Our Roasting Passion
At our Vero Beach Roastery, we only roast hand picked, high altitude, specialty coffee.
Coffee beans begin as a white flower which produces a green fruit that grows to the size of the end of your finger and turns red or yellow when fully ripe.
At this stage, the pulp is very sweet, and provides nice refreshment when you are picking coffee- just pop a few of the cherries into your mouth and enjoy a very sweet fruit.
Why hand picked?
Many commercial farmers will go through their fields one time and mechanically pick all the coffee cherries off the bush- green as well as the ripe red and yellow cherries. We work with farms that hand pick all their coffee- and only the ripe red or yellow fruits. They go through their fields four times during the harvest picking only the ripe cherries.
We believe that the sweet fruit surrounding the seeds impart a natural sweetness to the seed that is very evident after the roasting process.
Why use high altitude beans?
All of Rio Coco Bean coffee is grown above 1200 meters with most at 1500-1800 meters. (4000 to 5600 feet)
In the tropics, temperatures above 1200 meters (4000 feet) are cool enough at night to develop more fats and proteins in the bean and extend the growing season. More fat and protein when roasted translates into more flavor, more body and more complexity.
Why only Specialty Coffee?
The Specialty Coffee Association of America has strict criteria for Premium and Specialty grade coffee based on the number of “defects” in a sampling.
Coffee beans are often damaged by insects, molds, and poor growing conditions which create immature and inferior beans. Often sacks of green coffee include pieces of wood, metal, and other foreign objects.
We use only Premium and Specialty coffee at Rio Coco to minimize the amount of defects in each bag and ensure the very best quality and flavors.
Why is slow roasted coffee better?
Many commercial roasters turn the heat to maximum and complete a roast in 7-9 minutes. We start off with a lower heat setting and reduce that for the final three minutes. Our roasting times are 14-21 minutes. We believe that this “slow roasting” develops the full flavors, body, and essence of our coffee.
Cameron & Michael slow roast our coffee and bring out those exquisite flavors and tones that are hidden inside the raw coffee beans.
Michael, Lorinda, Mikaela & Lukas ensure fresh roasted coffee every week.
Our roaster is famous! It is a Diedrich IR-12 that was manufactured at the Diedrich factory in Sand Point Idaho and was hand painted by Steve Diedrich. Our roaster served as the factory demo roaster before we bought it in 2008. It is the only yellow coffee roaster with a racing stripe in existence!
The IR-12 technology changed roasting worldwide when it was introduced in the 1990's. With it's dual infrared ceramic burner panels, and controlled airflow through the roaster drum and cooling bin, the IR-12 allows for optimum used of moisture during the various stages of the roast, and provides an even heat on the drum, rather than splotchy open flam burners.
Our production manager Mikaela Bagby ensures that all online orders are promptly and properly packaged and shipped.
Join us for one of our upcoming Roast 'n Brew events! You roast coffee with our head roaster and have a coffee tasting of several of our distinguished roasts.
