Portola coffee lab app by Jesus Lopez

portola coffee lab

3 3 1 3 H y l a n d A v e n u e ( T h e O C M a r t M i x , o f f th e 4 0 5 H a r b o r E x i t ) C o s t a M e s a , C a l i f o r n i a 9 2 6 2 6 (949) 284-0596 w w w . p o r to l a co f f e e l a b . com

W h a t is t h e siz e o f your c om pany? H o w m a n y e mp lo y e e s do you have? H o w m a n y p o u n d s o f c offee di d you r oas t thi s year? H o w l o n g h a v e y o u been i n bus i nes s ? We are a small, family-owned, 2000 square foot, 3rd-wave coffee house with an in-house roaster. Come September, we will have a second location open in historic Old Town Orange. It will be a very uniquely outfitted coffee bar inside a provisions market. Additionally, we will be opening our second retail roastery in the Arts District of Downtown Santa Ana in the Summer of 2014. We have 30 employees. We produce 70,000 - 80,000 pounds of coffee per year for retail and wholesale customers. Portola Coffee Lab has officially been in business since May of 2011, but Portolaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s coffee roasting company began in 2009. 2

W h a t is y o u r c o mp a nyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s m i s s i on? Our mission as a company is to provide uncompromising quality and an unparalleled human experience. From our company-defined version of direct trade to the manner in which we roast and brew coffee, our commitment to quality in flavor and experience is at the root of all actions. We continue this quality by embodying all aspects of sustainability, from the environment to the community. In order to accomplish this we need our customers to care, so education and customer growth is our foundation.

3 4

W h a t is y o u r c om pany’s c om m i tm ent to s u st a in a b le pr ac ti c es ?

This is at the core of our

knowledge is power at

was traveling to the Nyeri

business model. Portola

the farm level. Many of

region of Kenya sourcing

Coffee Lab is a retail cof-

the farmers that we have

green coffee. He stopped

feehouse and micro-roast-

been working with are well at the Ruarai mill, which is

ery that has established

established and have the

part of the Ruthaka Farm-

a solid reputation for

expertise and tools to pro-

ers Cooperative Society,

maintaining positive rela-

duce world-class coffee.

situated on the slopes of

tionships with our coffee

However, that is not the

Mt. Kenya. Jeff did not

farmers, our community of

case with all farmers. We

just see a decrepit wet mill

customers, the surround-

get excited when we trav-

constructed in 1951 – he

ing businesses, and the

el to origin and discover

saw potential. The soil was

environment in general.

a “diamond in the rough”

deep red loamy soil, a

– a coffee farm nestled in

farmer’s dream. The topog-

Sustainability starts at the

a spot with the most ideal

raphy was sloppy, diverse

source. Our direct trade

terroir. If we are lucky, the

and well shaded. Most

relationship program is

coffee will be mind blow-

importantly, the managers

not merely about buying

ing. However, if it is not,

and famers were dedicat-

directly from the farmer. It

we don’t just walk away

ed! They had just earned

is a system designed to

and say thanks for letting

their Fair Trade certification

support and instill change

us taste your coffee. We

and were so proud. How-

when needed so as to

take a look around. We

ever, when Jeff inquired

provide those who work

ask questions. And then

about the challenges they

so diligently to grow the

depending on what we

were facing, that excite-

amazing coffee our busi-

discover, we accept a

ment was overshadowed

ness relies upon with the

challenge. That is exactly

by concern. Despite their

means to not only survive,

what happened in Febru-

agronomical fortune, a

but thrive. We believe that

ary of this year when Jeff

wet mill that is decaying

plagues them. Additionally, a percentage of farmers each year choose to â&#x20AC;&#x153;hawkâ&#x20AC;? their coffee cherry to rogue mills for immediate payment instead of bringing the fruit to their own cooperative mills. Some of the best fruit is never processed and the cooperative has less volume to sell at auction.

Sorting shed with dirt floor and decaying wooden drying beds at the Ruirai wet mill, Ruthaka F.C.S.

