Changing the chemical and physical properties of raw green coffee beans to grindable, brewable bean coffee is called roasting. The final flavor of your favorite savory coffee is a direct result of the roasting process. Fresh off the plant, bean coffee is green in color and about 50% of its roasted size. When a heat source is introduced to the coffee bean, the color changes to yellow, to light brown, to dark brown, and oils develop on the surface of the bean. Bean coffee will darken depending on the length of heat applied to it until the heat source is removed.

Coffee retains more of the origin flavor of the coffee bean when heat is applied for less time. Flavor of the bean is influenced by the soil, water, weather conditions of the region in which it was grown. So, to keep a regional flavor, the coffee beans are lightly roasted. Regional bean coffee flavors include: Java, Kenya, Kona Coffee, and Jamaican Blue Mountain.

As the coffee roasting process lengthens, more oils are released and the darker the bean gets. More flavors from roasting iself mask the origin flavors of the bean. The dominance of the "roast flavor" over the "bean flavor" makes it difficult to tell the original region of the coffee, by flavor alone. The degrees of roast range from "a href="http://sweetsamsjava.com/funinfo.php">Light Cinnamon Roast" through "Vienna Roast" to "French Roast" and more. A "Full-City Roast" is perfect for many people, because it is not to light, and not too Dark.

The coffee roasting process consists of cleaning, roasting, and cooling. It is sometimes ground before it is packaged, and sometimes pagaged in roasted bean form. Green bean coffee is also availabe for home roasting. Bags of Green Coffee are brought to the roaster, where they are opened, dumped into a hopper, then screened for and cleaned of debris. The coffee beans are then placed on a conveyor which transfers them to storage hoppers. The beans then get conveyed to the roasters which operate at temperatures between 370 and 450 degress Farenheit and are roasted from just a few minutes to 30 minutes.

After the coffee roasters finish applying the heat, the beans are cooled and then run through the "destoner" which removes stones, metal fragments, and other waste. The coffee beans get conveyed to a hopper and they go through a stabilization process called "equilibration" which drys the beans.

Coffee beans finally get ground either at the processing plant, or left in whole bean form, and then they are vaccuum sealed for freshness and shipped for your brewing and consumption.