Our Roasting Process

At Pintail, we take great pride in the art of blending coffee. Our goal is to produce a number of remarkably flavorful and nuanced blends, and create these blends consistently regardless of the country of origin of the beans. You can be assured that whichever coffee you choose, each cup will deliver the satisfying taste you expect from Pintail. 

The journey begins with Georgio Testani, our Master Roaster, who travels to coffee growing regions around the world to begin the selection of beans which will become our signature product.

Georgio is keenly interested in sourcing high-grown, dense beans for their superior flavor quality and is willing to pay a premium for the quality we demand.

We buy washed coffees — prepared with water to remove the flesh from the bean — as well as purchasing natural process coffee beans, which utilize sunlight to remove the fruit. This is the essential first step in our artisanal process.   

Back at the Pintail Coffee Lab, we eagerly await the arrive of the coffee bean samples. We then analyze the coffee through a multi-step process:

• First, we do a moisture analysis to make sure the water content of the beans is correct.

• Next, we check the coffee beans for any defects and determine if they meet our high standards. This step will determine whether we accept or reject the beans.

• Once we approve the sample, the next step is to “cup” the coffee – a process by which we measure 14 grams of coffee and hot water in several 7oz bowls. We then let the coffee soak for 4 minutes, after which we break the coffee crust that has formed on top. This is done with our on site state-of-the-art sample roaster equipment.

• The coffee rests for 8 to 16 hours before we check the aroma and then “slurp the coffee” – yes, we actually slurp it! Just like a sommelier, Georgio aerates the coffee vigorously, looking for that special flavor and taste that will meet our exacting Pintail standards and ensures the consistent quality we demand. Sweetness, aftertaste and balance are what we are looking for to decide if the coffee fits with our signature dark coffee profile.

• We then await the arrival of the full lot of carefully selected and approved beans from their country of origin. We are proud to import coffee beans from many regions and countries: Colombia, Brazil, Central America and Indonesia.

• We then repeat the entire process – from moisture analysis through slurping — to make sure the coffee has not been compromised in its journey to our roasting facility.

• In the next step, we roast the coffee in our state-of-the-art Probat Coffee Roaster, capable of roasting 25,000 lbs of coffee per week.

• Each of our coffee roasting profiles are documented, stored and analyzed by our Master Roaster Giorgio to ensure consistency from batch to batch.

• We use an afterburner to evacuate smoke and prevent any coffee particles from entering the atmosphere, which is part of our commitment to being an environmentally friendly company.

• After each roast, the coffee is sent to a de-stoner to remove any foreign material that may have been in the coffee sacks.

• Following this step, the coffee is sent to large coffee silos to rest and de-gas for a day, further enriching the flavor of the coffee. Doing this ensures a better grind particle size.

• Next, the coffee is then sent to a water-cooled triple roller coffee grinder, designed to avoid heating the coffee during the grinding process, as this would deteriorate the perfectly roasted coffee. Sieve shakers are used during grinding to analyze particles for consistent grind size.

• The coffee is then packaged using nitrogen flush which evacuates the air, giving the fresh coffee prolonged shelf life, and delivered to your local retailer or straight to your door!