close friends) Anyway, all that to say that I really liked your explanation of the roasting process and what it means for coffee drinkers. Easy to understand, yet ("on brand" for your videos) you don't underestimate your viewing audience by glossing over the details. As one for whom learning new things is a passion and a pleasure, I really appreciate that. As you alluded at the end, I would absolutely love a home-roasting video. Mainly to expose others to this world (as I'm already a convert). I think a great benefit would be for people to learn that 1) coffee shouldn't be gross; people who "hate coffee" just haven't found the right coffee for them, and 2) great coffee is achievable and affordable for anyone. Thank you for your videos on all things coffee!

[@mojoneko8303]

Cool I'm interested in roasting my own beans. Where did you get your roaster and where do you source raw beans?

[@user-oh1oc9rz3s]

As a barista, learning more about origin of beans and the roasting process has peaked my interest and this was super interesting

[@toseltreps1101]

piqued. not peaked.

[@TheGreatSatan_]

I loved that TV series called Dangerous Grounds where he would venture to countries trying to find new single origin beans. He also showed the massive warehouses where all the coffees from area would just be mixed (ggod and bad) together giving you that generic "Colombian" coffee

[@laurienafe5390]

I would love to see a video explaining the differences between washed, natural, and honey processed coffee and what that does to the flavor profile. P.S. thank you for the time and energy you put into these videos. It is always a pleasure to watch!

[@grabble7605]

The difference is primarily about how/when they clean the fruit (called a coffee cherry, but not related to cherries at all) off the beans (seeds) before the roasting. *Washed/Wet* = The bean is immediately, and entirely, cleaned of its fruit. Then fermented, then literally washed in water to remove the mucilage (a sticky layer of sugary fruit remains on the bean/seed) . Cleaner taste. Commonly floral or tart. Light, tea-esque texture. *Wet-Hulled* = The bean is immediately washed clean of fruit but the mucilage left on during transport to a mill elsewhere for the rest of processing/drying. Typical in wetter, humid growing regions where the drying can't be consistently carried out because of the climate. Sort of a mid-point between Washed and Honey process. *Natural* = the fruit dries out whole before the bean is removed. Tend to be fruitier than a washed bean, still acidic but not so tart. *Honey* = The flesh/pulp of the cherry are removed but called the mucilage is left on the bean/seed to dry out. Tends to be jammy and heavy-bodied, far from acidic. Honey further divides into white, yellow, red or black honey depending on how much of the mucilage is left on during drying (black = 100%, red = >50%, yellow = 50%-25%, white = 20%). The mucilage is loaded with fruity sugars so honey process is often quite sweet and fruity...Hence the jammy quality, which increases in order from white to yellow to red to black. *Anaerobic* = This is technically a qualifier to any of the above processes rather than a process itself. It just means the fermentation+drying occurs in a vacuum without oxygen. Tends to be low-acidity, with intense floral or winey flavors. *Experimental* = A mostly-market term denoting various combinations of the above known processes or testing of different variables (like processing at precise controlled temperatures and such).

[@laurienafe5390]

@@grabble7605 thank you!

[@iiijuaniii]

it would’ve been great to mention the difference between natural and washed coffee. I’ve been to coffee plantations in Peru and Colombia and tasted really unique naturals that I’ve never experienced again since then. The way the workers brewed was also insanely impressive. A lot of respect for them. That’d be an interesting video.

[@OlsenTheWonderDog]

I am impressed with your knowledge of coffee, coffee production, and coffee preparation as well as your ability to impart your knowledge in an easily understood, informative, and yet entertaining manner. Well done. Thank you.

[@ez_guess]

Wow and just this morning I thought about how we didn't get a James Hoffmann video for a long time. Thank you so much for these amazing quality videos!

