Revisiting the Caffeine and Roast Level Debate This time, with Science! A few years ago I weighed in on the Royal blog on caffeine in coffee, and its relationship to roast degree. I’m pleased to say that some very smart folks at Berry College and Drexel University have published a paper in...
It’s been said that those who stand for nothing will fall into a constant state of decline. As an outspoken critic of “my way or the highway” approaches to education and one-size-fits-all solutions to roasting and quality control concerns in specialty coffee, it may not surprise you to learn that...
“Every Act of Creation is First an Act of Destruction” -Pablo Picasso Lately, I’ve been speaking with my roasting students in the big-picture mode about their superpowers. Roasting is often spoken of in esoteric chemical terms or couched in industry-specific language that can sometimes alienate...
We'd like to give our sincere thanks to our Crown Jewel customers. With your support, we're able to continue to explore the boundaries of specialty coffee and highlight innovative producers around the globe. Here's a look back at the year in Crown Jewels: We released 48 Crown Jewels from 17...
Reflecting on the last six months of roasting styles at The Crown. For as long as we’ve been serving coffee, The Crown’s menu has featured a revolving door of fresh and seasonal coffees served across a number of brewing styles. By far, our most consistent outturns (aside from cold brew in the...
Editor's note: This article was first published in Roast Magazine's May/June 2021 issue, and is reprinted here with permission. Grinder Alignment: An Evaluation of Consistency, Cupping Settings, and the Impact of Roast Degree Experiment design, operation, summary and analysis by Chris Kornman and...
Coffee blending is time-honored pairing of sensory arts and pragmatic concerns, and for many coffee drinkers remains one of the most recognizable ways to distinguish a coffee. This article will introduce roasters to basic blending concepts and attempt to answer some critical questions when...
Mise en Place Setting Up for Success as a Home Roaster By Evan Gilman and Nate Lumpkin Roasting in the comfort of one’s own home is, in our minds, one of the most pleasurable experiences in the coffee world. Having your creature comforts nearby while you roast makes the whole affair much...
Editor's note: This article first ran the November/December 2020 issue of Roast Magazine. Heating Things Up An Introduction to Thermodynamics in Coffee Roasting By Candice Madison What alchemy turns coffee brown and releases a plethora of flavors and aromas? Heat! Not the steamy heat of a summer...
Editor's note: Lowell Powell, partner to Royal's Marketing & Outreach Director and Catracha Coffee Founder Mayra Orellana-Powell, is the architect of the Catracha Quality Project and a driver behind many of the coffee processing innovations taking place on the ground in Santa Elena's coffee...
The long and winding road of Ikawa profiling led me to pen previous articles on challenges and some new ‘from-scratch” sample roast profiles I have been employing regularly for Crown Jewels and other coffees. Yet, I’ve long been seeking a low-airflow alternative to the high fan speeds I tend to...
By Nate Lumpkin, Crown Barista Since we’ve all been stuck at home for months, it seemed like there was no better time than now to practice roasting my own coffee. I do most of my home cooking on a cast iron skillet that a friend gifted me many years ago, and I’d heard that it’s possible to roast...
Editor's Note: We’ve made a PDF available to you, as well as uploading it as a publicly available Cropster form, so you can choose it—it’s called “Deviation Production Cupping (Royal).” Cupping: Time Honored and Honed for Purpose Cupping coffee is one, if not, the best-known methods for evaluating...
The previous installment in this series outlined some challenges that presented themselves while using our Ikawa roasters here at Royal and The Crown. Below, we’ll look at the journey of creating roast profiles and making adjustments to suit many different purposes. After getting our machines back...
Flashback to April 2017, SCA Expo in Seattle. (For context, The Crown -- the building -- is still nearly 2 years from completion.) At Expo, one of the buzzworthy booths was a funny-looking small-batch electric roaster called Ikawa. You’ve surely heard of them by now, the Bluetooth-enabled device...
