About Malling Roast
At Malling Roast, our raw beans are literally roasted by the suns energy,
captured by the 32 solar panels fitted to our roof. I currently use a 1kg per batch
electric roaster for orders and a 250g electric roaster as a sample machine. Our
packaging for local orders, delivered by me is compostable and the rest is made
from recycled materials. I roast by sight, smell and taste, the only time a computer
is used is for the labels and admin.
For over 30 years I worked in and around the financial markets in the City of London,
nipping out to grab a coffee from the surrounding cafe's when time allowed.
A cappuccino on the way to the office, a latte occasionally and an espresso after a
good lunch or dinner. It wasn't until I started working from home some years ago that
I started missing good coffee and wondered how to replicate that 'cafe coffee'
At the beginning of my home working routine, I shamefully, though very briefly,
dabbled in "good" freeze dried stuff and instant Cappuccino. An hour later, I bought
a cheap all-in-one drip/espresso machine from a local supermarket along with some
ground coffee. I got closer to my objective. A few days later beans were on the
shopping list and a decent enough grinder. Closer still, but not close enough.
The internet provided a plethora of information as well as enticing coffee gadgets for
all budgets. After many months of research and painful negotiations with my
paymaster general, wife Rachel, I bought my first coffee roaster, the Gene Cafe CBR 101
which roasts 250g of beans at a time. I thought the difficult part was over until I started
looking for green beans and something that was alien to me, roasting profiles.
After a great deal of research and time honing my skills on the baby roaster, which is
now used as my sampling roaster, my objective was reached and the perfect cup of
coffee was brewed. I began testing my roasts on friends and neighbours as my opinion
was obviously biased and after better than expected feedback, I decided to go to the next
level and bought a larger 1kg batch roaster to more efficiently satisfy demand for my
freshly roasted coffee. I'm starting low but aiming high and initial output will be up to 5kg
of roasted beans a day.
My preference for roasting is to use sight and smell, handcrafted, rather
than computer aided. I feel it gives a more personal touch and my
customers an experience of sensory roasting. Reaching for a glass of wine
I saw many similarities in roasting coffee and creating wine. The beans,
their country of origin and even the region and altitude at which they are
grown all give a different flavour. One however helps to make a productive
day while the other is great at the end of it.
I source my beans from local warehouses who can explain where the coffee has come from
and produce information on the farmer and their methods of growing, harvesting and
processing the beans. A decent price for a decent product means sustained great quality raw
materials. The search was educational as well as enjoyable as I was lucky enough to meet
people with as much passion for coffee as myself. The coffee beans roasted by Malling Roast
are of the highest quality and sourced from the most ethical suppliers. In order to limit our
environmental footprint, our solar panels create the energy needed to transform the raw bean
into our delicious roast.
Coffee is grown around the "Bean Belt" between the Topics of
Cancer and Capricorn. We are investigating beans from around the
world initially roasting Central and South America beans then heading
west to Asia and the coffee growing regions such as of Indonesia, Myanmar
and China. From Asia our journey will take us to the Middle East where
we are hoping to be able to roast some beans from Yemen, the home of
coffee as a drink. Indian beans will also be available during this period.
Completing our coffee expedition, you will be able to try beans from Africa,
the birthplace of the coffee bean.
While this journey will involve single origin coffee a single special blend from each region of the
coffee growing world will also be available. Currently we are selling a blend called Latin Surprise
which has a Guatemala base blended with a combination of Central and South American beans,
espresso ground to produce a full bodied coffee.
I want you to taste the different coffee regions, and to this end
the coffees are all the same price. In my experience, expensive
does not necessarily mean better, so I have taken out that distraction
to help concentrate the senses on the coffee itself. From a roasting
point of view, the difference between the way the Americana and
Asian beans react to a roasting profile is very noticeable as is the
resulting taste. I am going to do my utmost to keep the prices stable
but i've been informed by my raw bean suppliers that COVID, BREXIT
and the Suez Canal incident, may affect prices as the year goes on.
The fantastic feedback I have received for my roasts, led me to set up this website and hopefully share my passion with more coffee lovers. I hope you enjoy the journey.
All the very best
Gary
