For Mark and Roy the key to excellent coffee lies not only in the quality of the beans, or the standards of farming, but in roasting the beans. Now this sounds simple enough, but as Mark often points out there is both a science and an art to roasting coffee. Once the beans have matured, they are removed from the coffee cherries (the pods that hold the seeds) and dried. These green-coloured coffee beans are packed into large sacks (usually), weighing 60 kilograms each. The green coffee beans do not smell like coffee at all – they have a beany, grassy aroma – but when roasted, these very same beans develop hundreds (yes, hundreds) of different aroma and flavour compounds. It is thus up to the skill and experience of the roaster to extract the best and most sought-after of these characteristics by applying variable heat at specific times during the process and thus bring out the unique flavours for each batch of coffee.
After watching Roy meticulously “reading the beans” for roast colour and what is commonly referred to in the industry as the First Crack, monitoring the Rate of Rise temperatures and, depending on the roast, the Second Crack, I could not help thinking how far we have come with our coffee. I still remember the way my long-deceased grandmother used to roast her coffee in a large cast iron pot over an open fire set up in the one corner of her homestead, after which it was my task to grind the beans using a cast iron mill mounted to the wall. No disrespect Ouma, but I think I like Roy and Mark’s roasts better.
Two Beards specialises in single origin, 100% pure Arabica coffees that reflect the true diversity of the world’s great coffee producing countries: Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Indonesia, among others. If you are ever in need to discuss your coffee affairs, or just exchange your most recent ideas about the local artisan coffee movement, you’ll not only find the Two Beards most helpful and gregarious company, but you’ll also be able to enjoy a scrumptious meal in the Two Beards and a Saint Gourmet Coffee Bar and Bistro right below the Roastery where Radley – the Saint – offers a gourmet, café-style menu to go with a wide selection of coffees.
Two Beards Coffee Roasters and Two Beards and a Saint Gourmet Coffee Bar and Bistro are located on the outskirts of Swakopmund at Unit 6 Eastern Concepts, 5 Einstein Street, Swakopmund. Business hours are from 7h30 to 17h00 Monday to Friday, and from 7h30 to 14h30 on Saturdays.
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Hi, sent me price list for home use coffee, I have a history of buying a cup of coffee at the Arandis service station everyday, it keeps me awake and alert after sipping in a cup of coffee