Ever wondered why coffee smells so heavenly when you first open the bag?

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Ever wondered why coffee smells so heavenly when you first open the bag? Or what makes some cups taste like blueberries and others like chocolate? Karen, the passionate owner of Rosso Coffee Bar, pulls back the curtain on the fascinating world of coffee in this enlightening conversation.

Karen's unexpected journey began in South Korea in 2011, where she discovered the art of roasting and developed her tasting skills. She describes her coffee awakening—that magical moment tasting freshly roasted Ethiopian Yirgacheffe that revealed coffee could be smooth, complex, and reminiscent of blueberries and citrus rather than bitter and harsh.

With the precision of a scientist and the passion of an artist, Karen demystifies the roasting process, explaining how she treats it as cooking: "For myself, being a roaster, for me to cook coffee green coffee beans, I have to roast it. It's either cooking in the oven or cooking coffee beans in the roaster." She exclusively crafts medium roasts, believing they capture the perfect balance of flavor development without the potential harshness of darker profiles.

The conversation delves into terroir—how altitude, volcanic soil, and climate fundamentally shape coffee's character. "Higher altitude the better," Karen explains, "because then the plants cannot ripen coffee cherries too fast and it has to work harder." For those looking to elevate their coffee appreciation, Karen offers a masterclass in tasting terminology, breaking down acidity (the bright, vibrant qualities), body (the silky mouthfeel from oil content), and finish (how pleasantly flavors linger).

Whether you're a casual coffee drinker or aspiring connoisseur, this episode will transform how you experience your next cup. Ready to deepen your coffee knowledge? Subscribe to our podcast for more insightful conversations with industry experts who are passionate about their craft.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome back everybody to Business Talk, the
show, where we dive deep intothe industries that keep our
world moving.
I'm your host, didier, and intoday's episode we got another
great episode.
Actually, I'll be speaking withKaren.
She is the owner of RossoCoffee Bar.
How are you doing, karen?

Speaker 2 (00:19):
I'm good.
Thank you, sir.
How are you?

Speaker 1 (00:21):
I am doing awesome.
Thanks for asking so, listeners.
In each episode, our guestsshare practical tips and
valuable advice that can helpyou navigate life and stay ahead
in your own journey, as well aseducate you, too, as well.
If you're enjoying this content, make sure to like this video
and subscribe to the channel andstick around, because we've got

(00:42):
a lot of great information.
We're going to be talking aboutthe origin, the roasting
process of coffee beans, thebean origins and flavor, as I
mentioned earlier, and we'regoing to also talk a little bit
about the tasting and profiles.
Karen's going to enlighten uson the coffee bean and her

(01:02):
business as well.
So again, karen, take it away.
Let's start off by, if youdon't mind, what got you into
the world of coffee roasting.

Speaker 2 (01:13):
I was in South Korea in 2011, and I had to be there
for lengthy months, so Ihappened to, went to my friend's
roasting facility and startedto learn how to roast coffee
there and also how to brewcoffee there, and it actually

(01:39):
led me to become a coffee tasteras well.

Speaker 1 (01:43):
So going into tasting coffee back then, right, it was
a journey for you.
Can you remember the first timewhen you tasted a roast?
That was just wow.
You know this is very goodtasting.
What made it so special?

Speaker 2 (02:01):
Yeah, absolutely.
Actually, that was right afterwe roasted Ethiopian Yerge Chef
from Ethiopia.
That's one of the very famousreasons coffee regions in
Ethiopia and it was right afterwe roasted.
You usually taste, you usuallytaste and it just blew my mind

(02:30):
because it has so muchblueberries and lemons and
orange zest kind of flavors, andnot to mention the coffee
wasn't bitter at all, it wasvery, very smooth and it almost
felt like a drinking tea insteadof coffee.
Yeah, that was the wow momentfor me.

Speaker 1 (02:47):
I can tell.
Let me off topic here.
Why does coffee smell so goodwhen you open it up?
You know what?
Do you know why that aroma isjust it smells so good?
I always was curious about that.

Speaker 2 (03:03):
Well, coffee has a lot of chemistries.
You know, coffee is what we areutilizing as a drink is seed of
coffee cherry, so it has a lotof chemistries.
And also we cook it, we roastit.

(03:26):
In that process there is a lotof chemical reactions within
coffee beans, so it has a littlebit of acidity, it has a little
bit of water content.
As we cook it, a little bit ofsugar content will start to
caramelize and it seems like asimple.

