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A Few Words About Roasting from Dave King, Bear Creek Coffee's "Roaster Extraordinaire!"
 Today we are bombarded with facts and statistics, cold and hard. Charts and graphs are hung like biblical banisters-kneel and worship, or else face something unknown, something you cannot quantify.
Coffee roasting is all about magic. Yes, we can identify in the strictest of terms what gives coffee it's flavor-caramelized sugars, acetic and butyric acids, esters, ketones, nicotinic acid, trigonelline,and more-but these don't explain the experience.
Imagine taking a common bean, green and earthy, and turning it into something people will crowd around, something people will rave about. As the bean is heated in the roasting drum it gradually turns a pale yellow, then a light cinnamon brown, and then the real drama unfolds. At about 400 degrees the coffee begins to crack and pop. This is the beginning of the real transformation-the mysticism-that makes this bean magical. As this first crack subsides, the roasting smoke begins to thicken and become more oily.
A hush falls on the bean...then at about 440 degrees, it begins to sing again. Not so much a pop this time, but a crinkly snap. The roasting smoke is becoming darker and darker, the intensity of everything about the bean increases with the rising temperature.
 And this is when I apply my magic. Everything - first impressions, smiles, frowns, will be determined by my spell. My intent is to reveal everything great about the bean, all of the flavors you cannot quantify, and thereby provide an unforgettable experience.
This is what coffee roasting is all about.
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