At home, coffee can be as convenient as the press of a button. On the road, it can be as convenient as pulling up to a drive-thru. However, behind this convenient morning necessity is a trail of hard work, skill and creativity.
Along with many micro-roasters throughout the world, Grand Rapids Coffee Roasters (GRCR) is a quality-driven business that strives to provide their customers with great coffee. In addition to their product, GRCR gives the public the opportunity to have an inside look at the coffee roasting process during The Saturday Experience. On Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., the community is invited to the open-house style program which allows customers to sample different roasts and give feedback to the GRCR team. Customers are encouraged to order a custom roast to be roasted and ready to take home that day.
During the rest of the week, owner Craig Patterson and his team roast and prepare wholesale orders. Bags and brewed coffee is sold at their storefront, but their main gig is wholesale clients.
Micro-roasting coffee is both a science and an art and GRCR is eager to give the coffee community a behind the scenes look at their process.
GRCR recently relocated to 1111 Godfrey Ave Suite N-190 and is now known for its vibrant blue door. The inside is a large and clean multipurpose space with an open concept that blurs the line between function and comfort.
The first steps of the coffee process begins at farms far from the blue door of GRCR. During the growing stage, coffee beans are nothing more than cherries on bushes. The cherries are harvested and separated from the bean. The beans are then processed, dried and milled before they are distributed to roasters such as GRCR.
While they do not rely on their plants for roasting and selling, GRCR has coffee plants on tables for decoration.
GRCR roasts coffee from around the world. They bring in a large shipment every few weeks so they can provide a fresh roast.
It’s important to weigh the green coffee beans before they are roasted so each batch is consistent.
When the coffee is first put in the roaster, it finishes the drying process which began at the farm. The beans then undergo a series of chemical reactions once heat is applied.
The program on the computer is how the roaster can monitor the roast and regulate it’s levels.
Once the coffee is finished roasting, the beans pour out of the machine into a bin.
Not everyone is content with the natural flavors provided by the coffee bean. For some wholesale clients, GRCR puts different flavorings in with the beans to allow them to soak in.
GRCR skips expensive machines and labels bags the old fashioned way: by hand. During down times, employee’s uniformly place stickers and write on the bags.
Once the beans are roasted and the bags are prepped, the coffee is finally ready to be picked off the shelf.
This is the step that likely happens behind the bar at any local coffee shop. Once the espresso is ground, leveled, tamped and positioned back onto the machine, creamy espresso flows into the shot glass.
At last the bean has been turned into the caffeinated beverage consumed widely across the globe.