“Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do". Potter Stewart

mycuppa October 2022 Newsletter

Please be aware that peak season for freight is fast approaching - starting in a fortnight from the 3rd week in October and running until the end of January.

Since April this year, we have used a new, high-speed AusPost facility - a system unavailable to all Victorian merchants or retailers.

This change has continued to deliver significant benefits by improving transit times. The biggest difference involves bypassing a major choke-point in the Victoria - Melbourne Parcel facility at Sunshine. We sometimes see "express" service performance from our regular parcel freight.

It will be interesting to see how the high-speed system copes during the most painful period of the year - mid-November through mid-December.

Another day, another bunch of new coffee brands launched.

It always seems to continue or slow down. The number of entrants rushing to launch their "online coffee" brand with a dream of success from outsourced "drop-shipping".

Life's a beach when you can get enslaved people to do all the hard work. Maybe they don't read the news and ignore extreme labour shortages.

Barely a day passes without some newbie with stars in their eyes and almost no knowledge of coffee asking us to provide a completely outsourced model in supporting their new brand yet to be launched. Thanks, but no thanks.

If there wasn't already a confusing array of 3000 brands and offers available in Australia, into the mix come all the influencers, celebrities and other wannabe with their stylized stories of how they "do it differently with highly ethical actions and beliefs".

Just last week, a batsman in the current Australian cricket team launched his new coffee brand online. Good luck; it's a jungle out there.

Last month a big social media celebrity lurking in the shadows behind a 3rd party digital "front" agency wanted some coffee products for flogging to their followers alongside their bundles of "wellness solutions".

Shamefully, they didn't care about the taste, quality or traceability of the proposed "certified" products. Nope, this was only ever about how much margin they could make by charging double everyday retail prices in promoting organic features and offering some questionable and unproven health benefits. Lab verified mycotoxin-free - snake oil, indeed.

A Melbourne couple has launched a new coffee brand in the last two months. They have styled their coffee brand on the "plant-based healthy lifestyle" of the couple.

Maybe I'm a Luddite with my head in the sand, but blow me down. I had yet to learn whether what I ate made any difference to roasted coffee or whether my roasted coffee was "better" because of a fake plant-based healthy lifestyle. It's one example of a dozen new brands emerging over the last few months.

Alongside these "thoughtful approaches" are socially solid and ethical convictions - partnering with carefully selected coffee roasting brands. In other words, the only brands willing to engage with new start-ups, and that's a small list.

But the true irony of this Melbourne brand promising so much "hope", like many other new coffee brands launched since the pandemic and cloned like sausage factories, was the unmistakable fact that they are selling coffees containing robusta.

Okay, that's cool; people are entitled to choices, but when it comes to trying so hard to convince the coffee-buying public they are different by tugging on "emotional triggers of healthy alternatives, social and ethical justice", it's certainly not clear just how this Melbourne coffee loving couple and their robusta-laden coffee are providing those health or social benefits.

Considering that robusta in their coffee was grown at low-altitude, absolutely drowning in chemicals by unfortunate farmers caught in a poverty trap. Don't let the truth stand in the way of a good story about Melbourne coffee lovers and their ethical pursuits of a healthy lifestyle and charging a premium for the privilege.

Is mainstream coffee turning into a freak show where sellers have no vested interests or control over quality? It's all about alluring images and contrived stories designed to take your hard-earned $ money in exchange for high-margin mediocrity.

Please keep your hands on the wheel at all times.

The Stuff of Secrets

It is no secret that plum, cherry and dark chocolate are a winning trifecta in coffee.

This month's Secret Label takes sweetness to another level in a soaring symphony of delicious acids.

If beauty is a power, then a smile is its sword, and this month's coffee will slice through any milk-based espresso with Excalibur's ease.

🔥 Light, Medium, Dark (LMD): Why Roast Color is a Meaningless Metric

The journey to purchasing specialty coffee in Australia is complex, with over 3,000 retail brands vying for attention. One of the most persistent and misleading classifications used by sellers is the historical oversimplification of roasted coffee into the three ranges: Light, Medium, or Dark (LMD).

We wish it were that simple—but it is far from it.

LMD is an outdated and inaccurate way to describe roasted coffees. It’s akin to giving someone detailed directions by simply saying, "Head north." Yet, many coffee drinkers still anchor their purchase decisions on this LMD criteria.

