Roasting is the operation which consists in treating the coffee with heat, in contact with air, to dehydrate it, to develop certain aromatic qualities by the “Maillard” reaction, this process and a transformation of the fats naturally contained in the coffee. , to Suc, and bring up the brown color.

To situate the complexity of the operation, it should be noted that, while orange juice contains three aromatic compounds, coffee contains a thousand!

Reading the chromatogram established during roasting perfectly illustrates this complexity: ten minutes of caramelization, with only four aromas, then the fireworks, the explosion of all the others. Some are born and endure. Some will marry together to give birth to a new aroma. Others will disappear. Thus, during roasting, the aromatic intensity appears at the tenth minute, increases sharply and then decreases at the end of the operation. Each product has its own formation and disappearance kinetics. Each moment of roasting corresponds to a determined composition of the volatile fraction and therefore of the aroma. All this has been perfectly studied and codified. These are the reactions of Maillard, named after the chemist who analyzed them. The main purpose of roasting is to develop the aromas but many other reactions will occur such as the reduction in acidity, the increase in bitterness, etc.

It is the roasting that gives the coffee beans their smell, their color, their taste. A meticulous and delicate operation, in which it is necessary to respect the heating times (from 12′ to 20′) and the temperatures (from 190° to 220°). We work to the nearest degree and to the nearest second, taking into account the humidity of the air.