Sourcing
Sourcing is the process of purchasing coffees throughout the year. It is ongoing and includes sample roasting, cupping, and building an understanding of harvest cycles and shipping logistics. Living in Portland and being surrounded by import companies truly helped facilitate our entry into the sourcing realm. By being involved in the city and getting to know other coffee professionals, we were able to build alliances that we’re still cultivating today.
Our approach has been to work with importers who have similar values and who specialize in specific coffee regions. We strive to purchase coffees when they are in season and fresh. It’s relatable to buying specific fruits and vegetables because they are in season. Being connected to the cycle of harvests around the world keeps coffee interesting and tasting the same coffees from one year to the next is incredible to experience.
Roasting
Really dialing in a roast comes down to very precise moments. It’s quite wild how much we’re able to shift flavors through very minuscule adjustments in the roasting process.
Weather, variety of bean, and processing method make coffees taste unique. It is through roasting that we’re able to curate the balance of flavor. An example would be roasting a coffee to have a heavier body in order to match its inherent chocolatey flavor. We might roast a fruity coffee to be more jammy in the wintertime or juicier in the summer months. It’s truly an engaging process with endless possibility.
