CityView Magazine

CityViewNC.com | 55 JUNIOR LEAGUE OF FAYETTEVILLE Women building better communities OPEN HOUSE, TUESDAY AUGUST 9TH 6 PM TO 8 PM AT THE LEAGUE OFFICE Provisional Member Applications are due by August 22nd. Find them on the JLF website. 2605 Fort Bragg Road, Fayetteville, NC 28303 910.323.5509 | www.jlfay.org Coffee beans are the seeds from the coffea plant, which was first discovered in Ethiopia, which makes sense since coffee plants flourish in tropical climates. Coffee beans are all different. ey each have dis- tinct smells, colors, sizes and textures. Some beans are black, while others are green. Tony keeps several containers of beans from all over the world. We compare the textures, the colors and the smells of the unroasted beans. Some smell like flowers. Others smell like chocolate. e beans from Brazil are less aromatic than the beans from Colombia. e coffee beans are either black or dark brown in color, but some beans are lighter and will turn darker aer being roasted. e process of roasting transforms unroasted beans and contrib- utes to the flavor of coffee that we enjoy. When coffee beans are roasted, the chemical and physical aspects change. e coffee beans turn from green to brown in a process called caramelization. Tony men- tions that sometimes a professional coffee evaluator, a Cupper, will evaluate the coffee to ensure quality. Indeed, when marketing to the specialty coffee community, these aspects are necessary for differentiating subtle qualities among the different varie- ties of beans and to discover which flavors will delight customers craving caffeine. Tony has been doing business with the Balzac Brothers company for six years, but that company has been in business for almost a hundred. Balzac Brothers is com- mitted to selling Fair Trade, Organic and Rainforest Alliance coffee, among others, and Tony brings these beans back to Hope Mills. eir "green" beans, or unroasted coffee beans look a bit like edamame, but once roasted, they turn to the darker and shinier brown that we are all accustomed to. As the "green" coffee beans are put in, the roaster emits a low, humming sound that gradually gets louder and louder. is ma- chine, a Diedrich Coffee Roaster, costs more than $30,000. It is about six feet tall and two feet wide and has a capacity for 12 pounds of coffee beans. Tony pays careful attention to sounds as the beans roast. e first crack usually happens at 385 degrees Fahrenheit, the moment when the coffee beans start evaporating moisture and when the inner oils and gasses of each bean are released. Tony wants to heat the coffee beans to 410 degrees Fahrenheit, so he pushes a few

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