We are proud of Coffee Novice and the coffee we offer you. That pride doesn’t just come from our love of coffee and wanting to share it with the world. We’re proud of how we produce it.

We looked at a lot of factors when creating Coffee Novice. From the beans we source, to the roaster we use, the roasting time, what blends we feel work and the time we allow our roasted beans to rest. Every aspect makes a difference to the coffee we supply. We’ve looked to provide you with single origin coffees from around the world that offer a range of profiles, and developed blends that cater to all preferences and are perfect for all types of milk-based coffees.

Obviously, the exact recipes for what we do are our secret but here’s what we can tell you:

The Beans

All our coffee starts with a blind tasting. This means there are no preconceptions. We pick our coffee purely on its quality and taste.

Coffee Origins

The coffee is imported from origin, so we know everything there is to about the beans. We know they’ve been ethically sourced; we’ve paid above the minimum Fairtrade price and well above the market value.

Flavours

Our coffees are picked to give you a range of flavours to suite every palette. Some are picked as the perfect single origin, ones we feel really represent the region they originate from. Others are purposely picked with espresso blends in mind and some are picked for both.

Sample Roasting

Once chosen, the sample roasting begins. This is a time-consuming process and involves a lot of trial and error. We need to explore and learn the roasting profiles for each bean to really bring out the best. Roast times and temperatures play a key role as does the profile curve. Once we’ve perfected the roast, we programme this into the Loring roaster. More details on this incredible machine are below.

Full Traceability

We have full traceability of our coffee. This means we monitor the batch from the farm to your cup. We include the batch number on each individual bag sent to you. This level of traceability allows us to quality manage every step of the process. From the sourced beans, to the roast, to your feedback.

 

The Roaster

We use a Loring Convection Roaster. It’s a little different to more traditional drum roasters. Convection roasting uses heated air. We love the Loring for, what we feel, are significant benefits. As a company striving to be as environmentally friendly as possible, the Loring was a must. It is one of the greenest and most efficient roasters available. Using 80% less fuel per roast than drum roasters which is quite incredible. It also uses an air flow system to cool the beans at the end of each roast which means smoke is not being extracted into the environment.

Convection

The convection system makes sure the beans never really suffer any contact damage. Drum roasting impacts the bean differently as the heated drum comes into contact with the bean, burning its surface. This additional contact with the bean does impact the flavour and integrity. That’s not to say it’s bad, it’s just different. Through our convection roasting the bean is not impacted in the same manner. This means our beans are cleaner and smoother in taste. It also means our coffee stays fresher for longer.

Computer Controlled

The Loring is computer controlled with some impressive technology. We manually roast and perfect the coffee first and once we feel we have it just right we add the data to the computer. The Loring then follows the specific profile we’ve set for each coffee and roasts to within a second of the required roasting time. This not only gives us great consistency within our coffees, it also significantly reduces wastage.

After roasting and cooling the coffee is automatically run through the de-stoner which removes foreign objects before being deposited for us to then rest the coffee.

It’s an incredibly impressive system.

 

Let It Rest

‘Fresh is best’ tends to be the general thought process behind coffee. You’ll often see coffee being roasted to order. Roasted and shipped the same day. You can be drinking coffee within 24hrs of it being roasted. And there is no doubt that fresh coffee is important. Old coffee doesn’t taste great. It’s often bitter and stale and just, wrong! So, we’re all agreed we don’t want to be drinking old coffee. However, we also believe coffee can be a little too fresh and needs some time to rest before bagging and shipping. We’ve experimented and tested and feel we’ve got the perfect balance for the way we roast.

A Bit Gassy

Roasted coffee creates gases, including carbon dioxide. Just after roasting, coffee releases a high level of gas. The gases release and reduce over time. Gases from the fresh coffee can get in the way of and detract from the coffees intended flavour as they dissolve into the water. Higher gas levels result in a cloudier flavour. Rested coffee results in a purer more consistent taste.

If you roast to order, bag and seal it almost immediately the coffee continues to release gas and can interfere with your brewing and drink. This is why some roasters prefer to leave it a day before bagging.

The Perfect Rest

We’ve spent a long time trailing and testing the resting period and have perfected the time required for each roast. The resting time does depend on the roast level. A filter style will be rested for a couple of days and espresso a little longer. We make sure we maintain our stock levels so your coffee arrives to you just right and ready to brew.

 

Bagging and Labelling

Recyclable Bags

All our bags are fully recyclable, something we’re very proud of. After spending a long time sourcing and testing we have finally found functional, resealable, recyclable bags.

The Labels

We’ve looked to label the bags to give you an indication of the roast level, beans origins and the key tasting notes. It also helps you show off to your friends when you pick out the flavours. Just keep the bag hidden.

Each bag is labelled with the roasting date for your reference and the batch number as part of our full traceability programme.