Tag: Coffee Roaster

The Roastery Tour -Blue Tokai

Having been a home brewer for years, and enjoying a good cup of coffee daily!

The Roastery tour was fascinating.

The effort, that goes into the brew of a single cup of coffee is huge, and within a few sips/Slurps, we have our verdict of liking or disliking the coffee.

The tour began with all those interested in assembling in a room and introduction of themselves, and what interested them about coffee and the tour.

We then moved to the storage room, where 1000 Kg gunny bags of green coffee beans were stored.

Each bag had a variety of green coffee beans which is sorted manually for good, bad and damaged beans.

They are then collected into a storage box before they go into roasting.

Each day 180 Kgs of green coffee beans are sorted manually at the Roastery.

There are a couple of green coffee varieties. They are Natural, Washed, Honey Processed (Red/Yellow) Malabar, and anaerobic fermentation.

Each of these beans have their own texture and size.

Natural: They are the natural ones. No Water or machines used to remove the coffee beans

Washed: They get washed away by water and then dried.

Malabar: A variety that’s popular in India. Is salt-panned coffee beans.

Honey Processed: A Process where coffee beans are de-pulped and dried without being washed. The golden sticky substance that remains is something like honey, which is why it’s known as honey processed.

Anaerobic fermentation: This is when the coffee cherries are locked into an airtight fermentation tank after being harvested, to stop any Carbon -dioxide from escaping.

The second room was the roasting room. 

The green coffee beans that has to be roasted are thrown into a hopper then a roasting profile is set ,that the roasters thinks  is the most appropriate for the coffee beans and then the coffee is roasted into the roaster. There are three drums within the roaster. 

And the coffee once roasted is flushed out in a section and spun over a few minutes where it cools down, before it can be taken into production for the cafés brewing, for cafe retailing, for E-Commerce purchases and other outlets that source beans from the Roastery. 

The packaging is done within minutes and ready to be sent all over.

The beans Preferably should be consumed within a month from the date it has been roasted to enjoy the flavour profile and taste of the coffee.

Post our Tour we also tried the coffees at the Roastery.

We brewed the pour over method and tried the drip bags too.

Oh! Please note before the Roastery brews a large batch of coffee, they have a portable roasting machine, that they use to sample beans.

The Roastery has to choose coffee from about 800 odd samples from which they choose about 40 odd samples they would produce under their Roastery.

Coffee From India #Kaffeécino #2

Always had a capsule coffee machine at your place and ran out of the Nespresso capsules?
There are a couple of options available. 
Vero Coffee: 
Besides, eating Indian chocolates. I also ended up having a lot of Indian coffee. Having got a Nespresso capsules machine and ran out of capsules. I looked for options and found Vero coffee as the best bet. With variety such as Malabar coffee, Irish Coffee and Arabica coffee. Vero was a surprise package and in all, they have 13 flavours to choose from. Starting from ₹390 for a pack of ten capsules 
Bonhomia Coffee:    This pandemic also allowed me to try another capsule coffee where it’s very economical compared to Nespresso capsules and flavours too are the same as Nespresso, but the highlight they also offer Green Tea & Black Tea for tea lovers and the only tea capsule that are available In India. So both The Tea & Coffee drinkers can enjoy themselves. Bonhomia also has its coffee machines that are worth investing.The pricing too is very economical and the quality is great too. ₹1500 for a pack of thirty capsules 

Instant Coffee:

Rage: An instant Ethiopian Coffee served in a test tube is a brand from Delhi that’s also the first plant-based Coffee in the world and I had been itching to try this one, even though I am not a fan of instant coffees and Rage has been one of the coffee that is Good! 
Roasted Coffee:
Bru Filter Coffee: 
After I ran out of my Italian grounded coffee. I  Tasted the Bru Filter roasted Coffee and it was just like South Indian filter coffee Dark & Strong and is very easily available and well priced 
Sunbean ITC Gourmet Coffee:
ITC has been a huge surprise for me when it comes to the Fabelle chocolates, The Coffee as it’s not easy to associate a company that has been known for Sunfeast Dark Fantasy Biscuits in the FMGC category and otherwise have been identified as a toboacco and hospitality company. 
The Packaging of the product to the taste of the coffee it is one Indian company that’s worth trusting. And having just two options of grounded coffee available one that’s made in the hills of the south and the other one inspired by southern America both the packing have a motif that’s are significant of the coffee region.

Speciality Grounded Coffee:

Cohoma Coffee Company: 
For the longest time I thought it was an international brand the typography used for their brand name and the combinations offered with the beautiful black packaging with a coloured design on the bottles as well as the Tin boxes. This couldn’t have been India and when I googled the country of origin for this there it was an  Indian brand.
This coffee is very bitter in taste and isn’t everyone’s cup of Coffee and those who like their coffee very strong will enjoy it.  
Araku: it’s not every day you hear about coffee that’s more popular in Europe than in India for the packing and for the flavours it has to offer. Araku isn’t necessarily strong or dark coffee but is mild with interesting coffee notes like peppers, Red fruit and dark chocolate that’s the signature collection to the toffee, Dark chocolate and sugarcane been the selection collection and many more collections to offer. They also have capsule coffee and a wider range for the European market that isn’t available in India Yet. 
Araku should be on your list to try… 
Third Wave Roasters: A speciality coffee place from Bangalore! That I had been reading a lot about and so when I was looking to try something different I tried their signature south Indian Filter Blend and it tasted and reminded you of the strong, Dark South Indian coffee. Third Wave Roaster also has cafes in Pune & Hyderabad besides Bangalore if you would like to visit them or you can order them from Amazon!  
The packing of Third Wave Roaster reminded me of Blue Bottle the USA coffee Chain that offer an interesting range of coffee flavours and the simplicity of the design in packing. 
Subko: While reading a  digital magazines publication issue! I came across this cafe in Mumbai! Though they were supposed to open in March! The lockdown forced them to keep shut! And a few months later they opened in Bandra. I haven’t been to the cafe yet! As I am not in Mumbai anymore…
But, that did not stop me from trying out their roast by ordering them from their website. They have a range of roast right from Meghalaya to the southern estate. 
The packaging and the taste of coffee are well balanced. I ordered the Woodway estate that has flavours of Carmel, Dates and cocoa a good coffee option if you are looking for something that’s not sweet but also slightly dark. 
KC Roaster- Marahulla Grounded Coffee : 
Home became the new destination. I had just ordered Pour-over Coffee equipment. 
It’s like having drip Coffee, that’s known as V60 as it’s a 60-degree angle in a v shape where you need to add filter paper and have a carafe below for the coffee to drip down. So to enjoy this I ordered grounded coffee from one of my favourite cafes in Mumbai.
And having already enjoyed all Indian homegrown coffee & chocolates. This has been one of the smoothest coffees with notes of Cocoa & Caramel. 
Kelagur washed was another good smooth coffee that was not too strong even though it’s said to be an ultra Dark Roast 
but had the taste of dark chocolate and a little buttery. You should try these two from KC Roaster.