Velvet Sunrise Coffee Roasters

This is one of the most frequently asked questions we get.

First, let’s talk about freshness for coffee. As a specialty coffee roaster, our standard of freshness starts the clock ticking on the day the coffee is roasted and packed into our special bags. Our goal is to get the coffee into your hands within 2 week’s of roasting, whether you purchase it at the roastery, at a cafe, or at a specialty grocer.

We know from experience that a household will go through a 400g retail bag of coffee in 2 week’s (on average). With this timeframe in mind, whole bean coffee that is ground fresh for each serving is perfectly fine in the bag it comes in.

In fact, this bag has oxygen and moisture barriers built in, so it’s the best container for it. The whole beans will be great stored in there easily for 4+ weeks. After that time, a slow and slight fall off in aromatics, and a loss of vibrancy in flavour may be noticed, depending on your sensitivity.

For those who need to store coffee longer, we suggest splitting the bag into smaller portions, putting into mason jars or freezer bags, and storing in the deep freezer. Removing the smaller portions from the freezer as needed, let the coffee come up to room temperature before opening the container or bag. We do not recommend re-freezing or refrigerating coffee – ever.

The freshness window get drastically shorter once coffee is ground. If you have a grinder, grind the coffee immediately before brewing, if possible. The room filling aromatics of freshly ground, freshly roasted coffee will prime you system for action. After all, isn’t the smell of fresh ground coffee universally adorable?

If you do not have a grinder, we are prepared for you and will grind the coffee to your specific brewing type right at the point of sale. If you are not sure what the best grind for your brewer is, we can make the advice and recommendation for you. This is the main reason we don’t sell any pre-ground coffee. Plus, the fact that pre-ground coffee will already be stale in the bag by the time you buy it. By stale, I mean oxidized, bitter, and lacking in aromas!

It’s a fact the coffee which is distributed to mass market retailers cannot be freshly roasted. Typically it’s anywhere from 3 months to 1 year old as you find it on the shelf. If you find it on sale, you may find it’s approaching the sell by date. Coffee which is distributed to grocery stores typically has a best before date of at least a year from the date of manufacture. If you see a best before which has 3 months to go, you can pretty much infer that this coffee was roasted at least 9 months ago. Even sealed in a bag, this coffee will have a flat aroma, and be heavily oxidized, meaning bitter.

Our retail partners receive coffee weekly. We roast the coffee to order, and typically deliver within 24 hours of packing. Your assurance of freshness!

We’ve released our signature seasonal coffee called The Nutcracker. Every year, we spend a few weeks developing a unique profile from some exotic coffees.

This year, we are using a wet hulled coffee from Sumatra, a washed coffee from Papua New Guinea, and a natural coffee from Costa Rica. This combination yields a sublimely syrupy cup of coffee that is sweet and richly fruity, with a hint of warming spice.

Our Velvet Sunrise twist on Irish Coffee

• 2 oz Irish whiskey
• 1 1/2 T unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 T raw/Demarara sugar
• 2 oz double shot Velvet Espresso
• 3 oz hot water
• 3 T softly whipped cream, unsweetened

Dissolve the sugar and butter in a pan over medium heat. Remove from the heat. Whisk in 1 oz of the whiskey. Pour the other 1 oz of whisky into a heatproof glass or mug. Pull your double shot of espresso and add to the glass. Add the hot water. Add the sugar mixture and stir gently. Top with whipped cream and serve immediately!

Saturday November 30th

Celebrate with us as we sample out our seasonal Nutcracker coffee, collection of holiday cookies, decadent cheesy shortbread and housemade peppermint marshmallows.

*Complimentary refreshments all day*

*Free Velvet Sunrise mug to the first 100 customers*

And introducing Coffee Crack – an addicting, crunchy combination of caramel brittle, milk chocolate, coffee beans and toasted almonds.

We had a chance to sit down with Tara from Lighthouse Café and learn about her startup journey.

Tara studied in the culinary world before moving into an admin role after school.

Her dream became to open up a Café that would be engrained in its community. To create a place were people from the community could come together.

