White Elk only roasts specialty coffee-grade coffee. In short, this means that all beans entering the roastery have scored at least 80 on the 100-point scale developed by the Specialty Coffee Association to rate coffee. You can read more about this scaleHERE.
Because we only source and roast coffee of this high quality, it means we don’t want to roast your espresso beans beyond recognition. Dark roast coffee is just that. To remove defects in cheap coffee, it is roasted as hard as necessary, at the expense of taste and aroma. Specialty coffees contain a minimum of defects, so there’s nothing to be ashamed of – and therefore nothing to roast.
In practical terms, this means that none of our espresso beans “tear” in an unpleasant way. Our Italian blends symbolize what these would be like if Italians always used the same good raw material as we do. The further down in Italy we go, the more Robusta we find in the blends. The further north, the more Arabica. But we don’t rust as hard as the Italians. The result? Wonderfully rich espresso with even more nuances – more flavor and aroma. And with an unrivaled crema.
A major advantage of not roasting the espresso beans to “second crack”, i.e. thoroughly roasted, is that the aromatic oils are encapsulated in the beans until it is time to brew them. Only then should they be set free!
Oily espresso beans go rancid quickly, but they are also great enemies to your grinder. In this case, the oil clogs the grinding discs, you have to clean more often and the grinder does not last as long.
If you are wondering more about how we at White Elk or Kafferosteriet Koppar roast our espresso beans, you are welcome to contact us. Just email us HERE!