Roaster Story from Cisca: “Dream big”

World of Coffee, last June, Amsterdam the Netherlands. I called Wilfred Giesen two weeks before the World of Coffee started and asked him if I could join the Giesen team on their stand to share my roasting experience with (future) coffee roasters. After months of sleepless nights, doubts about my own skills, dreams and craftsmanship, I knew this was something I had to do.

Giesen W6A

I bought my first roaster, a Giesen W6A, five years ago. When I started roasting coffee, I didn’t know where to begin. I’ve worked more than eight years in the coffee industry and had an inner drive to follow my coffee heart. I knew I was destined to become a coffee roaster and that was all I needed to follow my dream.

“I had a fantastic plan, a good network
and resources to start my coffee roastery,
but there was a problem;
I didn’t know how to start roasting.”

When I bought my Giesen coffee roaster, I didn’t know how to start roasting. Roasting coffee is not just turning on the machine at the right temperature, put the beans in and take the beans out, at a certain point. As a roaster, you don’t want to just turn green beans into brown beans, do you? I wanted to create flavours!

Of course, the first thing you do is researching how to become a coffee roaster and where to start. There was information everywhere, but it didn’t feel like the right information. It felt like a puzzle that wasn’t complete. So I just started roasting on my Giesen W6A on the trial and error way. It took me ages before I even understood what was going on in my drum.

Dream big: Giesen W30A

Last January my second coffee roaster came: a Giesen W30A. An impressive, beautiful piece of art. While it stood there in my new venue, I felt so proud and I knew it was time to let my baby W6A  play with the big guys. At that same time, it made me feel humble and insecure again because I had to do what I did five years ago; trial and error.
But let me tell you; roasting 30 kilos isn’t the same as 6. To be honest, it was a nightmare that nightmare lasted for more than five months.

So like five years ago, I was stuck. I simply didn’t know what was going on in my new drum. Over the last few years I’ve spent thousands of euros on courses and had my experience on the W6A, so I knew I had the right skills to cracked the code. I’ve spent days analyzing my notes. When my roasting profile was finally consistent with the W6A, I cried out of joy!

Dream even bigger and get out of your comfort zone

For me, coffee is all about emotion. The way people drink their coffee, the reason they enter my small roastery in the city centre of Delft (Netherlands), the conversations that start sipping on your cup and the way I roast my beans; every moment is all about how you feel and what you experience.

When I had time to think about my personal process, it made me realize that, in the coffee industry, we don’t share a lot of information. Of course, there’s information on the internet, you can buy books and become a member of certain communities, but it’s never the whole story. My experience in the coffee industry is that we’re too afraid of sharing knowledge so we keep the roasting part mysterious and there’s no room left for discussion.

Let me tell you the truth; at first, it was scary to enter the Giesen stand on the World of Coffee because I felt vulnerable. But it wasn’t necessary at all. Thanks to the people I spoke, I know my journey is comparable to the journey of many other roasters who have the same dream. For example, my new roaster in my own company. Although I do everything to make sure he learns faster than I did, he’s also insecure, doubting and frustrated. All I can do is make sure he has the right knowledge available, so he can become a better roaster than me.

On that day in June, in Amsterdam, a new dream was born. A dream that, for me, would mean dream bigger and get out of my comfort zone. But I know that sharing my knowledge and dream, could mean the same for the next generation of coffee roasters. If we want to change the world of coffee, we need to start dreaming bigger.

For now, I’m certain; I want to share my knowledge with the next generation of roasters. Together with Giesen, I want to help you become the best version of yourself and make sure you have the right knowledge available.

So please tell me how I can help you; what’s your question for me?

Love Cisca
Miss Morrison Coffee Roastery
cisca@missmorrison.nl