This week on Food For Thought, why the roasting of green coffee beans is so important to making a great cuppa joe. To listen to the 6 minute documentary, click here to play the mp3 file.
I watched the coffee being roasted at 49th Parallel Coffee Roasters in Vancouver, owned by the Piccolo family, Vince, Michael and Sammy. This family has a pretty long pedigree in the food service industry, starting with Vancouver’s acclaimed fine dining restaurant, Villa Del Lupo. Vince told me he got into the coffee roasting business when his son was born and he didn’t want the long, evening hours as a restaurateur any more. He is now the General Manager of the company while Michael is the roastmaster and Sammy Piccolo is one of the best cappuccino artists in the world.
You can find great examples of this art by Sammy and the other baristas he’s trained at the various Cafe Artigiano outlets around Vancouver, which are all supplied with their beans from 49th Parallel. This includes the beans from Panama that were purchased by the roasters for $130 a pound. That means at the cafes you need to part with $15 for one cup!
