The Processing of Green Coffee
Success through quality.Coffee is called green coffee until it is roasted. Green coffee is mostly packed in 60kg bags for shipping to various destinations. Each shipment is checked several times. If a sample contains more than 5% spoiled beans it is rejected and sent back. In the Julius Meinl roasting plant the green beans are cleaned again, weighed, and blended according to proprietary recipes.
How is coffee roasted?
We roast our coffees in Vienna, Austria or Vicenza, Italy by applying heat. Some 800 aromatic compounds are hidden in each bean and are only released by heat. The duration and temperature of the roasting process are important for infl uencing the taste of the coffee. Roasting our premium coffees for the coffeehouse and restaurant trade takes roughly 16 minutes and is done in drum roasters. This process is fi ve times longer than roasting coffee in fl uid-bed roasters and better enhances the delicate aromas of high quality coffees. During roasting the coffee beans loose approximately 15-20% of their weight, but increase their volume by 30-100%.
How does the type of roast affect the bean?
The degree of roasting is important for the preparation of the coffee.
- Light Roast: intense aroma, higher acidity, more body on the palate – for filter coffee
- Medium Roast: brings out more of the bean subtleties, aromatic, caramelized, slightly less acidic – for typical Vienna coffee recipes
- Dark Roast: harsh, more strongly caramelized, stronger and more intense taste – for espresso
Why is packaging so important for the quality of coffee?
Roasted coffee, bean or ground, is a very sensitive product. To protect the coffee from oxygen, odor, humidity, heat, and light Julius Meinl packs its coffee immediately after roasting in air-tight foil. Ground coffee is packed under vacuum, whole beans in bags with a one-way-valve enabling roast gases to escape without allowing air into the bags. Coffee should be stored in a cool and dry environment. An old saying states: Coffee should only come into contact with heat three times – the first time on the farm, the second time during roasting and the third time when brewing.
Is Julius Meinl’s quality control really so precise?
Yes. Only the best quality ensures the extraordinary taste of Julius Meinl coffee. First of all a unique electronic sorting system checks each individual roasted coffee bean for quality. If a bean is too dark, too light, or damaged it is removed. The best quality control is continuous checking of green beans and tasting (cupping) the roasted product. Each coffee is first tasted as a single origin product. It is then blended and the finished blend is tasted again. Only after the second tasting is the coffee released for production. Julius Meinl has been doing this since 1862.
You can taste the difference in every cup of Meinl coffee.
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Yes. Only the best quality ensures the extraordinary taste of Julius Meinl coffee. First of all a unique electronic sorting system checks each individual roasted coffee bean for quality. If a bean is too dark, too light, or damaged it is removed. The best quality control is continuous checking of green beans and tasting (cupping) the roasted product. Each coffee is first tasted as a single origin product. It is then blended and the finished blend is tasted again. Only after the second tasting is the coffee released for production. Julius Meinl has been doing this since 1862.
You can taste the difference in every cup of Meinl coffee.
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