The biggest myth perpetuated by this classification is that dark-roasted coffees have greater levels of flavor or strength. That is simply not true.

Roasting Myths Debunked

Myth	Reality	SEO Keywords to Target
Dark Roast = More Flavor	The opposite is often true. Roasting longer (darker) causes the delicious acids and unique flavors to escape. Flavor diminishes past a medium roast.	dark roast flavor profile, roasting destroys flavor
Dark Roast = Stronger Coffee	Coffee strength is a measurement of concentration and solubility, not roast color. The caffeine level decreases on a darker roasted coffee.	coffee strength caffeine, dark roast caffeine level
"Strong" always means Dark	When consumers ask for "strong," they often mean "bite," bitterness, or high concentration. Specialty roasters strive for "cleaner" cups that reduce bitterness through careful development.	what is strong coffee, coffee bitterness reduction

🌡️ What Really Happens When You Roast Coffee

Roasting is a precise, time-sensitive process where hundreds of chemical and physical transformations occur to the raw (green) bean. The final color is merely the end result of these complex transitions—it is never as simple as "medium brown."

Roasting: From Olfactory Art to AI Science

In the past, roasters relied on olfactory senses—sight (color through an aperture), smell, and sound (the "cracks" as beans release moisture). Today, these methods are crude and obsolete.

Modern roasting requires dynamic, split-second precision. Our industrial platforms, like the intelligent Brambati system, use AI tools to build and optimize consistency. We don't rely on romantic notions of "passed down secrets"; we rely on data science.

Managing the Roast Curve, Not the Color

As roasters, we manage the shape of the roasting curve over the entire 12-to-15 minute batch. Every moment is critical for achieving our desired results of acidity, sweetness, body, flavor, and finish in balance.

Color is just a guide, like a signpost. We never look at the final color because it varies drastically depending on the origin and varietal. Some high-sugar coffees naturally appear darker, even when roasted to the same level of development as a lighter-colored bean.
The Problem with QA by Color: Many prominent brands still use color instruments as their primary Quality Assurance (QA) metric. This provides a false sense of security and defends mediocrity. Color means nothing if the coffee doesn't taste great due to poor development earlier in the roast cycle.

Shifting Styles: The Walk on the Lighter Side

Over the last decade, Australia has seen a gradual shift from dark roasting toward a more generalized medium (or medium-dark). Consumer tastes have driven major brands to finally adjust toward the middle.

Filter Roasts vs. Espresso Roasts

The continued growth of a dedicated segment for lighter roasts has fuelled the popularity of alternative brewing methods (pour-over, Aeropress, filter). These roasts embrace fruitier elements, producing an almost "tea-like" liquor ideal for a delicious black coffee experience.

"Filter Roast" is the generic term for coffees roasted lighter than traditional espresso styles.
The Calibration Issue: An "Espresso Roast" is a broad, subjective range. One brand's "dark espresso" might be another's "medium." This highlights why LMD lacks the necessary accuracy to describe a coffee.

⚠️ Beware the Hype of Light-Roasted Espresso

While lighter roasts offer a new universe of flavors and complexity, they come with a significant technical challenge: solubility.

The Solubility Challenge: Light-roasted coffees are far more difficult and less forgiving to extract for espresso. The grind, dose, and temperature parameters are on a knife edge. Achieving a decent shot requires high-end equipment (commercial grade) and advanced skill.
The Solution is Time: The longer a coffee is roasted (implying darker), the more soluble the beans become, making extraction easier. Medium and darker roasted coffees are therefore more forgiving for home espresso applications.

☕ In Summary: Focus on Flavor and Quality

Roast Color Means Nothing: The flavor of your coffee depends on the quality of the raw ingredient and the development throughout the entire roast chamber period—not just the exit color.
Dark Roast Hides Flaws: Dark roasting is primarily used for lower-grade qualities to mask defects and create a bland, homogenized character. It would be a waste of great beans to dark roast high-quality specialty coffee.
Lighter Roasts Amplify Quality: Better quality grades are critical for lighter roasts, as defects are amplified by the shorter, lower-temperature process.
Keep an Open Mind: Don't get stuck thinking only dark roasts suit you. However, be aware that while lighter roasts offer unique complexity, they demand more skill and better equipment for espresso and may lack the body needed for milk-based beverages.