Roasting
Once the beans arrive at our roastery, it is up to us to bring out the complex flavors and aromas. We constantly evaluate the quality of our roasted coffee, and because each sack of coffee may respond differently in our cast-iron Probat coffee roaster, we experiment with each new arrival to find the optimal roast temperature and finish time for each of our offerings. Simply, there is not a “one size fits all” solution to roasting coffee. Since our roastery is not automated, we roast these coffees the old-fashioned way, relying on our roaster’s expertise and hands-on experience.
A few words about our roasts:
As roasters, we let the beans tell us the degree to which they should be roasted; some coffees respond well to lighter roasts while some need more development in the roaster. Some beans respond well to a medium AND a dark roast.
In general, we tend to roast lighter than most San Diego roasters because we believe in highlighting the varietal characteristics and not roast characteristics of a coffee bean.
While there are several names for the possible roast degrees, we have three broad classifications: Medium, Dark, and French.
Medium Roasts can encompass light to medium in color/roast degree.
Dark Roasts will be medium to medium-dark in color. There will not be much visible oil on our “Dark” roasts.
But, with our French Roast, you will notice a dark bean with visible oil on the surface of the bean.
Philosophy | Roasting | Cupping | Sourcing
photography by Eric Wolfinger
“People are used to drinking bad coffee. They add the cream and sugar to cover that up.”
~ Chuck Patton, former English teacher and owner of Bird Rock Roasters.
Union Tribune 'Notable & Quotable',
March 1, 2009
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