[@weeliano]

Finally! For someone who roast their own coffee using home made equipment, this episode is long due! I definitely want to see more videos on home roasting and especially home made solutions. I find the commercial home roasters are priced out of reach for most people and hand and stove top roasters are just too much of a hassle to use. I personally use a home made design based on Larry Cotton's flour sifter and heat gun roaster and it works great for me!

[@williamdavignon8956]

I had never heard of this. The design is so simple, I might give it a go ! Thank you

[@aaronboggs5799]

I don’t know if this is similar at all, but The Wired Gourmet has a video on home roasting that involves a pan on a burner along with a heat gun that sounds potentially similar.

[@weeliano]

@@aaronboggs5799 Yes, using the heat gun to roast coffee is quite common actually. There's the dog bowl method which is quite messy. If you search for flour sifter coffee roaster on youtube, you will find many examples.

[@GarrettWease]

I’ve been waiting for this video for years. But I’ve been waiting patiently, knowing that when James did give it a go he would be proper thorough and not let us down. Thank you as always for a fantastic explainer!

[@phosphor8416]

Thank you James for another high-quality, well-made and absolutely entertaining video! I have been enjoying your enthusiasm and love for coffee a lot. In this episode I liked most the different sceneries or spots where you filmed, creating a broad spectrum of impressions and perfectly illustrating what you say. 100% would recommend your channel!

[@paulbrooks4395]

I went to my local roaster and they mentioned “washed” and unwashed beans. I didn’t understand the significance. They also mentioned raw coffee, which I would like to know more about. Lastly, decaf, which I thought was just dark roast, but it seems there’s more to it.

[@catherineim]

1. When coffee people say "washed" coffee, it usually refers to a method of coffee processing, called "washed process" coffee. For more info here, I'd look up "coffee processing methods" 2. Raw coffee, or green coffee, is unroasted coffee! 3. Decaf coffee beans are specially processed to literally decaffeinate the coffee, using one of several available methods. Hope that's helpful as a starting point!

[@LudoHanton]

@@catherineim and so I guess "unwashed" goes for Natural process.

[@edwardchester1]

@@LudoHanton Not quite. Washed is perfectly natural but certainly a more modern development and essentially a refinement of coffee bean prep. It's generally considered to produce 'better' (cleaner, fruitier, more defined, less muddy) tasting coffee.

[@LudoHanton]

@@edwardchester1 In reference to "washed" and "unwashed" coffee, it seems there was a misunderstanding. "Unwashed" do seem to represent the "Natural" process. Both "washed" and "natural" are natural processing methods for coffee.

[@clarkkent7973]

Also, I would like to see the different methods for decaffeination.

[@thomasroberts6008]

Love these videos in the factory in the thick of it. I'd love to see an almost "How it's made" style video of grinder burrs being designed and manufactured. Burrs feel very voodoo and black magic it would be interesting to demystify

[@josmith2002]

The best are the old intricately carved hand mills- grind the coffee super fine so no grit can be felt so the best Turkish coffee can be brewed by an old woman wearing a head scarf who will 🔜read the dregs in your upturned coffee cup afterwards 🧿🧿😊

[@TPark-rf3lt]

can we take a second to appreciate the editing and honesty high quality of these videos... just great. it adds to the experience of watching

[@robertmcgorray5806]

I truly appreciate how he doesn't talk down to you as he explains highly technical things.

[@nickhey7374]

this has been the best video i have watched to date. i used to always get dark roast thinking it was the 'most coffee flavour' so to speak. i am now thinking about changing my drinking habits and switching to a medium roast as this appears to get the best of all the different aspects of taste

[@finestPlugins]

I'd actually love to see a deep dive into the roasting profiles. How they're tweaked and which tweak affects which property of the final product.

[@DaBurlyBlend]

Ditto!

[@jimwells4774]

Yes mate I have purchased a Gene Cafe machine and it's great but more tips will help me...the novice. Having said that I already gave 4 distinctly different batches done.