(03:50):
You know, coffee is coffee to alot of people, but for us to
have just coffee cup of coffee,there goes a lot into it and
that's why coffee smells.
That's why coffee smells Ifit's a good coffee.

Speaker 1 (04:11):
You will get this woof of good flavors and dry
aromas.
I love that.
That's very well stated.

Speaker 2 (04:21):
What do most people not know about what goes into
roasting coffee beans?
First of all, a lot ofcustomers don't put cooking and
roasting together.
So in other words, for myself,being a roaster, for me to cook
coffee green coffee beans I haveto roast it.

(04:42):
So it's either cooking in theoven or cooking coffee beans in
the roaster.
It's the same mechanism, butthey don't link those two
together.
So what I do?
I mean what roasters do?
We just cook coffee beans,green beans, in a very high

(05:06):
atmosphere temperature.
Then you know everybody hasdifferent recipes.
It's different for everybody.
But the way I do it, I only domedium roast compared to light
or dark roast.

Speaker 1 (05:22):
Well, that interesting, you know.
Talking about the roastingprocess which you kind of hit on
right now, briefly, how dodifferent roast levels, like you
said, light, medium and darkaffect the flavor and the
caffeine content?

Speaker 2 (05:39):
Well, I mean, I always compare cooking with a
coffee roasting process.
If it's not well cooked, I meanif it's too well cooked,
overcooked, then what we get outof the oven is very dry and
tough and not much, you know,flavor.

Speaker 1 (06:01):
Flavor.

Speaker 2 (06:02):
Food right.
So same thing goes with acoffee roasting process.
If I prolong the roastingprocess too long, then coffee
beans will lose the watercontents, as it happens, and
then it will start to pop.
That's the most sensationalaction in the in the roaster.

(06:24):
Once it start to start to pop,then it will release the water
content, will start to evaporatewith those components of
flavors, and you have to knowwhen to stop.
You know due to your preferredlevel of roasting.

(06:45):
Otherwise, if you just carry on, that water content will start
to bring all the things up inthe vent.
Then what we have left isalmost no flavors left, coffee
beans, but by then it will bevery dark, oily and big, because

(07:06):
it's like a popcorn you knowlike yes pop, it pops more.
So same thing with the lightroast.
I don't personally prefer lightroasting, so I don't serve
light roast in my shop.
But if it's not fully cooked androasted, then there will be not

(07:29):
enough flavors for the coffeebeans to offer.
It has not been developed.
So to me the ultimate level ofcoffee roasting is medium level.
That's my personal choice andpersonal preference, but then
you know, it could be differentfor everybody.

(07:50):
I was told in Northern Europethey like light roast.
One day I will definitely visitand try it, but that hasn't
happened yet.

Speaker 1 (08:02):
Oh, wow, that's very interesting.
I would have never known allthat.
So good information, thank you.
So we talk about the beanorigins and flavor.
How do factors like altitude,soil and climate impact the
flavor of the bean itself, ordoes it?

Speaker 2 (08:21):
It plays a lot into the flavors of coffee beans.
To make it simple, you know,everybody knows about wine, how
wine tastes, different fromdifferent regions.

Speaker 1 (08:35):
Correct.

Speaker 2 (08:36):
Right.
The only reason why it differsis because you know climate has
to be suitable and altitude hasto be suitable.
The water you know water levelgoes with a climate condition.
Same thing it's, in my opinion,higher altitude the better,

(09:02):
because then the plants cannotripe coffee cherries too fast
and it has to work harder tomake sure that the seeds have
everything to reproduce.
But if it's a lower level, lifeis not too hard for plants in

(09:26):
my opinion.
Same thing it has to have acertain soil, preferably
volcanic soil soil, and that'swhy you know in Central Africa
and Colombia, all thosecountries, that they, they
produce excellent coffee.

(09:46):
For that reason, because it'sall sitting on, coffee Farms
usually sit on volcanic soil.
So volcano, volcanic soil has alot of minerals and a lot of
nutrition for any plant, notonly for coffee plants.
So it does matter that climateis absolutely important.

(10:11):
Soil, kind of soil, absolutelyimportant.
How much sun comes shining downon coffee beans and coffee
plants really matters.
So every little bit you knowclicks in until we get a good
cup of coffee.

