ROAST DAY
At Haciendo Coffee Roasters, Monday is roast day. This ‘Day in the Life’ post from lead roaster Billy Wiginton, is a glimpse into what most of our Mondays look like:
Preparing to roast: We start by preparing our all electric, hot air (fluid bed) roasting machine, making sure it is clean and in good working order. We also check our inventory of green coffee beans and select the beans we plan to roast that day.
Roasting the coffee: We carefully roast each batch of coffee to the desired level of roast to match the profile we have set. This involves closely monitoring the temperature and airflow, as well as the color, smell, and sound of the beans during the roasting process.
Quality control: Before packaging the coffee beans, we conduct quality control checks, such as searching for defects and cupping (tasting) the coffee, to ensure that it meets their standards for flavor, aroma, and consistency. We also stay in touch with the coffee farmers they purchase green coffee from, to ensure that we are receiving high-quality beans.
Packaging the coffee: Once each batch is roasted, we package each bag of coffee by hand. This means applying labels, measuring & weighing the coffee, sealing & dating each bag.
Shipping out orders: We then check our online store for orders that have come in since our last roast day. We prepare the orders to ship, print labels, and then drop them off at the local post office.
Cleaning and maintenance: At the end of the day, we clean the roasting machine and equipment to ensure that it is ready for the next roast day.
What we do is a labor of love that requires a passion for producing high-quality coffee, attention to detail, and a commitment to the craft.
We try to balance the technical aspects of roasting with the artistic elements of packaging and branding, all while maintaining a connection to the coffee farmers and customers we serve!