Coffee roasting is an artistic craft with many variables and roasters are secretive about their techniques. The process is carefully timed and the temperatures are monitored and charted. The technique is part science, part experimentation and intuition. The best roasters are creative and exhibit a willingness to try new ideas; roasts and blends can always be tweaked to create better flavor.

Mornings in Paris hand roasts its coffee in small batches, fifteen to twenty pounds at a time. The average roasting time is approximately fifteen minutes. The roasting is done with a gas-fired machine manufactured by the Deidrich Company of Sandpoint, Idaho.

Beans are bought in bulk from a distributor and come from all over the world. There are four main regions for coffee growing: the Pacific Rim; South America; Africa and Central America. Estates within each region grow signature types of coffee. One example is the Deterra Estate from Brazil. Beans from the different regions and estates each have particular characteristics that need to be brought out in a unique roasting sequence. The timing and adjusting of temperatures is very precise. Under-roasting a bean can make the flavors and characteristics too strong, while over-roasting will simply produce a heavy burnt caramel flavor and all the subtle characteristics are lost.

Unique coffee blends can be created by combining and roasting beans in two different ways. The beans can be combined and then roasted together, as in our Espresso Blend; or they can be roasted separately and then combined, as in the Old Port Blend. 

MIP also sells several types of decaffeinated coffee including Columbian, Sumatra, Espresso Blend, Costa Rican. All of these varieties use a water process to remove caffeine from the beans before roasting.

Our Roaster

Chief roaster, Nick Pellenz is a young, local craftsman who is passionate about his work and who believes strongly in the concepts of local ownership, roasting and distribution. Nick recently developed a new, dark roasted blend called Café Noir that he finds especially rich and flavorful. Nick has been roasting coffee for more than five years. He learned on the job, taught by the previous owner of the café. He tastes everything he roasts and is constantly looking for ways to improve the various roasting routines to bring out the flavor characteristics. He also works at the counter and gets immediate feedback from his customers about the quality of the products.

Nick loves his coffee – though he recently took a break from regular consumption to, in his words, “clear out his system”. He prefers lattes and various iced coffees in the summer and is a self-defined coffee snob. Nick samples the local competition and feels that MIP is very competitive with their quality and flavor of both regular coffee and espresso.

Nick also describes the importance of the quality of the equipment used to make the coffee and the espresso drinks.  MIP uses a hand crafted, Italian machine made by the La Victoria Arduino Company, one of the oldest and best-respected manufacturers in the world.

Additional Info

There are several primary variables involved in coffee bean roasting:

1. Beans –Each variety is roasted differently according to the properties you want to bring out.
   
2. Heat – The gas fired roaster has a rotating drum to evenly heat the beans.  The heat gradually increases and must be closely monitored.
   
3. Air – Forced air plays an important role in controlling the amount of moisture that is left in the chamber, the beans give off moisture as they roast and at different times in the process, more or less air is forced over them.
   
4. Cooling - The roasting process must be stopped at a precise moment and again forced air is used to quickly cool the beans and stop them from roasting further.
   
5. Chaff – The beans expand during the roasting process and the outer shell cracks and splits off. This shell is called chaff.  It is blown out of the drum by forced air during the cooling process and collects in a separate chamber of the machine.