One of the first things we noticed was the 1950â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s built wooden drying beds. The wood is rotten and the mesh is so stretched and sagging that an even and consistent drying is just not possible. The other problem was the lack of appropriate sorting surfaces. They are still sorting the freshly harvested cherry on dirt floors at two of their mills. The last major infrastructural challenge is the need for a proper water storage reservoir at the Ruarai wet mill. Water needed for pulping is derived from rivers in this area. There is high sedimentation requiring the water to sit for 1 to 2 days before using it in the pulpers. This causes the sediment to settle out allowing for cleaner, clearer water. There is no such storage tank at this wet mill so the pulping water is murky as it flows straight from the river to the pulpers. 6

P o r to l a C o ffe e L a b

cess so that they can con- We want our customers to

i n i t i a te d â&#x20AC;&#x153; P ro j e c t

tinue to be stewards for

have the same opportunity

R u t h a ka .â&#x20AC;? We w i l l b e

equality in a region of the

as us to effect real change

ta k i n g t h i s c o o p e ra -

world that is extremely

and to see and taste the

t i ve u n d e r o u r w i n g

male dominant.

effects of their contribu-

to h e l p t h e m i m p rove

But it would not be typical

tions first hand. This is not

conditions with the g o a l o f i n c re a s i n g

Portola fashion to not seize an opportunity many coffee consumers in America this opportunity to edu-

the quality of cof-

cate our customers and

are afforded. We want

fe e t h e y p ro d u c e ,

further develop a coffee

our community to under-

w h i c h w i l l b e d i re c t l y

community built upon un-

stand what it means to

p ro p o r t i o n a l to t h e

derstanding and appre-

be a coffee farmer and

amount of money

ciation. We plan to give

with that their under-

t h e i r c o ffe e w i l l e a r n

the Ruthaka cooperative

standing of the beverage

a t a u c t i o n . S u s ta i n ability is not about get-

a face in the United States, they drink everyday will increase exponentially. California, and Orange

t i n g by year-to-year

County. Our commitment

By intimately knowing the

â&#x20AC;&#x201C; it is about setting up

will be in the form of direct

drink they call coffee, the

for long-term success.

financial support along

better overall experience

It is our mission to help

with organized fundraisers

they will have.

the Ruthaka Farmers

so that we can accom-

Cooperative Society

plish the greater mission in

achieve permanent suc-

a shorter amount of time. 7

Managing members (women included) of the Ruthaka cooperative.

It wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just their dedication that moved Jeff during his visit; it was their commitment to gender equality. On their Board of Directors, three of the nine members were women. That is three more women in executive positions than Jeff saw anywhere in his coffee travels throughout East Africa. They are striving for even greater equality. There were proud to promote women to positions of leadership and for that, Jeff greatly respected them. Moreover, out of the 55 permanent staff members, 15 were women. Again, this cooperative is unfortunately an anomaly in regard to women in permanent roles as opposed to seasonal workers. We would like to see this model propagate 8

Direct trade, as we have

enough to spend time

defined it, is about sup-

at the Universidade Fed-

porting the farmer on

eral de Lavras where the

all fronts. We have met

renowned Dr. Flavio M.

farmers that need help

Borem has been con-

beyond just money. The

ducting industry-chang-

journey to quality and an

ing research, which he

increased income stream

so graciously shared.

requires permanent solu-

(https://www.scaa.org/

tions. The notion that all

chronicle/2013/04/29/

coffee farmers are farm-

profile-the-specialty-

ing experts is false. There

coffee-scientist/). Since

are still farmers who have

this educational journey,

never cupped their cof-

with a focus on improved

fee. Looking to be part

drying techniques, Jeff

of the solution, our owner

has provided advice to

and roastmaster, Jeff Dug-

farmers in Costa Rica

gan, attended the very

and Kenya. This is one

first Coffee Science trip to

example of how roasting

Brazil in 2012 organized

coffee and selling cof-

by the SCAA. The purpose

fee beverages is a com-

of this trip was to expose

ponent of our company

the attendees to the latest

model, but certainly not

and greatest agronomical

all that defines it.

information in the industry. With this knowledge, we can participate in the conversations to help find solutions at the farm level. Brazil is considered a coffee growing region on the forefront of technology and advanced techniques. Jeff was fortunate

