Caffe River Visit
Last week our class got to tour a local coffee roastery called caffe River. I had seen this coffee around arezzo and I was excited to get to see behind the scenes for the first time! When we got there one of the owners greeted us and we all got to have an espresso shot. I have begun to really like espresso. I have always been a black coffee drinker and I truly see how much better coffee is here than most of America. After our espresso shots we went to the coffee bean "lab" where we learned how they check the quality of coffee beans. I learned that coffee produces red or yellow berries and that it can be hard to get the bean out of the berry. Caffe River checks the size of the beans and make sites there are no defects. Surprisingly I learned that even just one defect can spoil your cup of coffee.
Next we headed further into the plant and got to see the roaster. It was quite an amazing machine. The beans usually roast for about twenty minutes and then are cooked in the rotater. What was very interesting to me is that the beans have no flavor or smell to them until they undergo oxidation and mature. Luckily though coffee beans mature very quickly. Next the coffee is weighed and cleaned through machines. The machines also sort the beans with light to get rid of any defected beans. Next the computer makes blends for the different coffees and are roasted homogenously. After it is blended it heads to the packaging department where it is packaged to be sent out. I really liked how dedicated the owner was to his company. You could really tell how passionate he was about making caffe River the best it could be and how he truly believes in his product. The visit definitely gave me more appreciation for coffee and the process it takes to get it from bean into my daily cup.
