Most people don’t question our methods, they just want their coffee!   But for the curious ones who like to ask questions about our delicious Roasterie coffee (you know who you are!), this post is for you.

We’ve had hundreds and hundreds of people ask us “What is air roasted coffee?”  “Why does The Roasterie use the air roasting method?”  “What are other ways to roast coffee?” and “What makes air roasting special?”

We’re so glad you asked!

Unique Flavor of Air Roasted Coffee

In the entire world, only 1% of all the coffee beans picked and harvested get the privilege of being air roasted. That’s it.  We’re proud to be one of the only coffee companies in the world to produce air roasted coffee.  Because after all, it tastes the best.

Nearly all of the other coffee in the world is drum roasted.  But roasting a bean the right way can make all the difference when it comes to the flavor of your coffee. Proper roasting won’t turn average beans into amazing beans (you have to pick the perfect bean for roasting first!). What proper roasting will do is bring out the best in quality beans.  And air roasting brings out a bean’s best qualities.

The Air Roasting Process

The air roasting process we use at The Roasterie works like this:

• Suspend the beans by roasting them on a bed of 680-degree hot air called the fluid bed (the fluid bed is a vortex inside of the roasting chamber.  The vortex allows each individual bean to be roasted evenly and to perfection.)
• When the coffee beans pop and crack during air roasting, a skin on the beans called the chaff is blown away from the beans and into a separate chamber (this is important because if the chaff stayed on, it would burn and smoke, giving the coffee a somewhat bitter, smoky flavor that would mask the natural flavor of the specific bean)
• The heat of air roasting is evenly distributed throughout the entire batch of coffee beans
• Once the desired roast level is reached, digital controls cut off the heat source and trigger a cooling process