To demonstrate our desire to do our fair share, here are examples of our local effort to preserve nature – the very thing our lives and businesses rely on every single day. First off, we utilize a custom built, low-emission, energy-efficient coffee roasting machine. It produces 66% less emissions than comparably sized roasters and require 66% less energy to operate. This machine was purposebuilt to comply with the most stringent air quality standards in the world. We are the only company with an in-shop roaster of this type that we are aware of and it’s the first one of its class built by U.S. Roaster Corp. It cost us extra money but we didn’t care. Secondly, we focus only on coffee grown responsibly by farmers who are stewards of the environment and who are committed to fair, socially responsible business practices. Part of our direct trade program is visiting the farms that we purchase the coffee from and gaining an understanding and awareness of how they produce coffee, care for their workers and commit to safety. If we want to purchase their coffee 10

fee bag on the market. One can toss these bags into a home composter and they will break down and become dirt. They are more expensive than standard bags, but we don’t care. We have also implemented a coffee grounds and coffee Some of the more daychaff recycling program to-day achievements inwhere customers have volve using only organic free access to these dairy products (Straus materials that are excelFamily Creamery) in our lent natural fertilizers. Of coffee beverages and course, everyone loves condiment counter, ofto repurpose burlap so fering discounts to those we donate our empty who choose to bring in coffee sacks to crafters, their reusable drink congardeners, seamstresstainers to reduce paper es or anyone who can waste. We are very conconvert these bags into cerned about pollution. something creative or We also know that PLA is functional. In the connot a real solution to the struction of our shop, decoffee bag problem. PLA spite the extra expense, is compostable but only we selected reclaimed at a few select facilities wood and the highlyin America due to the renewable bamboo in heat that is required to lieu of new wood. We break down this material. also outfitted every light It is impractical to expect fixture with LED or fluothe average consumer rescent bulbs to reduce to separate these bags energy consumption. and ensure they get sent to a PLA-capable center. The shop itself also works hard in the community That is why we exclusively use Biotre bags for to support local schools, charities, and even local retail and await the five musical artists. We have pound wholesale bags donated thousands of currently being tested. dollars in charitable conBiotre bags are unique tributions directly benin that they are the only efiting those in our local truly compostable cofbut witness something we don’t approve of, as long as it is not deemed malicious, we can effect change through pricedbased incentives. By offering to pay a higher price, we can influence positive change.

community. We also offers food and drink discounts to police and fire personnel who risk their lives everyday to keep our communities safe. But the component that sets Portola apart is our effectiveness through social media to make our events that support the community come from the community itself. When we support a school, that school and our regular customers share it through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and dozens of other outlets that we utilize so that it becomes something from the community for the community. Portola Coffee Lab focuses on being the effective avenue that sustains these relationships. Dozens of locally owned small businesses surround our shop. We all know that with the economy being what it has been, owning a small business is never easy. So, in an attempt to be a good neighbor and help small businesses that we love, Portola Coffee Lab regularly uses our success as a business to collaborate with these surrounding shops and “share the love” so to speak by cross promotional campaigns. Finally, sustainability wouldn’t be possible if we didn’t have customers. So we offer amazingly sourced coffee, roasted to flavor and brewed expertly to-order on one of our bar’s numerous brew methods. We offer a unique experience, breathtakingly delicious coffee, and this all gives us a chance to share our belief that sustainability is good business for everyone.

W h a t a re y o u r em pl oyee and educ ati onal pr actice s? We want a happy and fulfilled staff. Working a high-traffic coffee bar is not easy. We believe specialty is a key factor in our success and that applies to all levels of our business. We have created specialized positions within the company to offer additional higher-level responsibilities. The majority of our staff carries additional titles such as Quality Control, Barista Trainer, Health Code Compliance, Shift Lead, Roaster, Green Buyer, Manager, Wholesale Sales, Online Sales, and Wholesale Trainer. For those who seek a career in coffee, we have the ability to offer such and as we open additional locations and increase wholesale sales, our ability to offer higher-level positions will increase.

This most recent effort was from the 4th of July. We were able to raise a good amount of money for injured veterans.

We sincerely care about the well being of all our staff. Despite us being a mere twoyears old and essentially having only one location, we chose to sacrifice some profit for the betterment of health. We offer medical and dental benefits to our staff and are looking to add a 401K-type retirement program for those looking to stay for the long run.

