As far as I know, roasting the beans produces the flavors, so how do companies like Starbucks ensure every batch of beans they roast produces “Verona” and another batch produces “Pike Place”? Do they add flavorings? Different bean sources? Roasting process factors?
It just blows my mind that Starbucks, Dunkin, McDonalds, etc. can all produce such different coffee from the (same?) coffee beans.
In: Chemistry
this is part of the reason that starbucks roasts their beans so dark.
most higher end, smaller batch coffees tend to be roasted on the lighter side, since this allows the origin characteristics of the coffee to stand out most. these roasters are not aiming for a specific flavor profile or trying to match previous roasts, they are simply trying to take the green coffee and make it taste as good as it possibly can in the cup.
large companies like starbucks, however, are not catering toward a smaller specialty coffee clientele, they are marketing to less concerned consumers who only want consistency. in order to achieve this, a darker roast is used that will fry out any variabilities in the coffees year to year and produce a similar tasting cup. dark roasted coffees tend to be made from somewhat lower quality beans with less remarkable flavor since the actual flavor of the origin is mostly replaced by the flavors of the roast itself. lastly, the beans that they use don’t come from smaller lots like a single origin coffee would, they try to get a larger sampling from entire regions since this tends to even out inconsistencies from specific farms or localities.
hope this makes sense!
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