Our Roasting Philosophy
Coffee roasting is like alchemy. The inherent qualities of coffee remain locked and hidden in the little green seed, until they are released by fire to shine in all their resplendent origin-expressing glory. Once the coffee is lovingly and carefully roasted, it starts to de-gas, emitting CO2 for a period of about 10 days. When the coffee stops degassing, it is no longer fresh. Nothing can stop the coffee from staling! That is why we roast coffee six days a week.
We are very attached to our East Van micro-roastery. The darlings of the warehouse (other than Manjit, of course) are a couple of old school cast-iron Probat drum roasters. We force ourselves to roast coffee six days a week by keeping the size of our roasters small, even as our volume increases. The two Powell Street roasters have a 90 kg and 22 kg capacity, and we have a 5 kg Probat at our Main St café for special small batches and custom roasts. We roast our samples on a vintage Jabez-Burns four-barrel roaster in the middle of our Commercial Drive café.
Coffee may not change lives, but its journey could.
Here's how we honour that journey every step of the way
| 1 Let sun, soil, moisture & elevation work their magic | 7 Pick best-tasting beans (taste rules) | 13 Deliver fresh beans every day |
| 2 Allow beans to develop their unique tastes | 8 Pay a premium for the best beans | 14 Wait for you to come in |
| 3 Search tirelessly for the best beans | 9 Ship beans across the ocean | 15 Have staff bag your fave |
| 4 Gather staff for blind taste test | 10 Welcome beans to JJ Bean | 16 Remember your part in the journey |
| 5 Mmmmmm | 11 Roast only what we need in small batches | 17 Grind, brew & serve |
| 6 Debate furiously | 12 Blend to perfection | 18 Enjoy the deliciousness |
Now that you know the exhausting journey of coffee and its devoted farmers and tasters, roasters and baristas, we trust that this coffee is in good hands. It took a monumental global effort to get these exact beans into this bag, so grind it, brew it, inhale it, and really, really enjoy it. That would make the journey so worthwhile.