When an opportunity to realize this dream came in the form of a location in Mount Albert, a small town east of Newmarket, she jumped at it.

Find out more about Tara’s journey in this episode of Café Startup Convos.

Where we dive into if Lighthouse Café has been a success in business, & becoming a part of the community over its first 10 months.

Plus stay to the end to find out Tara’s advice for people chasing their dream.

When Oliver and his family took over Main Street Bakehouse & Eatery less than a year ago, it was struggling to find it’s form. Since then they’ve turned things around and the Stouffville location is thriving.

It’s become a place that’s gone above and beyond great coffee & food, it’s become a thriving community hub.

With their success in Stouffville, they had an opportunity to open a second location. One in Markham, across from the GO Station. A location that many GO train riders will be thankful for once they open up shop.

Even though it’s still under construction, Oliver welcomed us into their new location. We sat down with him to find out why they decided to take on this challenge. And also learn more about their new journey.

Update: Now they’ve opened and are in the early stages again. If you’re in the Markham Main St. area stop by and say hi!

Jeanne was a private consultant before she. joined her sisters to open 60Beans.

Their family had previous ties to the coffee world as they were growing up, so a coffee shop made sense to open with each other.

Their desire was to have something that would have longevity, a place that the family can grow old together having together.

It took a few months, but they found a home in the Junction/Roncesvalles area in Toronto.

It’s a small shop by design as they knew they didn’t want a huge place to take care of, but one that would still take the time to connect with it’s community.

Find out more about Jeanne’s journey in starting up 60Beans in our most recent episode of Café Startup Convos.

I see questions on R/coffee and Quora asking about ‘cold pressed espresso’ or ‘cold brewed espresso’.

Most of the answers, and the YouTube videos seem to recommend a recipe using either a) espresso that has been brewed hot and cooled or chilled (yuck!) or b) using espresso beans to make cold brewed coffee concentrate by steeping with water for 12 or more hours.

Let’s step back a bit to review what is espresso. It’s a brewing method – one that involves high pressure and finely ground coffee to produce a concentrated coffee drink in a very short amount of time.

The industry standard is as follows: for a double it’s +/-25 seconds, & the preparation and brewing time is within a minute. With the expectation that it’s served for immediate consumption.

How can we respect the fine tradition of espresso and still make a cold brewed bevvy to quench our summer thirst??

Well, we set our sights to finding out. What we discovered, is amazing. It’s not only possible (with a couple of tricks and tips) but also delicious! Here’s the recipe:

-18 to 20grams of espresso, ground Turkish (tip – if your grinder can’t grind fine enough for Turkish, you can borrow the grinder at your friendly neighbour, neighbourhood grocer or coffee bar)
-with your espresso machine off (and cold) tamp the espresso into your cold double portafilter basket
-lock the handle into your espresso machine
-turn on your espresso machine and without allowing it time to warm up, brew your double shot into a shot glass
– prepare your ‘cold pressed espresso’ drink in your favourite way
– our fave is to fill a glass 2/3 with ice, pour the espresso over, add 3 pumps (3/4 oz) caramel syrup, and top up with almond milk or cow milk

Give it a try, and feel free to contact us with any questions or comment.

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Wishing you a happy safe Victoria Day Long Weekend.

We also want to tell you about Coffee Beans from the base of Mount Kilimanjaro, which is our featured coffee:

Kilimanjaro Tanzania

Victoria Day Long Weekend Hours

Here are our hours for the Victoria Day long weekend:

Saturday – Open – 9am to 4pm
Sunday – Closed
Monday – Closed

We’re always happy to answer any of your questions about your home brewing technique’s and coffee choices.

How Coffee is Made

If you’ve ever wanted to know about how coffee is made, we wrote this just for you!   Visit our award-winning coffee roasting plant for coffee beans, espresso, and the best coffee equipment available today – from Aeropress, Hario V60, Chemex, Clever Dripper, French Press, Yama Vacuum Siphon, Breville espresso machine and Baratza Encore grinders.