We established a “den” style employee group structure to improve the flow of information and increase the consistency and efficiency of communication. We have a staff of 26 people and with as many moving parts as our shop, the chain of supervision, accountability, and communication can easily get muddled. That creates a stressful work environment – something we strive to avoid with this system. Despite everyone’s best effort, there are hiccups along the way. We utilize a trainingbased progressive disciplinary system. We try to mitigate mistakes and policy violations through training. However, nobody is perfect and there will always be times where corrective action is necessary. Our goal is to always prevent so even when mistakes do occur, we treat is as an opportunity to provide remedial training with the intention of preventing future occurrences. We do not manage by the “gotcha” philosophy and the more we can do to avoid problems, the happier we all are. Each of our employees undergoes a rigorous six-month training process, along with continued testing and quality control. The training itself is separated into modules includes the detailed understanding of coffee varietals, coffee farming, growing condi-

extraction), grind dynamics (as to how it affects extraction), manual coffee brewing (specifically Hario V60 dripper, Hario siphon, Japanese dripper cold-brew calibration, and BUNN Trifecta recipe development), espresso fundamentals and extraction mechanics, espresso theory, pressure profiling espresso, milk chemistry, texturing techniques, and we require all baristas who are bar certified to free pour art into all steamed milk beverages without exception. These are just the general outlines of the knowledge base we aim to develop in each and every employee. The actual training process involves on-bar training and lecture-based training. Our quality assurance specialists, head trainer, and our assistant roaster all contribute to those lectures. For the on-bar training, our goal is to train one group of baristas, and then oversee that first group as they train the next up-and-coming group of employees and so on. By using this method of not having our dedicated training staff handle all requisite instruction, we assure that the baristas internalize their knowledge even more so by having to teach it to each other. Then, our in-house experts, in accordance with SCAA standards and those derived from our own internal research and development, do all final testing and certifications.

tions, processing, roasting, cupping, brew dynamics (understanding manual brewing 13

When it comes to educating the

that help the customers appreciate

customers, we have regularly oc-

what goes into a cup of coffee. We

curring classes ever y month. The

teach them the very techniques we uti-

classes include:

lize in our shop to improve their ability

A. Brew Method Tasting Events - De-

to make a consistently delicious cup of

signed to introduce customers to the

coffee. Not only is it fun, it adds value

importance of the brewing process and

to every purchase of whole bean cof-

its influence on taste. We take the same

fee. Ensuring that the coffee beans

coffee and brew it on three distinctly

they purchased are brewed correctly is

different brewing apparatuses so as to

a win-win situation. Currently we offer

illustrate how the same coffee can taste

pour-over, press pot, auto-drip, espres-

so distinctly unique by changing only

so, and latte art classes.

the method in which it was brewed. We begin with instruction on the seed-

Besides all of the formal classes, we

to-cup journey, as well as provide the

encourage educational interactions

customers with the basics of coffee

with customers daily. One cannot

brewing. Then, we let them taste the

watch a siphon being made on a

difference among the three standard

halogen heater and not want to know

brew methods we offer on bar.

more, so we encourage our talented baristas to share with customers what

B. Coffee Cupping - We invite custom-

they know. Portola Coffee Lab has

ers to get a deeper understanding of

distinguished itself as a shop known to

coffee origins and processing and how

â&#x20AC;&#x153;hand holdâ&#x20AC;? new customers who are

that affects the characteristics of the

not familiar with 3rd-wave style of cof-

coffee. We discuss how coffee profes-

fee and brewing. We are constantly

sionals evaluate coffee through our

praised by customers for our helpful,

senses and how coffee quality is mea-

cordial attitude toward coffee - not

sured. We then lead them through the

making newcomers feel intimidated

SCAA standards of cupping compar-

or demeaned. Being the very first 3rd-

ing distinctly different coffees so as to

wave coffeehouse in all of Orange

better demonstrate what body, acidity,

County, this was not a minor feat. We

mouthfeel, etc. actually mean.

have, and will continue to create 3rdwave customers in Orange County by

C. Brewing Workshops - We offer a variety of focused, hands-on workshops 14

always providing legendary customer

service and involving the customer in everything we do. Our shop is transparent - not only by the openness of our bar and glass in our shop, but through our philosophy of interacting and educating.

