KONCEPT
The coffee sector is not a sector without problems. Much coffee production is characterized by poor working conditions, extremely low wages, deforestation and a high usage of pesticides. At Tierra Kaffe, it is our mission to contribute with creating a better coffee sector with a dedicated focus on both social and environmental sustainability. We live by the fact that you can, easily, set sky-high demands for quality and simultaneously set principles for both people and Nature. Our range of products must reflect a respect and understanding for the coffee farmers, a relationship between people in the supply chain and at the same time support experimental, more sustainable production techniques.
PHILOSOPHY OF ROASTING –
TERROIR
At Tierra Kaffe, we work with only two different levels of roasting: Light, called terroir roast and a medium roast, which is named allround roast. The light roast will always be the more acidic of the two, while the medium roasted version will be slightly more rounded in terms of softer notes and more body.
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The name "terroir-roast" was chosen because the lighter roasting will expose and address the coffees' terroir far more clearly and transparently in relation to both aromas and tastes. When you "wander" from a light roast to a medium roast, the coffees simply show new notes and flavors – for example, a sour apple-like taste can morph into a more gentle and soft stone fruit-like taste. The milder, embracing and more full-bodied result is, rather simply, an "allround roast".
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It is important to state that there is, of course, no right or wrong level of roasting within coffee. However, you can say with great certainty that; the darker the coffee is roasted, the more the fruit flavors will disappear, as you break down more flavonoids and terpenes (molecular compounds that create aromas and flavors that our senses can recognize).
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For this reason, we do not roast our coffee dark at Tierra Kaffe. Not because there is anything wrong with dark roasted coffee, but because we make a virtue of understanding the precise terroir of the different coffees and how the individual "micro climates" from each coffee farm has its own aromas- and taste expressions in the finished cup of coffee. It is both exciting, stimulating and overwhelming to get closer and closer to this experience and understanding.
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Read more about the use of language in relation to different levels of roasting in the section "Language within coffee".
ABOUT ME
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My name is Thor Andersen and I am the creator of Tierra Kaffe.
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I come from a background within hi-fi that enabled me to develop a high-end speaker called "Ellipsis", which was designed with the sole ambition to create one of the most uncompromising, beautiful and phase-linear speakers in the world. The principles of this project are directly related to my obsessive and neurotic approach to roasting and experiencing single-origin coffee, where I will never stop developing, fine-tuning and experimenting as a brewer as well as a roaster.
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The coffee production itself is the biggest factor in the quality of the finished cup of coffee, and coffee is a very complex product that in many ways can be compared with wine – especially when it comes to the concept of "terroir", the geographical influence and different production processes. Therefore, it is imperative that the people behind the coffee (coffee producers, farms and cooperatives) and their work is taken as seriously as posible, that is if great and complex coffee is desired.
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Tierra Kaffe is my contribution to a coffee culture where all coffee drinkers truly understand, appreciate and enjoy coffee as much as possible.
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