Green (Raw) Coffee

It starts with the freshest beans. Imported directly from the farmer and stored in cool conditions away from other products, green coffee can have a shelf life of up to 12 months before the flavor and intensity starts to fade. Green coffee is high in chlorogenic acid, an anti-inflammatory, which can reduce blood pressure, and if you have ever heard of green coffee extract, it’s the chlorogenic acid being sought out and promoted as a weight loss aid.

Fun Fact:  Finland consumes the most coffee per capita.

Everyone recognizes a roasted coffee bean. Before it is roasted, the green coffee bean is the seed of the coffee cherry after it is picked, de-pulped, and dried. Coffee cherries grow in bunches along the branches of the coffee shrub.  After the flowering of the fragrant, white blossoms, it takes nearly a year for a cherry to mature . Because it grows in a continuous cycle, it is not unusual to see flowers, green fruit, and ripe fruit simultaneously on a single tree. The best terroir for coffee is rich, volcanic soil and high elevations with mild temperatures, frequent rain and shaded sun. The best coffee is hand-picked, constantly turned as it is dried, and carefully sorted for quality. Green coffee has a shelf life of 6 to 12 months.

Home Roasting

Roasted daily for peak flavour and aroma. Coffee starts to lose aromatic compounds starting the day after it’s roasted, even in a sealed bag, eventually becoming flat and lacking in complex aromas. Over the time of about 6 weeks, oxygen starts to creep into the bean and oxidize it. This causes the increase in bitterness associated with store shelf coffee. Oxidation destroys anti-oxidants, which one of the major health benefits of fresh coffee.

Fun Fact:  During roasting, coffee pops a little like popcorn, twice.

Home coffee roasting is easy! It only takes 7 to 15 minutes and your reward is the freshest coffee around. Green coffee is half the price of good roasted coffee. We have a huge selection of green coffees, each carefully chosen for quality. Coffee can be roasted in many ways, from home coffee roasting appliance, to the oven, on the stove-top, in a popcorn popper, with a heat gun, or even on the gas grill.

Roasting Coffee

The craft of roasting coffee is a highly developed skill.

Fun Fact:  Espresso beans and Coffee beans are not different, only the brewing method is.

Whether your goal is to experience the best light roast Colombian coffee, or to savor a bold, dark roast in the french press, coffee has the potential to offer one of the most complex sensory experiences of all the foods and beverages. As green coffee is roasted, acids and sugars react with heat, turning the coffee brown, caramelizing sugars and creating hundreds of aromatic compounds that contribute to a vast array of smells, tastes and textures. Our artisan roasting team is constantly developing and tasting, driven by a passion to bring out the best aspects in every coffee that we source. Every country of origin, every harvest and every lot has different potential and our roaster develops roast profiles that allow the coffees to speak in their own unique voice, creating a pleasing experience in the cup for our customers.

Brewing Coffee

Brewing coffee should be easy, fun and tasty.

Fun Fact:  Forty percent of a coffee bean is soluble in water. Only the first 20% tastes good.

There are dozens of ways to enjoy your fresh roast coffee at home. All involve the same basic steps: grind, steep, filter, enjoy!. Starting with a quality grinder, filtered water, a scale and your brewer of choice, spending a little time learning to make a beautiful, aromatic and complex cup of coffee can be a rewarding experience. Whether you enjoy a delicate, floral, citrusy cup or a bold, syrup, dark brew – there is a coffee and a method for you. From french press to drip, aeropress to espresso, siphon to moka pot, we have you covered with a coffee and the tools to do it up right.

Cafe

Sometimes it’s good to let someone else do the heavy lifting!

Fun Fact:  65% of coffee is consumed at home.

We provide only fresh, roasted-to-order coffee to your cafe. Along with coffee, our wholesale customer gets our expert guidance on the best method and techniques for brewing, along with hands-on training, and all of the cafe supplies needed to keep first-rate coffee your passion. We are obsessed with making the best possible cup of coffee, so don’t shoot us if the coffee tastes better at the cafe. It’s what we do!