What’s better than the rich, aromatic smell of coffee in the morning? When you visit Dogtown Coffee, the warm, comforting scent of a fresh, micro-roasted brew is perceptible alongside the savory smells of breakfast in Santa Monica. It’s the reason locals come everyday, the reason non-locals go out of their way to frequent “The Shack,” our official nickname for the outdoor patio seating behind our coffee shop. We love what we do and we do what we love.
If you are relatively new to the world of coffee, you may not know what the term “micro-roasted” means. Here, at Dogtown Coffee, it’s one of the main attributes that makes our java so delicious. Essentially, micro-roasting is a process that coffee enthusiasts have discovered to draw out the most complex flavors of coffee beans. Micro means small. For micro-roasting, coffee makers roast the beans in small batches (150 pounds or less) through a highly-controlled process. Instead of roasting the beans in bulk, this slower, methodical process creates a higher quality product with more flavor and better taste. For those that have tried micro-roasted coffee, it is very difficult for them to return to store-bought beans. It’s that much better.
Micro-roasted coffee can be a blend of beans or a single origin bean. Typically, blends are sourced from different locations whereas a single origin bean is the bounty of one crop. Coffee beans can vary in taste depending on the environment that they were grown in; so, the process for selecting these beans has a huge impact on the flavor of the coffee that customers purchase at Dogtown Coffee, one of the popular coffee shop in Santa Monica.
Another element that affects the overall taste of micro-roasted coffee is the type of bean: Arabica or Robusta. Typically, Robusta beans are used in commercial coffee brands because they are easy to grow and less expensive to produce. They have a more pungent smell and bitter taste. Arabica beans, on the other hand, are more expensive because they require nutrient-rich soil and optimum weather conditions, which also makes them more complex in flavor. Before they are roasted, Arabica beans have a slight blueberry odor. They provide a wonderful base for micro-roasted coffee.
Roasts can be measured by the amount of time they are processed, which can affect their color, density, caffeine levels, and apparent flavors. When you have a light roast, it means that the roasting time for the beans is shorter. This causes a higher density of beans, a higher concentration of caffeine, and a lower concentration of oil. Light roasts are a brown color and can be identified by their fruity and floral notes. A dark roast, on the other hand, is known for having a higher concentration of oil and strong flavors like chocolate, caramel, nuts, and licorice. The longer you roast the beans, the more flavors you can discover. There are also medium and medium-dark roasts which are varying degrees of the two extremes. The roast can affect many characteristics of a micro-roasted blend, including the taste and the body.
If you’re wondering why Dogtown Coffee is known for having the best coffee in Santa Monica, it is because we start with micro-roasting. We source quality coffee beans that are micro-roasted with care in highly-controlled environments. This helps nurture the flavor, aroma, and quality of the coffee that we brew at our store! Come on down to taste our widely-loved coffee drinks and our satisfying breakfast options in Santa Monica.