Before The Cup, The Fire
The green coffee bean is tasteless. It is roasting, the controlled application of intense heat for a few minutes, that reveals the hundreds of aromatic compounds that make a coffee a masterpiece or a disappointment.
Discover our coffeeGreen coffee, before roasting, is a hard, greenish bean, without coffee smell and practically no perceptible flavor. The aromatic compounds that will define the cup's character already exist, but as precursors: molecules that only reveal themselves after transformation by heat.
Roasting is the key that opens this aromatic safe. Too little heat, too little time, and the bean remains closed. Too much heat, too long, and the aromas burn and carbonize. The optimal window is narrow, and this is where the roaster's expertise comes into play.
Around 150°C, the Maillard reaction begins: the sugars and amino acids in the bean react together to create hundreds of new aromatic compounds. This reaction, identical to the one that browns bread or caramelizes onions, gives coffee its brown color and complex aromas.
Light roasts, stopped early in the process, preserve the original aromas of the bean: bright acidity, floral notes, fruit. They are popular in specialty coffee for filter coffee, as they reveal the terroir precisely. Less popular for espresso, as the acidity can be too sharp without milk.
Medium roasting is the sweet spot: enough development to create caramel and chocolate, light enough to preserve the original aromas. It is the most versatile profile, excellent in espresso as well as filter. Most serious specialty coffees are roasted in this range.
Dark roasting, if well done, produces an intense coffee, slightly smoky, with a noble bitterness and a long finish. This is the profile of traditional Italian espresso, that of Roman coffee machines that have always pulled under 9 bars. Powerful, direct, without unnecessary nuance.
A bean roasted less than 5 days ago is still "resting": trapped CO2 interferes with extraction and the flavor profile is not yet stable. A bean roasted more than 6 weeks ago has lost its liveliness. The optimal window: 7 to 28 days after roasting. At Carrera, our beans are always within this window.
At Carrera Café, the selection of beans is a decision made several times a year, in collaboration with trusted roasters. We seek consistency between the origin, the desired flavor profile, and the main extraction method (espresso or filter). A bright Ethiopian bean for the morning filter, a balanced blend for the daily espresso.
It is this attention given to every link in the chain, from the farm to the roaster to the machine, that makes a coffee at Carrera not just good: it is fair.
Come taste the result of this care
The Carrera Café in Petit-Champlain invites you to discover what well-executed roasting can bring to your cup. Espresso, filter, or latte: each drink reveals the invisible work of roasting.
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