Resources

Site Resources

Glossary of Cultivar, Cupping, and Roast Terms: This is culled from our expansive dynamic glossary at sweetmarias.com
Our visual guide to the roast process: Temperatures are bean-probe measurements, and relative to the particular roaster, measurement device, and placement!

Articles

About Vacuum Packaging

storage | vacuum packaging

Vacuum packaging does not make coffee last forever, in fact there have been some coffees that we've pulled from shrub because of them showing a little wear on the cupping table. Tremendous efforts have been put into better understanding the various...
Coffee Shrub on: Decaf Fundamentals

bean density | decaf | moisture content | roast levels | roasting decaf | sourcing decaf | water activity

Decaf Fundamentals by Mike Strumpf and Christopher Schooley, photos by Swiss Water Process and Christopher Schooley What Makes a Great Decaf Mike Strumpf - Swiss Water Process Mike Strumpf - SWP When thinking about how to make an excellent...
Coffee Shrub on: Ethiopia Fundamentals

altitude | coffee drying | Ethiopia | ethiopian coffee | forested | roasting ethiopian coffee | shade | sourcing | storage | varietals

Ethiopia Fundamentals by Aleco Chigounis and Christopher Schooley, photos Aleco Chigounis Drying parchment on raised beds: undefined What Goes Into Producing Top Ethiopian Coffees Aleco Chicounis Chris and I discussed top Kenyan coffees in...
Coffee Shrub on: Kenya Fundamentals

coffee processing | coffee varieties | Kenya | roasting Kenyas

Kenya Fundamentals by Aleco Chigounis and Christopher Schooley, photos Thompson Owen Gaturiri What goes into Producing Top Kenya Coffee Aleco Chigounis Kenyan coffees are masterpieces. They're the total package. My favorite aspects of...
Coffee Shrub Packaging Options- Vacuum Bricks and Bulk Packaging

packaging | shipping | vacuum packaging

We offer two types of packaging for Coffee Shrub: vacuum packed bricks and bulk shipping in a GrainPro-lined burlap bag. Due to the different levels of time and care spent in these two methods, and the volume they respectively allow, we can offer...
Girl Talk: a video wherein I discuss different styles of roasters and how they use airflow

roasting | videos

In this video I talk about different styles of drum roasters and how they use airflow differently depending on the placement of the blower in relation to the energy source. There are a number of styles that I don't touch on, namely pure convection...
Natural Roasting (Ethiopia)

natural process | roasting

I recently had a discussion with a roaster who was having difficulty with a natural dry processed coffee from Ethiopia. He did not have much experience roasting DP coffees and had not really even considered how coffees processed in that style were...
Quest Manufacturer's Instruction Manual

Quest

QUEST M3 Coffee Roaster Instructions Note: Do not use any voltage stabilizer or booster on M3. 【Assembly Tips】 When using the roaster indoors, please use it near the window. The roaster should be used in a well ventilated location so that the...
Reconsidering Packaging

packaging | storage | vac pack | vac packs

We began Coffee Shrub in September 2009, and since that time things have gone in some unanticipated directions. We started off vac packing 15 pound bricks - vac-packing whole lots of coffee and storing them in our warehouse. That worked pretty...
Stretching Out

acidity | body | coffee roasting | coffee shrub | first crack | roast development | second crack | Sweet Maria's Library | sweetness

What are you looking for in a particular coffee? Do you want a sweeter coffee? A brighter one? Are you roasting for espresso and would like more body and lower acidity? All of these characteristics can be altered through roast development,...