Have you noticed an extra roaster over on our Shop by Roaster Page? We’re excited to introduce Black & White Coffee Roasters! This roaster comes to us from North Carolina and offers coffee that is smart and approachable. Instead of roasting for coffee snobs Black & White focuses on producing roasts that are approachable and help to teach you about coffee overall. We love this approach to roasting and couldn’t be happier to offer B&W coffee on Seattle Coffee Gear!
Who They Are
Black & White lists two goals that they strive for as a business:
- To create opportunities for coffee professionals to expand their careers
- To make specialty coffee more approachable to the masses
The roaster started in 2017 is a coming together of Kyle Ramage and Lem Butler, both U.S. Champion baristas. They list their mission as “Exceptional Coffee Kept Simple”, but this means a lot more than simplistic flavors. Instead, their goal is to work together with others in the industry to better the conditions and possibilities for everyone working in coffee. This collaborative approach means that they roast to highlight the unique qualities and craftsmanship that comes from the incredible coffee producers that farm, process, and transport coffee around the world. You can see this dedicated approach in their coffees themselves.
The Original
The Original is a medium roast that features beans from the Yirgacheffe region of Ethiopa. This roast was developed by B&W to provide an introduction to one of the most celebrated coffee growing regions in the world. The Original is named as such because the beans come from a place not far from the legendary origin of coffee. From a flavor perspective, this roast features citrus, honey, and chocolate notes with a fair amount of brightness without losing balance.
The Traditional
It’s common theory among specialty coffee enthusiasts that you just can’t do a dark roast that maintains the characteristics of the coffee bean. B&W’s the Traditional challenges that notion. Instead of roasting so dark that all you get are roasty, earthy notes, the Traditional is a dark roast with character. With notes of dark chocolate, cherry, and marzipan this is a roast that gives you that bold, strong body without losing complexity. This roast also serves as a way to bring in beans that might not be considered “single origin” quality, expanding B&W’s potential sourcing partners.
The Natural
Natural processed coffee is one of the joys of the specialty coffee industry. While your opinion on it may change over time, this type of coffee can be difficult to approach initially. This is because of the strong notes of fruit and berries found in this kind of coffee, which can overwhelm easily. B&W’s the Natural tempers some of those stronger natural flavors in a natural Colombian bean by blending a washed Ethiopian coffee. The result is a blend that gives you a good understanding of natural coffees without overpowering your taste buds.
The Future
The Future is B&W’s look towards the future of coffee roasting. Featuring beans processed with anaerobic methods, this is a coffee that nods towards this upcoming processing technique and its assured impact on the industry. Anaerobic processing uses a fermentation process that removes oxygen from the beans’ environment. The result is a buildup of lactic acid, which leads to delicious tropical and fruit flavors in the coffee. This comes across in this roast with juicy, tropical, and complex notes and is a great coffee to try if you’re curious about cutting edge production techniques.
We hope you pick up every one of these coffees, or some of Black & White’s excellent single origins today!
