Comments on: Equator Estate Coffees wins Roast Magazine’s 2010 American Roaster of the Year Award

By: Brooke McDonnell

Brooke McDonnell — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:19:26 +0000

Hi – please email me directly to arrange a time. Thanks.
(per above email – brooke@equatorcoffees.com)

By: TheShot

TheShot — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:44:54 +0000

Thanks for the offer, Brooke. I think the only way for us to break through this “block” is to take you up on it.

There certainly are a lot of stylistic preferences for espresso. Which, given the fuller spectrum that you certainly roast, makes it particularly odd that we’ve experienced your roasts through over 30 different purveyors and only found one instance that was noteworthy.

If some of our suspicions are correct — i.e., that a lot of quality drop-off in your roasts could happen in the “last mile” of the retail location serving the coffee — bypassing these retailers altogether should hopefully give us a truer representation of your roasts. (Even if it still doesn’t explain the limited examples we’ve had preparing your roasts at home.)

By: Brooke McDonnell

Brooke McDonnell — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:49:31 +0000

“Enigma”.. now we’re intrigued! We are also puzzled: your recent posting eventually acknowledges “But of course we are only one opinion with a taste palate that may radically differ from anyone elses”. Here, as an espresso enthusiast, you are acknowledging a basic tenant of espresso: there are different stylistic preferences. Espresso is not an indicator of quality range (as in the vogue among roasters of using robusta a few years back) but rather of the ability to design for stylistic preference and the competence of the barista. For example, we serve a demographic that overwhelmingly prefers and chooses a milder, dark roasted espresso profile – simply put, we have a full spectrum range of espressos “on the table” for our prospective clients to choose from, and, yes, we retail the ones that sell well. Why not experience our process for yourself by acting as a prospective client? Please accept an invitation to come to our roasting facility and cup our espresso offerings – this will enable you to judge our skill at designing to preference.

By: Christian

Christian — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 23:10:08 +0000

I don’t have the public track record on Equator that you do but feel similarly. I’m not quite sure why they continue to garner such praise. My own theory is that they are 1) large enough to have a substantial marketing arm (and to offer a product at the right price) and 2) are just enough better from the ultra-dark roasters that most chefs and other folks are familar with that they seem impressive to most people. In other words, they work as a gateway coffee and have the muscle to really sell well. But these credentials from Roast certainly do seem to indicate that some fairly impressive folks think there is something more deeply impressive about their coffee. I’m perplexed.