DEDICATION To Laura and Abigail: The loves of my life, two women who make every day a joy. To John and Meribeth Hoos: My parents who are the reason I am the person I am. To Kevin Hoos: My brother who I respect and admire more than I can tell him (I don’t want it to go to his head). To William Schaefer: An intensely close friend who has been with me through thick and thin, and who was a sounding board to me throughout this process. To Zach Lemmon: One of my oldest friends, without whom I may have never gotten into coffee. To Augusto Carvahlo Dias Carneiro, for not only bringing me to Portland, but for encouraging me during the course of my writing of the book. He is basically the best boss ever.
PHOTO BY CONNIE BLUMHARDT
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WHY THIS IS WORTH A READ To be honest, nothing makes me as uncomfortable as telling people about myself, especially when the purpose of disclosing that information is to impress them. That being said, seeing as I am neither famous, nor infamous; nor do I work for a national or internationally known coffee roaster, I will divulge a few reasons regarding my experiences, thoughts, and opinions that may be beneficial. •
As a consultant: * I specialize in flavor profile matching, especially when switching roasting equipment manufacturers. * To my credit, I have been able to apply theories discussed in this handbook to match flavors so closely that the roasting teams I have worked with haven’t been able to differentiate between the coffees they roasted, and the coffees I roasted. (On different roaster manufacturers as well). * I have successfully worked with a wide variety of clientele from both the “second and third wave” in coffee. Some of which are household names, and others are well known regionally.
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I am very involved with the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) and the Roaster’s Guild of America (RG), specifically in industry education: * Instructor Development Program Certificate Holder * Specialized Lead Instructor for Roasting Certificate Holder * Subject Matter Expert on Roasting for SCAA/RG * Member of the Roaster’s Guild Certificate Committee * Content contributor and developer for Roaster’s Guild Level 2 courses at the SCAA Leadership Summit
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* Instructor for Roaster’s Guild Level 1 Certificate Program in Beijing, China. * Certificate Holder Roaster’s Guild Level 1 & 2 * Lead Instructor and Station Instructor for the Specialty Coffee Association of America •
I have a wide range of experience within the coffee industry: * Barista * Barista trainer * Production / Packaging * Green Buyer * Lead Educator * Production Roaster * Lead Roaster * Director of Coffee * Independent Consultant
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I am a professional within the coffee industry: * Currently I am the Director of Coffee for Nossa Familia Coffee in Portland, OR. * In the last 3 years, I have logged over 7,500 production roasts alone. If they average 12 mins. per roast, then that is 1,500 hours of my life, or 62.5 days (not counting sample roasting, profile development, and roasting for fun) * I’ve been interested in coffee since 2001 * I’ve been working in coffee since 2006 * I’ve been roasting coffee since 2009
Anyhow, I hope that is enough about me. Bottom line for me is not related to my credentials; rather to my experience that everyone that I know who has applied these basic approaches
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to modulating the flavor profile of their coffee have reported back to me that it works. Friends and colleagues of mine who are also professional roasters buy in, and that is enough to keep me from thinking that I am either insane, an egomaniac, or a fool. SOMETHING I MUST NOTE: In this handbook, I provide a lot of linkage with what sort of science I believe to be going on during roasting that causes the changes in my experience of the flavor profile. These are, to a certain extent, my opinions. I am not a scientist by trade. I do not (unfortunately) have a gas chromatograph or a mass spectrometer at my house, or in my lab at work. The truth is, whatever science I state has come to me through a lot of reading, thinking, and drawing of logical conclusions (though I think it to be reasonable and well thought out). I am looking forward to testing these items out and plan to adjust my opinion along the way.
This project started before I moved to Portland in late 2011. It is ongoing‌ Please read the book in order the first time, it will help you understand things better.
7 • ROB HOOS
OPENING One of the things that got me interested in coffee in the first place was an intense fascination with the multitude of possibilities and nuanced dissimilarities in the flavor profiles of coffee. During my time as a barista, I had learned how I could modulate those flavors within the coffee through altering the extraction. Part of what helped me understand how to do this was the vast amount of information on the Internet and bookshelf about that role and the effects of different extraction parameters on the final taste of the cup. When I started working as a coffee roaster, a whole new world opened up to me. As I excitedly dove into roasting, thinking that here I would be able to take control of the flavor profile of coffee to the next level, I quickly realized that I was diving into a sort of vacuum. The roasting community seemed much less accessible to me as a beginner (and as a roaster in the Midwest). I assumed that people had the information I sought (essentially, how to change the way that coffee tasted by changing the roast profile) and that, for whatever reason, I was simply unable to access it. So I decided to purchase my own 1-kilo roaster and began to figure out how to modulate the flavor profile by altering my roast profile. I read every book, website and scientific article I could get my hands on, and then began to develop theories based on all of my experiences roasting and cupping up to that moment. I then began to use basic means of scientific method: experimentation, control of variables, observation, and repetition My propensity for reading, experimentation, and information gathering helped me progress rather quickly within the industry. After moving to Portland, Oregon, I became more involved in the specialty coffee industry. Through working with various coffee industry groups (SCAA,
This is the owner of Nossa Familia and I by our Loring Kestrel.
A container of Brazilian coffee being unloaded outside of Nossa Familia Coffee.
Picture I took on my 2015 trip to Guatemala. Bourbon from Timoteo’s Farm in San Miguel.
Cupping coffees in the Nossa Familia Lab.
Cupping coffees at origin during my 2015 Guatemala trip.
The aftermath of our first round of cupping at Finca San Jeronimo.
Action shot of coffee being pulled out with the trier. PHOTO BY LUCAS CHEMOTTI
My beautiful Loring.
Coffee cools in the cooling tray of the Loring Kestrel. PHOTO BY LUCAS CHEMOTTI
Augusto couldn’t resist getting this picture lined up. This is coffee being moved with water from the pulper to the drying patio.
This is me in my SCAA volunteer shirt picking coffee cherries (canario variety) in Brazil.
This is a picture of me from early 2012 roasting on the Loring Kestrel at Nossa Familia Coffee.
Un-roasted Brazilian coffee being scooped to load into the roaster. PHOTO BY LUCAS CHEMOTTI
“True research and observations finally give roasters a strong foundation upon which to build their craft.” –Andrew Russo “A succinct yet thorough explanation of key roasting theories...a must read!” –Adam Shaw “Rob’s meticulous nature bears fruit: a direct approach to understand and manipulate your roast.” –William Schaefer “This book has caused me to approach the initial stages of roasting with the same focus and intention as the development stage. The coffee is tasting better and more consistent because of the process Rob lays out.” –Marcus Young “Shining greater light on the arcane craft of excellent coffee roasting, this book is a must read for any serious student of the craft.” –Tom Chips