Speaker 1 (10:31):
Wow, very well stated .
That's very interesting.
I'm sure our listeners areenjoying this as well.
By the way, listeners, if youare enjoying this, please leave
a a comment.
Please also feel free to likeand subscribe to the channel as
well, so I can bring you morecontent like this in the future.
Can you explain the differencebetween acidity, body and finish
and a finish in coffee?

(10:52):
Is there a difference?

Speaker 2 (10:55):
absolutely first of acidity sounds very harsh right.
The word itself is harsh, butthe coffee industry decided to
use that term, for you know thebright taste in our mouth.
In other words, when you thinkabout lemon or lime, any kind of
citrus fruit, we have our mouthstart to become watery, right.

Speaker 1 (11:21):
Right.

Speaker 2 (11:22):
That's because of the acidity in the citrus fruit and
personally I prefer highacidity because I believe, in my
opinion, acidity is the oneactually actually gives a
vibrant coffee taste.

Speaker 1 (11:43):
That's a good word.

Speaker 2 (11:44):
So I really enjoy high acidity level of coffee,
but it's not for everybody and alot of times customers are
confused, in my opinion, becauseacidity is it's around your
palate, not not down yoursuffocate so our.

(12:08):
Our stomach is much more acidicright so that wouldn't really
affect your stomach.
However, something really umbothers their um, their stomach
after they have coffee.
Most of the time it's more offrom the dark roast.

(12:28):
To you you will get a lot ofsmoky flavors and you know those
can really not upsetting yourstomach.

Speaker 1 (12:37):
But make, enhance it, enhance it right.

Speaker 2 (12:40):
Yeah, yeah.
And body in coffee is a levelof oil in coffee.
So the way you taste test levelof oil in your coffee is that's

(13:02):
how we actually practice.
Let's say, your front teeth isright there and your palace
starts right there mm-hmm andwith the tip of your tongue,
drop it against your beginningof your palate.
Then if it moves, if it movessmooth and silky, that means it

(13:25):
has more oil, that means it's ahigh body.
And if it's kind of water, likeyou know, it doesn't move fast
and and smooth, that means itdoesn't have enough oil and
therefore you can say it's a lowbody.
In coffee you can taste it witha full milk and water and just

(13:50):
to feel the difference, then youwill definitely feel the
sensations in your mouth.
Um, and and what was the lasttime?

Speaker 1 (13:59):
um, the last one was the fin, the yeah, the finish in
the coffee itself.
We talked about the body, yeahto.

Speaker 2 (14:08):
To me what plays in that is more of um, it's it's
everything you know to acidity.
When it comes to your, intoyour mouth, then it hits a front
and body will last if it's ahigher body and it will last
longer and it's all linger intoyour palate how long it lasts

(14:34):
longer in pleasant way.
That's the I would say.
That's a direct measurementthat you could say oh, this is a
good coffee versus a bad coffee.
If it's an aftertaste, it'skind of bitter and stays inside
at the back of your, in yourmouth and gives you kind of

(15:00):
unpleasant bitterness, thenyou're not drinking a good
coffee.
Usually good coffee lasts longer, very smooth and doesn't really
have to have bitterness.
But coffee beans has a littlebit of bitterness, for sure, but
if it comes from coffee itselfit usually very pleasant, not

(15:25):
unpleasant bitterness from youknow defects.
Or or overly roasted, like darkroast wow karen, this, this was
a great information, wow.

Speaker 1 (15:39):
Thank you so much for being able to share your
insight on the coffee processitself.
Very intriguing.
Love being able to speak withyou and allowing you to share
this with our listeners.
So, as we wrap up, could youprovide our listeners with a
phone number, maybe to get ahold of you, uh, as as well as

(16:00):
other ways to get a hold of you?

Speaker 2 (16:03):
um, of course, um, my , our phone number is a
407-687-8128.
You can text or call to thatany time and we are just about
to launch our um website.
Um, that will be rosso cbcomand it will be launched in next

(16:31):
few days and you will carrythings awesome.

Speaker 1 (16:37):
well, thank you so much for taking time out of your
busy schedule to talk with usabout the roasting process in
your business, and hopefully wecan have you back again in the
near future.

Speaker 2 (16:47):
Thank you so much for having me and have a wonderful
day, thanks.

Speaker 1 (16:50):
You as well.
You're very welcome.
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