A photo of our baristas taking a test on the history of coffee

W h a t a re y o u r e m pl oyee and educ ati onal pr actice s?

We are a strong, innovating member of the coffee industry. We work hard to maintain a presence with the SCAA by attending the events and having our baristas participate consistently in the Barista Guild of America. All of our baristas are card-carrying members. We have attended the west coast barista camp every year since we have opened. We have attended and participated in every SCAA Event since opening and in 2012 and 2013 we have had baristas compete in Brewers Cup, regional and national Barista Competitions, and our roastmaster participated in the Tasters Cup competition in Boston. We also push the coffee industry into new service standards with our concept bar Theorem. Theorem is a 6-seat coffee bar that asks the question: “Is coffee a beverage or an ingredient?” By answering that question with an emphatic “YES”, we show customers that it is both. Theorem is one-of-a-kind and often labeled as ahead of its time. It is the greatest potential for creativity and bending the perception of coffee in terms of what is can or cannot be. We have two services offered at Theorem. The first is a reservation-only service that leads customers through a prix-fixe menu designed and presented by our head barista, Truman Severson who finished 4th at the Southwest Regional Barista Competition in 2013. This “Craft Menu Service” is high-concept and designed to be as enlightening as it is tasty. To gain a better understanding from a customer’s perspective, the wonderful folks from Sprudge paid us a visit and wrote this very flattering article that can be accessed online at portolacoffeelab.com/sprudge. Coffee is far more complex than it gets credit for and deserves a spot on stage right next to wine, craft beer and fine spirits. The purpose of Theorem is to demonstrate the diversity of coffee, its utility, and its mystery. We will be doing things with coffee in six months that we can’t envision at the moment. We will never cease experimenting and pushing the envelope in this intimate space and most importantly sharing it with our customers in an approachable and not pretentious manner.

Our second type of service offered at Theorem is a walk-up bar service that we call “Brew Bar.” Select baristas are given creative freedom to develop personalized coffee menus that showcase amazingly creative coffee drinks. The drinks served on these menus vary as much as the baristas do, but have included cocktailinspired drinks such as a Coffee Sour, an Old Fashioned prepared with slow drip cold-brewed coffee barrel aged in oak for six months, and a cold-brewed coffee sangria, to describe just a few. These barista-driven menus have also included beverages centered entirely on pressure profiling of espresso. We even had one menu called “trust,” where the customer simply described their ideal drink and relied upon the expertise of the barista to craft a drink that suited their palate. Theorem is a perfect example of what our service industry would do if they could finish the statement “wouldn’t it be cool if we could...” At Theorem we do what our baristas dream up, and we push the industry by showing them that the customers care as much as we do about coffee innovation and will support us when we cross boundaries like this. We are active member in the SCAA and the Barista Guild of America. We have participated in BGA sponsored brewing events and have hosted numerous barista latte art throwdowns at our shop. In addition to our participation, we were a “Gold” sponsor at this year’s Southwest Regional Barista Competition (SWRBC) and have officially requested to be the host for the 2014 SWRBC.

Duggan hanging out with Colby from Verve on a sourcing trip.

We are a member of the coffee community in the literal sense, but more imporDuggan hanging out with Colby from

tantlyVerve we demonstrate on a sourcing trip. our involvement through our participation and interactions. Our baristas regularly visit neighboring shops in Orange County and Los Angeles

to just say “hi,” swap ideas and maybe do a casual latte art throw down. We have worked to help our friends at Curtis who developed the gold cup brewer, and we have worked closely with the Trifecta development team at BUNN to help make sure these members of the industry are able to innovate their products and promote them in a way that furthers our industry as a whole. We are members on an official level and are friends with so many people in our industry. Our owner Jeff Duggan pitched his idea of doing a collaborative coffee blend to Colby Barr, owner of Verve Coffee Roasters. Colby thought it was a great idea and agreed to team up with us. We are preparing to begin working on this blend and hope to have it available in the next 3-4 months. We do these types of things because if the whole industry succeeds, then we succeed. As this illustrates, for us, coffee is more than an occupation, it is a way of life.

6 20

P le a se d e s c r i be your c om pany’s in n o v a t io ns i n r oas ti ng, m ar k eti ng a n d b u s in es s pr ac ti c es .

