May - Essence of Coffee
May Feature:
Tell us about yourself (summary of your story):
We’re a family owned and operated business. Essence of Coffee started roasting in 2009. Birthed out of our first cafe, Café 54 in East Perth (2007–2013), our passion for specialty coffee demanded a commitment to knowledge and skills that ultimately led us to begin roasting. Though we initially started roasting for ourselves and our cafe customers, we soon started roasting for other cafes also.
In February 2011 we opened The Roastery in Canning Vale to house our expanding roasting facility in an open warehouse style cafe.
Who is the head roaster?
Luke Pullella. With a background in computer engineering, he caught the coffee bug and joined the family business full-time in 2010. Roasting since 2012, he roasts and oversees our Australian operations.
How long have you been roasting and how did it start?
We’ve been roasting since 2009 when we decided to pursue and craft a coffee that matched what we so desperately wanted to serve our customers at the cafe we were running at the time, Cafe 54.
What is your roasting process?
Really it starts with sourcing. We work with our suppliers, often in collaboration with family members who are roasting in the USA, to source great coffees.
We then develop a roast profile based on the bean’s origin, varietal and processing, along with our lab work, notes from the supplier and historic roast data. But once we’ve started roasting it ourselves, we let our cupping and experience guide the development of our roast profiles. After all, it’s all about how it tastes in the cup.
What are your goals for the roastery?
To see more smiles on faces. Great coffee makes everyone’s day better.
What makes you unique?
Firstly, our perception of coffee. This ultimately guides how our coffees taste. It’s probably what makes every roaster unique!
Secondly, we run our own cafes. We don’t just roast coffee and send it into the ether, we are all over the journey from the green beans arriving at our roastery through to the customers cup. We feedback the customers’ coffee experience into our sourcing and roasting so that we’re always improving.
Thirdly, our family’s collaborative approach to coffee, hospitality and business. We all have varied backgrounds and strengths, so we always bring well balanced results to our coffees and customers.
Why are you passionate about the coffee industry?
Well, besides coffee… the people. Anything coffee tends to lead to meeting great people and sharing great stories.
What are the values of the roastery?
Serious coffee, casual atmosphere.
Story behind the blend/single (e.g. what are some of the values that make the blend/single great?)
The story behind the Genesis Premium Blend is as simple as our search for a cup of coffee that tastes how we imagine it should. We figured if we’d love it, others would too!
Though the blend has changed over the years as old crops give way to new crops, how we imagine the perfect cup of coffee hasn’t. So with every new crop we’re tweaking and guiding this blend to perfection.
For more Essence of Coffee follow them on Instagram:
@essenceofcoffee