Check out this interview that was done in coordination with Love My Cup! They also ran their own social media campaign and articles about our company and our wonderful fresh roasted coffee. Is there anything in the interview that you didn't know about? Let us know in the comments!
Interview with Ray Johnson
Ray Johnson
owner of Coffee City USA in Tyler Texas has worked over 29 years in the
Specialty coffee industry. He has
learned all aspects of buying green coffee, cupping coffee with industry
leaders, roasting coffee finding the sweet spot of every bean. He also works daily with a 29 year veteran Roast master
Victor Hernandez at Coffee City USA roasting all your coffee every day. It doesn't get any better than that! Our customers are assured that every bean is
roasted to peak flavor. Every coffee
growing region has its own characteristic or taste. Our responsibility to you is to understand
each country. Acidity, body and balance
and bring out the flavors while understanding New Crop, Old Crop, bean size,
density to name a few things that create that great cup from each origin.
#1 How long
have you trained before becoming a coffee roaster?
I trained for about 1 year under Victor Hernandez
and another year when I fine tuned my skills.
All coffee beans roast differently and you have to understand why to
learn what to do for each.
#2 What drew you to this profession in the first
place?
My best friend owned a coffee company and
wanted me to come in and help him. I
learned all aspects of this industry and helped him grow the company. I had some great mentors that took the time
with me to help me get where I am today.
Also I have a good palette and that really helped me differentiate the
taste of each country.
#3 What is the most difficult part of your job?
I think the hardest part of my job is picking
what coffee to brew each morning. Next
would be finding the employees but we are so lucky to have great key employees
that have been with us for 18, 17, 10 years and several that have even retired
at 12-15 years. We are truly blessed. Thank
you all.
#4 Where do the best beans in the world come
from and why?
There are the
tried and true great coffees consumed worldwide like Kenya, Ethiopian
Yirgacheffe, Sumatra Mandheling, Kona, Jamaican Blue Mountain, Colombian, Costa
Rica, Guatemalan but with some of these countries Micro Farms have been showing
up over the past 10 years. The consensus
worldwide was to give back and help the poor farmers with (FT) Fair Trade
coffee prices that are fixed higher than c market prices. With extra income and coffee experts showing
information to take care of the soil, stop using pesticides, herbicides and
other chemicals. The farmers have
learned how to grow organic coffees and take care of the water used in milling
coffee. Within these small farms
producing small lots have come some incredible tastes that are in high
demand. With small lots come small amounts
of coffee from each farm maybe only 50 to 150 bags (132 lbs. each) for the
entire year. So you might like a farm
but the coffee it grows sells out fast.
This is what happens to roasters.
We run out of some of these coffees.
Fair Trade and Organic coffee has been on the move over the past 10
years or more. Although the growth in
popularity, they still make up only a small percentage of all coffees. This is a small oversight of the Fair Trade
and Organic sustainability movement.
There are so many great coffees to be tasted so try them all. It is a great trip around the world.
#5 What is the secret to roasting beans
perfectly every time?
There are so
many factors in roasting coffee perfectly.
The Roaster must know: new crop, old crop, hard bean, higher elevation,
soft bean, all beans signs roast at different temperatures. At what temperature to drop green beans in
roaster and as they develop when to turn gas down and when to turn gas off and
let beans develop with just heat from roaster.
What to do at first crack and second crack, what the center of the bean
tells him and when he knows it is at its peak and to get it out of the roaster
and into the cooler and cool the beans down so they stop roasting. This is a general outline of the roaster's
view of things. In the 17-21 minutes the
coffee is in the roaster he checks it 30 to 40 times and mostly in the last 2
minutes. From his 29 years experience
Victor Hernandez finds the sweet spot on every roast. We are so happy to have him in our
family. Thank you Victor for all the
fabulous tasting coffees you have roasted.
#6 How do you
know you (as a consumer) bought good quality roasted beans?
I would want
to buy coffee from someone that has been involved in the specialty coffee
industry for a long time. They have
built relationships with the best green bean buyers in the country and have
been mentored by some of the best coffee minds in the world and have a 29 year
veteran Roast master in house. Experience
and the love of coffee are quite a marriage.
Remember when buying coffee, don't be afraid to try different coffees,
roasts, and blends because your match in that is out there waiting for you to
discover.
#7 What is
the secret to making perfect coffee every time?
You will
never know how good your coffee really is unless you know how to prepare it
properly. Here's a guide to how to properly make coffee!
#1 Buy quality whole bean coffee.
# 2 A good coffee brewer is a must! Coffee should be brewed about 195
degrees. Cheap brewers fall short in
temperature. $ 70 plus will solve that
problem in most cases.
#3
If using a home machine - A cone filter is best to have because it extracts the
coffee better because the water stays on the coffee longer.
#4
To grind coffee correctly you need a Burr grinder not a blade or spice
grinder. Blade grinders will never grind
to coffee the same each time so your coffee will be different every time you
brew it. A Burr Grinder will grind your
coffee the same every time because it has a dial to select your grind from fine
to course. The correct grind for drip
coffee will feel like sand that is a little coarse. The grind is very important because too coarse
is weak and too fine is harsh for drip coffee.
You can adjust your grinder to your taste.
#5
The amount of coffee is all over the place for a 12 cup brewer 64 oz. I would start with 2 oz. at a drip grind and
then adjust amount if to weak. You can
also adjust your grinder a little finer to make your coffee stronger. But too fine will make the coffee harsh or
bitter. Coffee is to your taste so find
your sweet spot on grind and amount coffee you use.
#
6 Water, coffee is 97% water, bad water, bad coffee. Use spring or filtered fresh cold water. Always grind your coffee just before brewing
and you will really make a great cup of coffee every time.
#8 What is
your favorite coffee?
My favorite
coffee is from Central America, the country of Guatemala. There are 2 regions; Antigua and
Huehuetenango. These coffees are well
balanced in body and brightens or acidity.
I drink them both on a light roast so I can taste the real flavor of
each coffee. Darker roasts hide or
dominate the taste and you only taste the dark roast.
#9 How do you take your coffee?
I drink my coffee hot and black and mostly
light roasts. On a light roast you can taste the differences in each country,
on a darker roast it starts to mute the subtle taste of the countries' and not
the true characteristics of each region.
But more than 50% drink dark roasts for the heavy taste. That is why there are so many ways to drink
and roast coffee. It is all to your
taste. You have to experiment and find
the coffee and or region and you will know when you do because you will have a
big smile on your face.