We roast all of our environmentally-

emitting roaster should be standard in

conscientious coffees on nature-friendly

every roast shop around the world. It is

roaster, giving us the ability to continue

not just roasters in Southern California

our sustainable practices all the way

that pollute the air. Every roaster that

through the roasting process. Our roast-

burns natural gas is guilty of such. We

master, Jeff Duggan, is the first to place

are proud to pioneer the effort in af-

an in-house roaster anywhere in the

fecting real change. As a matter of

world that meets the standards of the

fact, Jeff has contributed two separate

infamous South Coast Air Quality Man-

pieces for Roast Magazine designed to

agement District’s Rule 1147. This is the

educate other roasters about roaster

most stringent air quality regulatory rule

emissions and air quality compliance

in the world. Though it currently affects

in hopes that they will learn from the

coffee roasters in the Southern Califor-

difficult road he traveled in getting a

nia region, it will likely soon propagate.

clean-air roaster built and functional.

Make no mistake, this was not only

We are all in this together, and if it

done out of necessity. We are proud

were only about producing a great

knowing we are making real change in

tasting cup of coffee, the word “sus-

improving the air we breathe. Our cus-

tainability” would never coexist in a

tom-built low Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx)

conversation about coffee. 21

Traceability is a critical component to our direct trade program. Having travelled to numerous countries in South America, Central America, and Africa looking for farmers who are as passionate about quality coffee and doing the right thing as us, it only makes sense to bring them to the forefront for our customers to acquaint themselves with. We do not first recognize the country of origin on our retail coffee labels. We list the farmers name as the identifier on all of our bags. For instance, we do not title a coffee label, “Colombia.” We title it, “Lucio Delgado.” The region and country are secondary and are listed under the farmer’s name, the farm name or the cooperative name as is the case with most African coffees. It is essential to best representing the labor, commitment to sound farming practices, and sheer dedication that goes into every lot we purchase. At the roaster, we opt to not focus on roast level in a traditional sense. It is all about the flavor. So whether it is light, medium, City, City+, is of no concern to us. When we cup, we do it blind and simply select the one that best represent nature and human effort. We roast to flavor. And you will never see anything on our coffee labels reflecting a level of roast - just flavor notes, cultivar, processing and elevation information. Jeff, grounded by a background in chemistry and computer science, has developed a roasting and quality control system designed not only to achieve the best cup possible, but also to repeat it. To a scientist, data is essential. We believe the same to be true for a roaster. We began using Cropster to assist with data logging and corre22

lation. We record every roast in Cropster across several data points. There are many ways a roaster can get to a drop temperature of 405 degrees and a roast time of 10:30. It is this unique journey that comprises a roast curve. The power of Cropster became immediately apparent when we conducted an experiment focusing on time and temperature. The first roast finished at 10:13 and 402 degrees. The second roast completed at 10:15 at 402.5 degrees. There was a slight variance in the curve between 250 and 350 degrees. On paper, these were identical roasts. However, the cupping table told a very different story. It made if very clear that if we ever wanted to precisely duplicate a roast that we found ideal for a particular bean, then time and temperature alone are insufficient. This is not to say that sensory roasting has no place. As a matter of fact, Jeff had roasted this way for 10 year before opening his roasting business in 2009. However, there is a definite place for science and technology in roasting. Make no mistake - this is not automated roasted. Our roasting team operates our Revelation roaster 100% manually, every roast. We found that the profiling system in the PLC computer that came with the roaster was unable to maintain a level of preciseness that we needed. Human manipulation coupled with detailed data logging and graphical plotting was the best way to ensure adequate consistency. There are too many environmental variables such as ambient temperature, humidity, roaster metal composition, green bean variance, etc. to rely on machine automation alone.