[@CarbonFiberSwan]

I visited a coffee company in Mariposa, California (Mariposa Coffee Company). I very much enjoy their coffee, but for me the best part about the trip was that the owner walked us through his entire roasting process. He claims to have created a unique system of roasting his beans which removes the skins from the beans once they peel off during the roast. He said this makes his coffee less acidic (he actually sells bags of the skins to farmers who use them to increase the PH in their soil). I don’t know if you do much traveling, but if you ever felt like reaching out to him and seeing if he would let you come see his process, that is definitely a video I would be interested in watching! You can just Google the name of the company to find his website. P.S., though I generally do not like flavored coffee, his Butter Rum coffee is my favorite from the company!

[@infinatep1mp737]

Respect to who ever organised the beans on the table

[@vitgogolin2561]

I think it would've been interesting if you would taste the coffee throughout the roasting process and compare the taste of the same beans with different roast levels

[@merc8639]

this would be a very interesting experiment.

[@locomademoiselle]

agreed! I was hoping you'd taste from the cups in front of you - or is that coming in the next video? :)

[@anitapaulsen3282]

I made a similar comment.

[@riffle91ar]

We have a local coffee shop that roasts their own coffee and the guy that does the roast experimented with a Mexico coffee which is normal roast to a dark and he did a light roast and it is absolutely amazing and imo the way a Mexico should be. Has a cinnamon peanut butter flavor to it. So yes that would be so cool to see.

[@SpektrikMusic]

Different roast profile would be more interesting imo

[@l4ndst4nder]

As someone getting into roasting my own coffee, I’m very curious to have more detailed traits to watch out for. Like I enjoy light coffees but my first batch had a tea flavor almost. I had to extend my roast time a bit to get a closer flavor to what im looking for.

[@lzl4226]

It can depend on the type of coffee bean. I do find some denser beans tend to taste a bit grassy even at the point when first crack ends. You can either roast a bit longer in total time, but risk losing some of the flavor, or you can go a slight bit darker, which is what I usually do. There's another possibility which is unevenness between the inside and the outside of the bean, for example it can look darker than it actually is. You can test it by placing a roasted bean on the table, and press with your finger, it should always crack pretty easily regardless of the colour. If it doesn't then it's definitely not ready. You can then check the colour of the cross section. If the inside is lighter than outside, again, not a good sign. But if it passes those test, and yet the beans still taste grassy, or nutty, go a bit longer, some coffee is just more suited for the darker end of a light roast.

[@tungstenzephyr]

I very much second this comment. I've been dabbling into roasting and think I have got the basics down, but since there's so much depending on your setup (like James said) I'd very much like a "this generally produces that" kind of explanation of the phases and times for roasting.

[@stephaneislistening6103]

The guy is so good, the way he talks and goes around his subject. That is above the regular channels. Thanks for the effort. Very good job. The frenchie is impressed.

[@gailoakley4010]

Omg, I can’t wait for you to do the “At Home Coffee Roasting” video! I am sooo excited for this! This was such an interesting video, I love. So much fun to watch. You’re the best.

[@jamestaylor5067]

Would be really cool to see a video about the different processing methods for coffee.

[@KyrieRuwachHosanna]

Though I won't call myself someone who really knows enough about coffee to be able to tell a lot of the diff, I feel that I level up every time I watch one of these videos. Thanks for sharing.

[@emieljosef8944]

Amazing! Thank you James. Firstly, you have an amazing way of explaining things in a way anyone can understand. Always calm and composed and natural body language. Learnt so much from watching your previous episodes. This episode was extremely insightful. I’ve been getting my speciality beans roasted for me for years and I’ve always seen so many different the machines, but never once had an idea about the process. Apple TV needs to give you a series where you show the roasting machines and process by different roasters/cafes from around the world. This will also help small businesses and many others to have more customers. Thank James!

