new! chazzano coffee tasting party during expo
We have secured a prime spot for a coffee tasting party during Expo 2013. The Chazzano coffee tasting will be Thursday the 27th at 10am. There will be a tour of the shop and roasting facility, an explanation of how coffee is grown, processed, roasted and brewed, and a coffee tasting.
Chazzano needs a head count before the event so I'm putting a deadline of June 24th on the signup. The cost is $12 person, payable the day of the event. Sign up below!
Chazzano needs a head count before the event so I'm putting a deadline of June 24th on the signup. The cost is $12 person, payable the day of the event. Sign up below!
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Guys, if you don't like coffee, or hate coffee, or think you know coffee, GO TO THIS. It will bend your mind and open your eyes, and you'll learn a ton and have a great time.
Can't, however, say I knew it was going to happen at a gaming expo in Detroit.
Consider me in.
Back in 2011, I attended a coffee tasting at Chazzano. As I walked through the door being held open by @primesuspect, he said to me "This is going to change your life."
It did.
So... so scared.
- Muad-Dib
- Philip J. Fry
- The Internet
Today I did a little Googling to decide if Colorado or Utah roasted coffees really do take advantage of high elevation or if there really is no advantage to roasting at high elevations. Here are my findings:
1. Air Quality
High elevation locations in the world generally have very clean air. Having less particulate matter in the air results in more efficient convection during the roast as well as an extremely low likelihood that any external particles will bond with the beans during roasting to impact flavor. There is a "thing" for high elevation roasters called open air roasting, and I believe that means they aren't roasting in a closed room. As most of you home owners know, the air inside our homes is often more polluted than the air outside of them. The idea here is the air is clean outside, and so the coffee is brewed in extremely vented high elevation rooms.
2. Air Pressure
Most relevant to elevation is the air pressure. This is the same thing that impacts baking at high elevations. Basically, at high elevations water pressure boils at lower temperatures. As a result, fresh (green) coffee beans can have water extracted during roasting at lower temperatures. The idea here is that acids that normally leave the bean during roasting do so quicker at high elevations and the finished product is completed quicker and less flavor is lost compared to longer roasts at higher temperatures. Run on sentence.
3. Humidity
The coffee stays fresh longer. This is actually due to the lack of moisture in the air during roasting, since most high elevation environments (including CO) are very arid. So this isn't exclusive to high elevation, you could get the same result by properly dehumidifying your roasting room or going to a desert. Basically, far less moisture is the air during roasting and the final product is extremely dry, allowing it stay fresh for longer.
So is this all marketing herp derp, or is it real? We would have to have a tasting experiment to find out, which would be a pain. Or we can take in account the scientific backing of the theory that high altitude roasting results in a better tasting bean. Roasters from Montana, to Canada, to Switzerland all claim benefits from high altitude roasting. Companies who sell roasting equipment make special roasters for high elevation based coffee companies. It seems there is at least some element of truth to optimizing coffee taste with high elevation roasting.
Negatives? Frequent weather changes. At least where I am (CO) it can rain out of nowhere, and then go right back to being dry. Roasters at high elevations have to accommodate temperatures and roast times for humidity and weather otherwise all of the rational above gets disqualified. Also, since high elevation locations generally are not near efficient shipping locations you are going to have to pay more for the beans and they will likely have had spent more time on the road getting to you. Unless you live near the roasters to begin with.
Next for me is to visit a couple of the CO roasters near me to get a better idea of how this all works. I will report back in the future with pictures and more information.