It all begins with the bean. Just like most

test and we agreed emphatically. We

roasters, we utilize a barrel-style sample

customized our sample roaster with the

roaster to roast small quantities of beans

Cropster Roasting Intelligence and now

that will then be cupped and ultimately

rest comfortably knowing we are ap-

influence our buying decision. Like what

proaching this delicate task with the best

normally happens, we realize that a par-

tools at our disposal.

ticular off-the-shelf piece of equipment lacks to some degree. Barrel roasters are

Once we decide to purchase a coffee

crude and we did not like the fact that

based on our sampling, we need to fig-

we had gobs of information available

ure out a production roast level that best

to us on our production roaster, but our

suits each coffee. Some may disagree

barrel roaster was archaic in design. For

with us on this but trying to take sample

us, sample roasting is ultra-critical. It is at

roaster data and translate it to produc-

the helm of this machine that we affect

tion roaster speak is a waste of time. It

buying decisions, which impact the liveli-

simply does not work for countless rea-

hood of farmers all around the world. If a

sons. That being said, with our 18-kilo

coffee cups bad, we need to know 100%

roaster we are not interested in running

that it was the bean and not our process.

batch after batch of a new coffee to

Sample roasting is far trickier than most

determine the best roast level. That is

recognize. We have had samples roasted a waste of time and product. We knew we needed to run various curves on our by very competent roasters that come out bad. Often we only get one shot to

production machine to be able to intel-

get it right. That is a tremendous amount

ligently form an opinion of where the

of pressure. Mediocrity is simply not an

roast should be for each new coffee. We

option. Information drives decisions so

put our heads together to design and

Jeff wondered why we couldn’t “wire” our

build a sample cooling contraption. The

sample roaster in a similar way that we

intent was to run various curves and to

had done with our production roaster. So, be able to pull out samples at various Jeff contacted Cropster and asked if they points during the roast for each of those

had thought about creating a system

curves. We typically pull 7 samples per

for multi-barrel sample roasters. Norbert

curve so we cover the entire spectrum of

from Cropster informed us that there was

possibilities. This was a Godsend. We are

actually a system in beta and asked if we

now able to essentially sample roast on

would be willing to be part of the Beta

our production machine so when we do

choose a curve and roast temperature, we will be able to duplicate it precisely when we begin full production on that coffee. It has saved us a lot of time, money, and relieved us of much frustration. We have two full time roasters and will be training a third in the very near future. Whenever you have more than one roaster, consistency becomes a concern. We have put into place a quality control system that ensures every batch of coffee we roast and serve is according to our standards. To begin, we measure the moisture and density of every new green coffee we purchase. We continue to check this every 30 days to ensure that we are aware of how our coffee is storing and to alert us if it gets below a range we are comfortable with. Before we roast every batch we weigh the batch to the tenth of a pound. During the roast, we record the environmental, bean, and burner box curves as well as the rate of rise curve. Additionally, Cropster records time and temperature along with every manipulation of the burner and fan, and any milestone we choose to record like first crack, second crack, etc.

The low-NOx burner setup on our roaster was a bit challenging getting used to due to the increased airflow from the blower. This led Jeff to install a variable speed controller to the drum motor that would allow us to manipulate drum speed. This was particularly true for smaller batches, which were subjected to a great deal of convective heat. By slowing down the drum we are able to reach the balance of convective vs. conductive heat that we do on our larger batches. This manipulation led us to begin creating “drum profiles.” We had not heard of anybody doing any drum speed profiling and asked the questions, “why do we keep the drum speed the same throughout the roast” and “how does changing the drum speed at various points throughout the roast effect roast development and the resulting cup?” We started to experiment with drum profiling. We have found that changing the drum speed had a noticeable and beneficial effect on the coffee. The condition of the green been at start is astonishingly different than the bean three-quarters the way through the roast. It is dense, moist and intact in its raw form. Toward the end, the outer and inner structure has changed, as well as the chemical composition. We start with a lower drum speed and begin to gradually increase the drum speed as the roast progresses. We found that the drying of the bean was more even and less damaging to the surface if the transfer was more gradual using conductive heat. Conversely, we found that at the end of the roast, shortly after first crack, the even application of heat was important to ensure that there was not stratification amongst the bean mass that would lead to unevenness at the critical point at which the roast is dumped. In other words, we try to reach the most even application of heat toward the end so when we dump the roast, we have the highest percentage of beans that are at the intended dump temperature. Increasing the drum speed causes greater lift and spreads the bean mass across the drum surface. Moreover, it increases the height and rate of tumble,

which exposes the beans to more environmental heat (i.e. convective heat). Convective heat is able to affect more surface area of the bean at one time compared to conductive heat transferred by means of direct drum contact. The difference of two degrees or 10 seconds of roast time amounts to distinctly different cups. At the end of the roast where seconds are critical, we believe that shifting to predominantly convective heat by increasing drum speed helps narrow the roast temperature distribution of the bean mass at the point where the roast is terminated.