[@wertperch]

This is fascinating, and thank you. As to questions, my first question is about the chemistry of roasting, i.e. what is happening with the compounds that create the flavours? I've been reading about the various volatiles that make up the flavour profiles and find it intriguing. The other question is one that I suspect you will answer in the future; namely how to roast effectively at home. You (and a couple of local roasters) have helped me improve my understanding and appreciation of coffee hugely. I owe you a massive vote of thanks. Your Moka pot series in particular has been massively helpful.

[@emarean1352]

I would love to see a home roasters series showcasing different home roster machines and the pro and cons of them.

[@cyb_structure]

This channel is out of control when it comes to full spectrum chemistry & testing of optimum espresso coffee...the never ending science experiment...Absolutely love it. James is the man.

[@jeremystone3186]

I would love to know more history about Probat, Diedrich, San Franciscan, Bellwether, Loring, Allpress and Java Master roasters. Not only as machines that do a very specific thing, but the origins of the companies, and why they chose to pursue the process they did. Noting the first three are very similar and likely in competition with one another. Thank you.

[@joeldenis1935]

Excited to finally see a more detailed roasting video from Papa Hoffman! Been home roasting for 4 years now and love the process, although I am getting a bit tired of agitating the beans with a manual crank. Currently in the process of building a small air roaster, can't wait to have the bean temperature data to help me accurately follow a profile as opposed to randomly increasing my heat gun by an imperial notch (I think that converts to 1.5 metric notches). Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have yourself a great day!

[@samueltpatry]

As usual, great video. In general, I would appreciate more emphasis on the producers. I’d love to know more about how and how much the roast profile changes based on origin, varietal, drying process, etc.

[@AlexanderNash]

You wanted more emphasis on beginning of the coffee prodcution chain when this video set out explicitly to cover roasting? Sounds more like an idiotic expectation.

[@DonKangolJones]

I love coming back to these videos to freshen up my knowledge. I haven't roasted my own beans at home in a year, and it's nice to have this as a little guide before I start up again.

[@elingoovaerts1043]

I would love to go deeper on roasting profiles (for specialty coffee) and how you enhance the acidity, sweetness, aromas … Also how to play with your airflow, temperature, phases, time. I know it depends on your density, variety and what you want to achieve, but still ☺️ Would be interesting to go through the whole roasting process

[@GenericDino]

Wake up babe new James Hoffman video dropped

[@kg-Whatthehelliseventhat]

Wake up so we can listen to James to fall asleep!! 😊

[@miles611]

Awesome educational video! A question: how much does decaffeinating coffee changes its environmental impact? How much more water, and how much of that water is 'clean' or 'dirty' water? Also, videos where you travel to meet producers & eplain different origins would be amazing!

[@sarahrosen4985]

As someone who only drinks water decaffeinated coffee every day, I also want to know.

[@Narezaath]

Something I'd love to see would be James comparing commercial, to prosumer home roasters to something like Hive roaster or even popcorn machine in that long-term home roasting journey. :)

[@UnitingMilk]

This was super interesting! I didn't realise there was so much art to the roasting process, as opposed to just a binary 'stick it in and wait for it to change color', I'm definitely going to pay more attention to which roasteries I'm buying from!

[@janosadelsberger]

First of all: I want a poster with the roast color gradient! Super interesting! Would be interesting to know how the different roasting methods impact flavour in detail. In terms of sustainability the origin and logistics might have a bigger impact than roasting but seems like a pretty energy intensive process, especially if they vent the hot air straight out. Is there a push for non-gas roasters happening and if so is it a trade-off with regards to flavour?

[@laurasnow7822]

He recently made an electric solar powered roaster. It definitely doesn’t cover every one of your questions but it was very cool. Probably from a month ago or so.

