Pangaea Organica Coffee Roaster Visit

Today, I visited the coffee roasting facility at Pangaea Organica! It's in the back of a retail store front in Wallingford. I parked on the street and walked toward the facility through a side path with clues of coffee beans, burlap bags, brew pots, hoses and such greeting me along my way.

Rick Riehle, Owner of Pangaea Organic, welcomed me into the kitchen which smelled soooo good! I was instantly taken away to another place in my mind's eye - coffee is very ethereal for me for some reason, capturing my creative and solace-filled mind. For most, there's something visceral about the smell of very rich, complex, Ethiopian and Brazilian Coffee.

Here's a jug of coffee beans that Rick then brewed in a french press with a very special method - he says don't stir the coffee, let the water organically synergize with the beans - very similar to how I blend essential oils! He is very meticulous about recording the specs of every shipment of coffee beans and the picture above shows his notes which follow every jar - nothing is unlabeled.

He brewed some coffee for me to try before we started roasting. It was from Brazil: Cooperativa dos Agricultores Familiares de Poco Fundo. The taste was very complex, earthy, yet had notes of chocolate on the finish, if you can imagine.

Next, we headed downstairs to the roasting facility where he explained the method of air roasting. The difference between Pangaea’s coffee and other coffee roasters is that they roast their coffee on a bed of hot air, characterized as convection roasting.

It’s similar to popping corn which creates a light, fluffy snack, called , as we know, popcorn.

When you roast coffee beans this way, the beans tumble in hot air and roast the beans evenly preventing any of the beans from being burned.

Most coffee companies roast in a drum roaster, where the beans tumble around against the surface of a super hot drum. This causes the beans to char and create a ‘bitter’ taste in your coffee. Who wants that? Hot air roasting brings out the fresh flavors, unique personality and essence of each coffee bean.

Plus, when Pangaea roasts, there’s a coffee bean chaff (outer layer) left over which is light-weight and lends itself well to compost. So, instead of throwing it away, they donate it to the local Tilth where they use it in the mulch! This is a much more conscious and efficient way to process the coffee by-product.

The coffee that Rick and I roasted today will be used in the new Solace Essentials Body Scrub. Here is a picture of the beans. Mmm… they smell great and look really nurturing for the skin! These beans are not roasted fully, creating what’s called a White Bean coffee. It’s a lot more conducive to a bodyscrub being that it’s lighter and less rich in smell, but still high in anti-oxidant capabilities.

I can’t wait to get this batch of coffee back to Solace Essentials to put in the body scrub. It’s going to be great!

Recently, Rick also put me in touch with a coffee roaster in Nepal who also grows herbs for essential oils. Stay tuned for more posts about my Nepalese Essential Oil adventures!!

Breathe deeply (from a Coffee/Essential Oil Body Scrub!) and find your solace.

Best wishes,
Carol