Farm to Cup – The Process to a Perfect Cup of Coffee
Coffee is very complex and has numerous identified chemical compounds, even more than wine. As the second most traded commodity in the world it has captured the interest and excitement of many people. At Liquid we are professionally trained to identify these commodities and work with them to bring you an excellent cup of coffee.
Every great cup of coffee starts with a good quality arabica bean.
These beans need to be grown at high altitude, be of the right variety and processed correctly by the coffee farmer. This process is very labour intensive and susceptible to the environment which has lead to the development of practices such as Fair Trade. The impact on the environment has also spurred the growth of environmentally sustainable practices such as shade grown and organic coffee.
At Liquid we work with both Fairtrade and Organic Beans.
At Liquid, our goal is to seek out sustainable coffees by learning about where they are from and meeting with the farmers who grow and process our beans. Building our relationships based on common goals and a desire for sustainability and quality.
To accomplish this, we traveled and still visit a number of coffee growing regions and find new farms and build our relationships further with farmers and exporters. These relationships and the constant search for good farms and beans make it that we learn every day.
Roasting
Having excellent raw materials is one thing, but converting it to great coffee requires the skill of a roasting artisan and roasting machine designed specifically to extract the best from each coffee bean.
After the labour intensive process of growing, processing and shipping the beans it is the roasters turn. At Liquid our roaster transforms the high quality green bean into a roasted bean and has a huge impact on the eventual taste and characteristic of the coffee in the cup. Without roasting there won’t be any of the tastes and aroma’s we all know so well.
The smoky, sweet, sour and bitter tastes won’t emerge as long as the bean hasn’t been roasted.
Our goal in roasting is to roast the coffee in small batches, and in such a way that it highlights all the natural characteristics of the coffee. All of our coffees are custom roasted and packaged in small quantities to ensure the freshness. Every package will show the country of origin, farm, processing method, altitude, bean varietal and tasting notes.
Brewing
The
best roasted coffee beans can still produce a cup that don’t taste like
that if the brewing method is sloppy. In the coffee’s long journey from
farm to cup. There are many people involved from growing, processing,
shipping and roasting but a barista has the finishing touch and can
still instantly destroy all their work.
That is why barista’s go through intense training courses that covers
both theory and a lot of practice. We understand the important role the
barista plays but also understand that good equipment is key.
The equipment in place is high quality and as good as it can be, but a well maintained coffee machine and water filtration system are essential.
Trained Baristas know how to keep everything in shape