[@Markusableitinger1]

Yes James, would be great if you could get a bit deeper into it by explaining the effects of having coffee roasted intentionally with a higher or lower delta (difference between Agtron outside and inside color). I remember my tutor in roasting explaining higher deltas are effectively better for brewing methods (such as V60) as opposed to lower deltas which seem more suitable for espresso making. In my opinion and experience in roasting this actually held true so far. E.g when I used high delta roast for espresso, and by even twisting dosage, temperature, ratios, etc. the espresso usually tends to be on the high acidity, sour side. Whilst a low delta coffee is most of the time a delicious sweet balanced espresso drink but a bit 'dull' when brewed for e.g. V60. Would love to hear your opinion about it, or maybe even better, you have time to make a short video about it.

[@danirinaldi1044]

nice thought, and thats why i dont believe ini omniroast, since i believe it will not bring the best of the beans

[@Markusableitinger1]

@@danirinaldi1044 Hi Dani, what do you mean when you mention omniroast?

[@danirinaldi1044]

@@Markusableitinger1 omniroast usually mean roast profile that accomodate filter brew and espresso. Somewhat inbetween filter roast and espresso roast

[@Markusableitinger1]

@@danirinaldi1044 Got it. Thanks. Yes, omni roast are sub-optimal.

[@Delmar829]

OUTSTANDING class !!!!! Thank you so much for taking the time to do this.

[@robertschaeffer3072]

One of the most helpful lessons I’ve had in my coffee journey so far. I was finding common characteristics across similar roast levels of different beans but didn’t have the “why”. This tied it all together. Thanks James!

[@cliffthegardener]

I do not know if it is a question of my lack of exposure but decaffeinated beans seem to be darker than the roasters standard bean. How does the decaffeination process affect the bean?

[@TheEightfoldPath_]

And here I am roasting beans in my oven lol, those professional tools look amazing. Guess I'll be able to get SOME tips out of the video. Going to enjoy this one!

[@TheBswan]

Even a popcorn popper can roast more effectively than an oven

[@TheEightfoldPath_]

@@TheBswan Effectively sure, but consistency is nailed down already. I've considered it, but I don't want to add another machine to my already crowded kitchen. Same with an airfryer, they seem to be nice but I value kitchen space. I do use the grill from time to time tho, turns out pretty consistent. (Modified rotisserie basket)

[@rds1978]

This video has made me so happy and so sad. Sad, because all my life I've thought (without actually giving it much thought) that light roasts yielded weak cups of coffee, while dark roasts yielded strong cups of coffee. I know I don't like weak coffee, so I assumed I didn't like light roasts. I'm now so happy, though, because I've started trying lighter roasts with my aeropress and it's like a whole new world is opening up. I had no idea how relatively one-dimensional my coffee experience had been so far. Thank you, James!

[@ptrschick]

That was an excellent breakdown! As a former specialty roaster I agreed with 90% of this. .. I disagree with water quenching as a cooling method for a few reasons… Before WQ cooling began, the Roaster doing the roasting needed to acquire the skills to recognize when to dumb the beans into the cooling hopper, knowing from experience how much more the beans will cook as they cool. It’s kinda like cooling pasta to stop the cooking process, with the exception of pasta coming from a wet environment, where the pasta won’t soak up more water during the cooling process. But, since coffee is coming from a hot, dry environment where moisture is removed, the beans exit the roaster thirsty, and water quenching stops that cooling process by spraying water on those thirsty beans… During the roasting process, depending on the roast, more and more water-weight is lost, especially with vary dark roasts, weight that the company paid for as green-beans, so by quenching hot thirsty beans with water, those beans will naturally soak up some of that moisture, and this will add a little weight back into those beans. This translates to less dried coffee solids per bean/cup, which equates to needing more beans to achieve the flavor of an un water-quenched bean/cup. Water quenching is vary common, but it does have an effect… Also, I wish someone would explain the differences in beans, bean quality and grading, and how they differ throughout the world, I.e. Colombian Supremo vs Excelso, Kenyan A vs. AA etcétera… Beans are graded in their countries of origin, much like we do here with eggs, where they sort beans according to size, shape, whole v broken, and uniformity of color, the biggest and most uniformed become that countries premier grade, which always brings the highest price. However, there are little regulations governing the coffee industry, so you never know exactly what quality beans are being used, especially once they are roasted, where dark spots and molds can no longer be seen… I would also like to see someone give a better explanation of the brewing process and how grind size effects saturation, which effects steep-time, and how that effects the extraction, including the forced extraction of an Espresso. Also, really quick, about the term “espresso roast”… “Espresso” is an extraction process. Because of its pressurized extraction, it is less bitter and more concentrated and frequently served with milk. An “Espresso Roast” is simply a blend of beans the Roaster combined together, often roasted to different degrees, to create that particular Roasters well-rounded complex Espresso recipe… Espresso blends tend to swing dark, as darker roasted coffees carry a smoky flavor through the addition of milk and sugar, whereas lighter roasted coffees retain more acidity, caffeine and original flavor characteristics, they often become bland when combined with milk and sugar…Again, my background was as a Roaster back in the 90’s, so there are some things that may no longer be the case, but having had the privilege of working for a high quality roasting company, I know much of this is still the case…😊👍🏽✌🏽☕️

