About Me
Why Bean Belt Coffee Roastery?
My Story
I have a passion for travel and of course, coffee. My first introduction to hand roasted beans dated back to the early 90’s whilst training midwives at the Nkhoma Mission Hospital in Malawi. Beans were roasted with precision by our cooks over an open fire. The taste left an indelible impression and my coffee journey started. From then on drinking a cup of ground coffee became a priority, whether I was travelling or not.
In 2016 I received an email from a friend Sharon Jan, a sensory and green bean specialist from Sydney, Australia, if I would join her on a trip to Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
“Would you like to take a few days off and trek up the Nyirongongo volcano with me?
……if time allows, also do the gorillas in the Virunga National Park….would you like to join me on this adventure?……we can also visit coffee facilities in Kigali or other places.”
I started roasting shortly after using a 200 g tabletop home roaster or open fire. And the rest, as they say, is history.
The coffee culture in Rwanda, Kenya and Australia impressed me on my travels. I was surprised by the number of small businesses in the coffee industry. With an expanding coffee culture in South Africa, I truly believe there is also a place for the small enterprises in this country.
Please join me on this journey to discover – and fall in love with – the superior taste of coffee roasted to perfection in a South African designed, and manufactured, ‘Air Motion Roaster.’ (https://www.air-motionroasters.com/)
High quality premium and conventional single origin beans are used when roasting. I am grateful for the support of the team at Zuka Green Coffee who have been supplying beans since 2016.
Mission
Bean Belt Coffee is a locally owned, artisan coffee roasting company committed to bringing fresh, meticulously roasted, high quality Arabica coffee to your doorstep. All beans are supplied by trusted importers who have extensive experience in the industry and roasted to precision in small batches using an Air Motion Roaster.
Vision
My vision is to brew a reputation for excellence, one cup at a time. I would like you to experience precious moments where you drink coffee with your eyes closed to savour the aroma, acidity, unique flavours, body and the lingering after-taste.
An avid coffee drinker knows that origin, preparation and equipment are of vital importance. However, the roasting method plays a vital role in turning the mediocre into the exceptional. In comparison with commercial grade coffee speciality coffee is roasted light by default.
– When using an Air Motion Roaster, the beans are roasted in an upright drum, suspended on a convection current of hot air that circulates underneath the beans.
– This method ensures even roasting from all directions, preserving the natural flavours and aromas of the beans.
– The roasting drum is uncovered which allows continuous monitoring of the beans using sight, sound and smell for the duration of the roasting process.
– An extraction fan positioned above the roasting chamber removes dust, chaff and smoke. The removal of these impurities produces a clean, fresh, more aromatic coffee of lesser acidity.
– A shorter roasting time at lower temperatures reduces the formation of negative acidic compounds that give coffee a smoky, burnt or bitter taste.
– I can confidently say that your first cup of air roasted coffee will leave you pleasantly surprised with an irresistible yearning for the second cup.
Please join me on this journey to explore new coffee horizons.
Marlene
"As long as there was coffee in the world, how bad could things be?" - Cassandra Clare
