I truly felt the splendor of great nature.

In the world of coffee, no matter how small your roastery is, you should face the producers and everything you witness there with an open mind, understand the story of the origin, and convey it to customers without judging by the realistic standards of money.

What is the definition of specialty coffee?

What makes you a specialty coffee roaster?

My thoughts on the past two days…

Through cupping sessions, my boundaries about specialty coffee have been dissolving gradually. Instead of seeing coffee as specialty, maybe I should think about what role that coffee can play for the customer. Should I choose single-origin? Or Should I blend some coffees to bring out the best in each?

It takes more than two protagonists, a man and a woman, to make a successful stage play. Extra performers and backstage staff, too, are the main stars of their own lives. The same goes for coffee.

What makes you a specialty coffee roaster?

In music, no matter how long or difficult the score, as long as the performer correctly interprets it and plays it, then that should be all that matters.

So as the roasters, no matter what the beans

if we understand the beans correctly, do our job to the best of our abilities in a given condition, and satisfy the drinkers.

That is the standard we should aspire to as someone who works with specialty coffee.

Love everything in where.

A smooth and comfortable time, like driving on an asphalt road in a Mercedes Benz. The excitement of driving on bumpy roads toward a coffee origin. The anticipation of adventure. That is how I felt when I visited Burak/Mondul/Acacia Hills.

I won’t write at length about the good and bad of coffee in a coffee origin because many different factors affect the taste of coffee, including roasting, the quality of water, and preferences. For us roasters from Europe and Asia, there is no doubt that we are picky about the quality of coffee. But apart from that, we have different preferences and different criteria.

Every night, the roasters share our experiences and mingle with each other. In these conversations, I feel that there have been countless chemistries between us that transcend the differences in culture, background and past experience. Not many roasters can experience such a shocking experience. The bond that’s been forged through human-to-human interactions, and the wonderful time we weave together, and the connections between us that transcend national borders. These are all thanks to a cup of pure coffee.

A cup of coffee may seem simple, but it actually isn’t simple at all.

I’d like to learn many things from this trip in the next few days and share my coffee knowledge with more people. I’m looking forward to bringing about more great chemistries by doing that.

But my perception changed in 2022 when I tasted Kenyan and Tanzanian coffees offered on TYPICA. They had a higher overall quality than any of the lots I’d roasted before, in terms of sweetness, acidity, and body.

I’m fortunate to be able to visit these two coffee origins this year. There, I will be able to see the frontline of coffee farming, including how farms are managed, what processing looks like, and their cupping routines. If we roasters understand the essence of coffee, that will give us more specific basic knowledge when we do our job in the future.