The Art of Coffee Roasting
Crafting Perfection in Every Batch
At Percussive Coffee, we believe that roasting is both a science and an art form. I meticulously control every aspect of the process to bring out the unique flavors, aromas, and innate sweetness of each coffee. From selecting specialty-grade beans to the final cooling stage, every step is intentional to ensure maximum freshness and flavor.
Read on below to get a peek into the inner workings of a specialty coffee roastery.
It all matters...
It starts with the ingredient itself. We start with the highest quality, specialty-grade coffee beans ethically sourced from around the world. Along the way, ensuring proper compensation for coffee farmers, exporters, and importers while providing diverse and unique flavor profiles.
Coffee is typically graded by professional coffee tasters (called "Q-Graders") on a 0-100 scale in terms of how each lot of beans tastes, looks, and how consistent its size is (relative to the whole lot/varietal).
SCA Grading Scale Overview
Below 80 = Not speciality, commodity-grade coffee
80-84.99: Specialty. Very Good - High quality with minor defects.
85-89.99: Excellent - Very high quality with complex flavors.
90-100: Outstanding - Exceptional characteristics, rare qualities.
Most commodity-grade, mass-produced coffee (think Starbucks, Dunkin, Peet's, etc.) is grown yielding incredible abundance, but at the expense of quality, complexity, and sweetness; things that are thought desirable in a cup of coffee. These coffees are often roasted too quickly and much too dark, somewhat hiding their innate less-pleasing qualities. Now, there is a place for these coffees, they do belong, and they serve as the type of coffee the great majority of people drink around the world. But...
While not as economical/lucrative as commodity coffee, I believe the sensory experience and unique flavor profiles are quite worth the extra penny it takes to source and roast the specialty coffees that Percussive exclusively sources.
Precision Roasting
"...I have spent 8+ years learning to effectively roast coffee using state-of-the-art equipment and software (the same tools used by professional roasters around the globe) to control temperature (including the rate at which the coffee accepts heat), drum speed, airflow, and total roast development time. I can assure you that every detail matters, and I take them all into account to produce the best that each coffee has to offer.
After some time (and frustration), I have learned how to do this on an extremely consistent and repeatable level; bringing out the best in each batch, roast after roast, no matter how different one bean is from another.
So, Percussive came about because I wanted to share my results with you and showcase the hard work that dedicated coffee farmers around the globe perform year after year. It is they who have the biggest influence on the flavor quality of their product. I see that the roasters (and coffee lovers like you and I) are tasked with respecting those processes and creating a (hopefully) delicious experience for ourselves and others."
- (Owner & CEO, Tyler Thoms)
What sets Percussive apart then?
1. The endless due diligence undertaken to learn how to produce great coffee and the sheer passion we have for sharing a great beverage with others,
2. The highest levels of care taken for quality and consistency in turning green coffee into aromatic, delicious roasted coffee beans. These and many other things not mentioned are aspects of my business that set Percussive apart from other roasters/coffee shops.
3. We also consistently engage in quality control practices (e.g. cupping, TDS measurements, weight loss tracking, etc.) to ensure our roasts are tasting consistent and delicious from batch to batch.
Freshness Guaranteed
Every bag is roasted to order (within 14 days of shipping), sealed with a one-way valve, and marked with a roast date to ensure peak freshness as it arrives to you.
