Everything has to become faster and cheaper. Especially in the food industry, production has been completely transformed in the last 50 years. This has also led to ways of roasting coffee faster and cheaper than with the traditional drum roasting method, which has been used in Italy for a hundred years and is still used at the Seehallen coffee roastery.
But we believe that good coffee takes time. Our roasting process takes time—a lot of time. Each roast takes about 20 minutes at 180°C–220°C. Depending on the variety and the desired flavor, it can be slightly longer or shorter. With preparation and finishing, we need almost an hour per roast. It takes patience to roast truly perfect coffee. We take the time!
Drum roasting vs. industrial roasting
In industrial roasting, the beans are roasted in a continuous process. This means the beans are placed on an air-permeable conveyor belt and passed through a hot air oven at 800°C. The roasting time is dramatically reduced; a single roast now only takes about 1–4 minutes. Afterward, the coffee is cooled with water because otherwise it would burn completely. This causes the bean to crack, releasing flavor compounds and essential oils. While the coffee develops a beautiful brown color on the outside, the bean inside is not fully roasted. Industrial roasting produces burnt outer layers that impart bitter flavors to the entire taste. Furthermore, the short roasting time prevents the acids from breaking down. This results in bitter compounds that can cause stomach aches and heartburn in sensitive individuals.
The largest coffee roasters in Switzerland are Nespresso in Paudex (40,000 tons per year), Delicia, Migros in Birsfelden (14,000 tons), and UTC in Zollikofen (10,000 tons). These are incredible quantities that could no longer be handled using traditional methods.
Time, weight and taste
For industrial roasting, the math works out. First, it saves a lot of time, and second, the weight loss (the reduction in weight of the bean) is limited to about 5%. This means that more water remains in the bean, making it about 15% heavier than after traditional drum roasting. This, of course, means that the customer is buying 15% more water per kilogram of coffee compared to drum roasting, or rather, the production cost for the roastery is 15% lower than with traditional methods. Naturally, with these quantities, 15% additional weight per kilogram of coffee translates into a huge additional profit.
We see the difference between drum roasting and industrial roasting as being similar to the difference between cooking a chicken in the oven or in a microwave. In a microwave at 2000 watts, the chicken is cooked through in 5 minutes… bon appétit.
Some things were simply good the way they were, and not everything that's technically possible makes sense. Honestly, why does everything always have to be faster? A good cup of coffee deserves its time to fully develop its aromas and flavor. Surely that's worth a few extra francs!
We will continue to roast our coffee in the traditional way and invite you to visit us at the roastery. Because honest coffee knows no secrets.
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