From Harley Builder To Coffee Roaster Builder

Source: Today MSNBC

From building Harleys to designing coffee roasters might seem like a big jump, but to electrical engineer Marty Curtis, it was a natural thing to do. He took his hot rod engineering skills and applied them to the needs of “hot rodding roasters”. It was the switch to building and repairing the coffee roasters that has made Curtis a wealthy man.

CNBC reporter Scott Wapner discussed Curtis in a story this week about the US and its coffee addiction. Curtis also commented on the most important part of roaster design: It must be easy to manipulate the air flow to the burners, for that determines the best outcome for the roast. Beans destined for caffeinated coffee are roasted for twelve minutes, about. Longer roasting leads to stronger taste. You might know that beans for decaf are soaked in water or chemical to extract the caffeine, but you might not know that that extracted caffeine is then sold to pharmaceutical companies or soda and energy drink makers for use in their products.

The article quotes another source who states that taste of coffee, though important, is not as important as the physical effect of the caffeine. In fact, that author, Stephen Braun, writes that without the caffeine effect, there would be no market for coffee. It’s the stimulation and the habit-forming characteristics that create the demand. However, most, if not all, decaf drinkers would probably disagree with his statement. After all, if it was only the stimulating effect of the caffeine that drives coffee demand, what accounts for the many decaf drinkers?

While caffeinated coffee might be habit forming, or create dependence, Dr. Peter Martin, a psychiatry/pharmacology professor, says that this is not the same as an addiction. The difference is a sense of balance in one’s life. A coffee drinker deprived of coffee for a day may face a withdrawal symptom such as a headache, but won’t be tempted to rob a store or commit a violent act because of the withdrawal.

The story was a lead-in to a CNBC program – “Coffee Addiction” - which was aired on Thursday, but which will be rebroadcast October 6 at 8 p.m., October 9 at 1 a.m., and October 20 at 8 p.m. in case you missed it. And you won’t want to miss these newer ROASTe coffees below, all with GREAT taste!