[@JHoneybun]

I'd be interested in more alternate roast methods! A local coffee roaster at my farmer's market has charcoal roasted coffee, espousing that gas roasted coffee causes more bitter flavors. I don't *entirely* believe him, but it makes sense that the heating method would impart different aspects.

[@AlexanderNash]

Do you think 'charcol heat' is distinct from 'gas heat'? Please tell us what you imagine the difference is.

[@JHoneybun]

@@AlexanderNash i mean, the roasting comes from air in contact with the heat source being moved to the beans. changing the heat source changes the makeup of said air. same idea as people grilling using charcoal instead of gas

[@ngballard]

The analogy to popcorn is fun and would be interesting to explore further. I had heard a rumour in the the popcorn industry that you could use a hot air popper and adjust speed/temp to roast coffee (1st-2nd crack aren't too far off popping temps). When you consider there are poppers that run 1k lb/hour, I wonder if you could translate that into quality coffee, especially if you adjusted your initial bean moistures.

[@joshk528]

People do that all the time.

[@Blackmark52]

"use a hot air popper and adjust speed/temp to roast coffee" The cheaper small appliance coffee roasters for the home are just hot air poppers refitted to purpose.

[@MichaelGAubrey]

As someone who has been home roasting for the past 15 years or so, this was an excellent summary. Thanks James.

[@elijahmandeville8475]

What an amazing time to be alive. We have unlimited access to amazing educational material like James on the internet. Also, I could literally go online, purchase all needed materials, receive them within a week, and start roasting my own coffee with the knowledge needed!

[@johnsanchez9551]

I'm very interested in the roasting profile and how they relate to the end flavor. It would be nice to see an experiment to compare the different extraction profiles, whether it be drip or espresso, and find if there is an appropriate or optimum match.

[@fivestar2227]

I would love to see a blind taste test on various roasting techniques to determine if there are any detectable flavor differences. ☕

[@rh9909]

This! Like beans from different type of roasting machine with same roasting profile.

[@stephaneislistening6103]

We can see in the sheer animation of the eyes of our host, the intensity of his thinking, which animates him to give away his most heartfelt rendering of what he knows about his dearest passion 🙂

[@sergiosoares5798]

I just bought a pack of same-day roasted coffee. what a smell, what a taste!

[@flintmech]

I've always naively associated "darkness" with "flavor" and assumed the lighter the roast the less I would taste. Your channel has helped me understand things better but this video in particular really opened my eyes to how and why someone would like lighter roasts.

[@frizzby-x]

I've never understood (and still don't) why would anyone like dark or extra dark roasts. You might as well brew a cup of charcoals for a similar results.

[@josmith2002]

❤ a dark roast for the flavour and the marked drop in acidity, not particular about origin but my mother is- Brazilian light to medium for her. We both brew it Turkish style on the stove which requires a super fine mill best achieved by precision perfected hand grinders. Interesting video. Thankyou 😊.