As mentioned previously, we weigh the

ping day. If a roast tastes off, we go back

green bean batch before the roast and

to Cropster to see if there is something we

the roasted batch upon completion. We

can hang our hat on as to why it does not

record percentage of weight loss. We

taste the way we intended. It is also useful

don’t stop there. Every batch we roast

in considering a roast profile adjustment as

gets measured for roast color in our Col-

the beans age and lose moisture.

orTrack laser colorimeter for an Agtron score. Accurate roast color measurement has proven invaluable for consistency and quality control. If the roast color is not within our acceptable range of 1.0 color points or less, it does not get served. This is one data point in our reference roast profile that we use to determine if we hit our mark.

Being to first coffee company in Orange County to adopt a single-cup, brewed-toorder coffee service, we knew customer education and “hand-holding” would be critical to our success. Transparency and customer-barista interaction was at the heart of our oval shaped, very visible bar design. The brewing is done right in front of our customers with no visible bar-

Despite what all the numbers tell us, we

riers. This is passive education that every

verify once again on the cupping table.

customer is exposed to. Then, when the

Every single batch that we roast we cup.

conversation begins, proactive education

Tuesdays are our production roast cup-

ensues and our customers are invited 29

into an experience of coffee quality, cof-

why freshness is so important. And

fee traceability, and brewing science that

then once we got the word out, we did

we feel is unique to our welcoming and

our best to foster conversations about

non-pretentious business model.” We offer

what we were doing in our community,

coffees brewed on V-60’s, Hario Sommelier

like charity drives, new coffees featur-

Siphons heated by halogen lights, or Bunn

ing great growers, or just parties. And

Trifectas - all designed to create a unique

once we helped this community grow,

cup characteristic even when brewing

it became more self-perpetuating. Now,

the same bean. We also offer two types

two-years later, this new internet-based

of iced coffee, one brewed hot and then

word of mouth has been the founda-

flashed cooled using the Hario Fretta brew-

tion of our continued popularity. When

ers and the other using our Oji Japanese

you look at similar companies in Amer-

slow-drip brewers dubbed, “Kyoto.” Our

ica, our online following is astonishing –

customer-focused service, along with our

especially with respect to our relatively

shop design, in-shop roaster, and purpose-

recent entrance into the industry. We

built coffee bar has all contributed to our

have achieved a general online “follow-

community acceptance and overall rec-

ing” surpassed only by Stumptown, Intel-

ognition and success in the industry.

ligentsia, Counter Culture and Blue Bottle.

Our success has produced a groundswell

We are on track to surpass Counter Cul-

of attention provided primarily by our com-

ture’s Facebook “likes” by the end of this

munity of online followers who have mani-

year. We could not be more proud.

fested into devoted, regular customers. We have been able to turn our Facebook and Twitter popularity into a case study of how to successfully market a small business with little to no marketing budget.

Portola Coffee Lab was born in a county where “third wave” coffee did not exist prior. From the very beginning we integrated customer education into the experience. It was never just about

Even before we opened our doors, we were

selling a $4 cup of coffee. It was about

building popularity online with our blog,

teaching the residents of Orange

Twitter and our Facebook interactions. We

County that there are very distinct rea-

used all of these online interactions to let

sons why our coffee tastes different and

people know what makes us such a differ-

is more expensive than what is offered

ent type of coffee experience. To let them

by our chain coffeehouse neighbors.

know why we source the coffee from such

This community embracement directly

select farmers, what our roast style is, and

impacts our customer reviews in a posi-

tive way. Word of mouth spread and the media began contacting us by the droves â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and continues to do so. We have been feature in countless local, regional and national television, magazine, and newspaper features, including the most recent cover story in the OC Weekly. Whether it has been Yelp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, or our blog, we have done our part to help our online community grow. And, we have done our best to keep the conversations going about sustainable practices here at Portola Coffee Lab.