Roasting plant is a series of coffee roasters in London with a unique twist to what is usually found in a roastery. 

It all started back in a garage in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Where the founder Mike had an idea to manufacture a cup of coffee in-store from scratch. Mike, an industrial engineer by trade used his Grandmothers old vacuum cleaner to whip up a prototype of a machine that could automatically roast and transport coffee around a shop by means of air pressure in clear tubes.

The invention evolved from an old hoover into a network of coffee roasters and tubes that can be seen in each store.

The Roasting Plant uses fluid bed coffee roasters which basically use high-velocity hot air to keep the green beans suspended.

It’s amazing to watch these as you can see the coffee getting roasted in front of your eyes which isn’t possible in the majority of coffee roasters in the UK which use classic drum roasters. 

The Sumatran coffee from Roasting Plant hails from the Bener Meriah farming group in Central Aceh, Indonesia. 

The farms in the cooperative produce 100% shade grown coffee, this is the hallmark of environmental sustainability in coffee. The coffee farms grow their trees amongst other species of indigenous trees that were either already there before the farm or planted to promote a healthy ecosystem.

This not only produces coffee that occasionally offers unique complexities because of the influence of other plants but also helps the local wildlife thrive. Unfortunately shade grown coffee is fairly rare because of its lower yield, however, higher prices paid at the consumer level for shade grown coffee helps to encourage farmers to opt shade grown.

The Sumatran coffee from Bener Maria has been produced by a group of coffee farmers that are predominantly women. The Ketiara Cooprative was founded in 2008 by a former farmer Ibu Ramhah, who is the manager and chairperson of the group today.

She has inspired many women to pull together and market their coffee for a premium on the back of their quality processing. This provides access to education and health care in their local communities and incentives other women to invest in their farms to grow and thrive.

Sumatra, which is one of the many islands composing Indonesia, which is the fourth largest coffee exporter in the World. Like its South American counterparts it started off as an industry fuelling its colonisers, hundreds of years later it now produces some of the world most loved and famed coffees.

Java coffee from Java Island was marketed as a sign of high quality coffee during the second wave coffee boom and still produces some interesting coffees. 

The country is famous for their technique of semi washing their coffee in a process called ‘giling basah’ that produces woody and earthy notes as well as the infamous kopi luwak (semi digested coffee collected from the droppings of civet cats). 

Sumatran coffee is also a popular choice for a blended coffee. It adds depth and weight that is needed in espresso blends that are consumed with milk. There are a few coffees in Indonesia that can be traced back to the exact farm. These coffees that are usually washed rather than semi washed and can possess sugary sweetness with dried fruits while also offering a deep body.

The Sumatran coffee from Roasting plant started with a rich and surprisingly sweet fragrance, notes of liquorish and dark chocolate spill into the aroma of the brewing coffee.

The first sips are strong at the front with the chocolate from the fragrance layering with a rich flavoursome mouthfeel. 

The coffee is robust and its medium roast profile creates a well balanced cup. 

Once the coffee cools slightly subtle flavours layer together with the dark chocolate, I tasted grapes and a hint of citrus fruit right at the back of the sip.

The coffee is extremely well balanced and was a pleasure to drink. The rich velvety start followed by the cooling complexities make this an excellent Sumatran coffee. 

The coffee was flexible throughout all coffee brewing methods and worked well across the board. The rich notes worked particularly well in my stovetop, producing a smooth and velvety cup.