A New Year, a New Dawn: Our Roastery Revolution!

Happy New Year, coffee lovers! I won't dive into our new Hinderwell blend here, for that hop on over to our dedicated roast blog. Instead, let me give you a peek behind the curtain at the biggest change brewing at Forge Valley Roasters: our brand spanking new roastery!

We've been cramming all through Christmas, transforming a decrepit space into a gleaming temple of coffee alchemy. This project came with its fair share of muscle aches, unexpected detours, and a heroic quest with my 4-year old assistant - Arnold - to find a replacement gas valve on December 27th! Here I am gleefully excited when I got it fired up for the first time.

But the struggle was worth it. Behold, the centerpiece of our new haven: a mighty 5kg Roastmax roaster, all the way from Australia!

This beast is 10 times the size of our trusty Cormorant, meaning we can roast more beans, faster, and unlock a world of delicious possibilities for you.

Nestled next to the roaster is a Conti X1 espresso machine. This beauty isn't just for show (maybe a little bit). It's our precision tool for dialing in the espresso recipes for the beans. This means that we are able to share every step of the journey with you and provide recipe cards, live streams, and deep dives into the fascinating world of coffee science.

We've also snagged a lightning-fast Compak E8 grinder, ensuring our grind is as perfect as the sunrise. And for bag fills, the DIP DK-30 shop grinder is ready to rumble. We even stocked up on fancy tools like Motta stretching jugs, bottomless portafilters, WDT tools and more things we probably don't need – because knowledge is power, especially when it comes to coffee!

This whole upgrade isn't just about shiny machines and bigger batches though. It's about precision, finesse, and sharing our passion with you. We're reinvesting our time savings into the business and improving the operation. An example is that we now catalogue every sack of beans upon delivery, from density and size to moisture content and roast profile. Why? Because understanding each bean intimately is the key to unlocking its explosive flavor potential. It also ensures we maintain the utmost in quality control.

This is just the beginning though. We're brewing up a storm of activity and exciting innovations for the start of this year including free local deliveries, royal mail for national deliveries, free shipping over a certain amount, better packaging, and improved social media content. So grab a bag from the shop, cozy up, and stay tuned, because the best chapter of the journey just began!

Please let us know your coffee questions, share your brewing stories, and be a part of our ever-evolving journey with us. Remember, a great cup of coffee is always better shared! forgevalleyroasters

Chris