[@daffyaj6841]

Great video, as always. I live in Wuhan, and I'm lucky enough to be right next to an independent cafe which I adore. I noticed they have their own roasting machine, and often wondered about how that would give them the freedom to create their own flavours. Maybe when my Chinese is better I can ask them myself, and pick up some niche coffee vocab on the way. By the way - fun fact! Cafes are one of the fastest rebounding sectors of the Chinese economy since the end of the Covid restrictions. I've seen it first hand: so many new trendy cafes are opening with brands I've never heard of. And very few are what I would consider 'conventional' coffee places. They're more into wacky milk based drinks featuring coffee. Some say that's because Chinese folks aren't super into coffee, so cafes mask it with lots of other flavours. Whatever the reason, it's interesting to observe. Coffee is definitely on the rise in China.

[@segamble1679]

I'd love a moderated roundtable discussion with a handful of prominent roasters. I find discussion between professionals (when dumbed down for the layman) to be incredibly fascinating. Also, the few interview videos James has done are some of my favorites, and I'd love to see more.

[@Kingramze]

The process is very interesting. I actually grow a few coffee plants - not enough to do much with, but enough to save some seeds to process now and then. I just haven't tried roasting them at home yet. This vid really reminded me of the importance of stirring the beans while roasting to get a more even roast by avoiding those hot spots from conduction.

[@classi-cal]

Your intros keep improving video by video 🎉

[@anne-mette]

I’m new to specialty coffee and have a difficulty with transitioning to the acidity but I love that it’s less dirty than commercial coffee 💚 I used to drink

[@countbowl]

One thing that gets me about this channel besides James’s dulcet tones is the cinematography! That opening sequence was awesome

[@honey4clover]

Finally a high-quality video on the detailing of coffee roasting! That lineup of gradation on white surface is so mesmerizing😍

[@sammu]

Yessss FINALLY!!!!!!

[@YouTube]

this is mug-nificent ☕ thanks james !

[@Nicky-ec8ln]

Hi KZbin 😂

[@musamustafa3390]

Please stop KZbin

[@magepunk2376]

Bring back dislikes please.

[@cafecostella]

you know its serious when KZbin comments 💀

[@UloPe]

Looks like KZbin is a fan of James as well!

[@TwoScoopsOfTubert]

Neat! I always like these kinds of videos from you and would definitely be interested in a deeper dive into the roasting process itself and how different profiles affect flavour/aroma/etc. Looking forward to it!

[@Mayonnaise69]

I like to watch and listen to people who are passionate about stuff and also geniuses. It is calming. This is nice

[@TastesToolsTrends]

Fantastic piece, James! I’m amazed that many baristas have no idea about cracks or roast level terminology. Also, few consumers consider roast dates when sourcing beans to brew outside a coffee shop. I’ve been having fun tasting roasts and inviting AI tools to hallucinate from my descriptions. It makes drinking the stuff even more enjoyable!

[@IamQED]

"At some point, it just turns to carbon and then catches fire. I don't recommend that." Wow, I can't believe James is gatekeeping coffee 😞 What happened to accepting everyone's unique preferences?

[@Gabriel-ne4et]

This video was so much more than i expected. Great work!

[@biggydrink]

I would love to go even further back in the coffee lifecycle and see the impact that coffee processing has on coffee flavor - what are the primary methods, how do they work and differ from each other, why would you pick one over another, how does the coffee farm location play into that decision, and how do farmers/processors get the same coffee profiles (or not!) from different crops month after month or year after year. My interest in all this primarily comes from Lucia Solis's podcast Making Coffee, which has so much incredible information. But I would love to see James' take/explanation, and to get some video of these processes that I've heard so much about.

[@sebastianbarrerarivera9017]

The cinematography of these intros is getting insane 🤩