How roasteries like BlackBird Coffee are changing our views

The coffee bean often fades into the background, overshadowed by gleaming espresso machines, designer mugs, and lively conversations in trendy cafes and homes alike. But choosing the right bean is more important than most realize. At BlackBird Coffee, a boutique roastery for specialty coffee, we discovered why the bean deserves the spotlight.

In our DOWNTOWN coffee special, we admired fancy espresso machines, tested the best grinders, and made the worst coffee of our lives. Now it’s time to focus on the true queen of our coffee experience: the coffee bean itself. Do you prefer Red Catuai or Heirloom? – Uh, what? It’s kind of crazy when you think about it: for many, a trip to the café is synonymous with quality of life – a chance to meet friends, enjoy a bit of “me time,” or get some work done in a cozy atmosphere. And yet, at the end of the day, we’re all there for one reason – coffee. So how come that most of us have no idea what’s actually in the cup? Why don’t we care at all about what we’re being served? Which varieties are being used, and what flavor notes we might expect from that perfectly-brewed espresso?

While many of us can name their favorite wine grape, few have even heard the term coffee variety. Phrases like “A Liberica filter coffee, please!” or “A Ruiru espresso for me!” are rare and typically reserved for the nerdiest specialty coffee bars. Signing up for a coffee tasting to discover your favorite variety? That’s still the exception rather than the rule. But shouldn’t the quality, flavor, and origin of our black, liquid everyday companion make for an interesting conversation starter with tablemates or café owners? Considering the immense role coffee plays in the lives of millions of people around the world, wouldn’t it make sense for us all to know a bit more about it? Imagine reading about the beans’ origins and the families behind the coffee on a restaurant menu – sure this would change the way we see the final product in our cup. Given that this kind of storytelling is still rare in cafés and restaurants, and since we’re eager to delve deeper into the world of specialty coffee, we decided to visit someone who serves as a bridge between farm and cup: Mario from BlackBird Coffee, a small roastery in southern Germany.

This article is part of our coffee Special, full of product tests, exciting insights and some valuable new perspectives on coffee. Curious? Then click here!

From passion to business

A backyard in an industrial area. BlackBird Coffee’s tucked away, almost incognito, in a second-row building. There’s no signboard on the roastery’s door, just two massive, silver ventilation pipes on the exterior wall hinting that things can get pretty heated in there at times…

Founder Mario leads us down into his roasting kingdom, a narrow, tube-shaped space about the size of half a classroom, showcasing the entire coffee production cycle: stacks of raw coffee sacks, roasting equipment, ventilation pipes, and machines. Shelves hold neatly packed roasted coffee, ready for shipping. A kitchenette stocked with coffee gadgets and a cozy sitting area round off the modern, industrial vibe. Our first thought: It doesn’t smell like coffee in here! That’s right, Mario explains. The roasted coffee is vacuum-sealed, and a powerful catalyst eliminates emissions. Occasionally, a spicy whiff of freshly roasted beans drifts across the yard for 20–30 seconds as they tumble from the roaster. Mario runs BlackBird Coffee as a side business; his main job is in the automotive industry. Unsurprisingly, his journey from hobby to business began with his love of espresso. Over time, his curiosity grew about where and how coffee is made. Visits to roasteries sparked his enthusiasm for the craft, followed by coffee sensory training and roasting workshops, cementing his desire to try it himself.

Coffee beans are like little time capsules – each batch tells a different story that truly comes to life during roasting.

At home, Mario began roasting his green coffee beans in a simple pan before upgrading to a small air roaster. With his first self-roasted results, his passion for the world of temperatures and roast levels was fully ignited – though he admits he wouldn’t drink the coffee he made back then today. In 2014, he founded BlackBird Coffee, gradually building connections with small coffee farmers and investing in increasingly high-end equipment. This includes professional roasters and a color sorter, which relies on cameras and image processing to identify and remove defective or low-quality beans. A growing customer base proves that his focus on quality and commitment to specialty coffee was the right approach to follow. Customers also appreciate the “Brew Life Balance” info on each coffee variety. Brewing tips and preparation recommendations for espresso machines, filters, and more can be accessed via QR codes on every BlackBird Coffee package. These clever ideas are the result of BlackBird’s team effort. Mario’s partner, Jasmina, supports him in every area except roasting – from tasting new coffees to making business decisions.

When roasting, you can influence the variety of flavours in the bean. However, the variety, location, cultivation and processing determine the flavours even more. The real heroes are the farmers.

Specialty coffee – What is it and what’s all the hype?

Anyone diving into the world of coffee will inevitably come across this expression: specialty coffee. It refers to premium coffee produced through highly sustainable and meticulous farming and processing methods, resulting in exceptional quality and a rich variety of flavors. Another defining feature is the high level of transparency offered by manufacturers throughout the entire supply chain – many specialty coffee providers offer detailed information about the coffee’s origin, harvest, and processing. This is made possible through direct trade relationships between roasters and coffee farmers. If you’re looking for truly fair-trade coffee, the term “Direct Trade” is one to remember.

Specialty coffee stands out with its diverse flavor profiles, but these subtle nuances are often appreciated only by true connoisseurs. While the numbers of connoisseurs are growing – also thanks to popular YouTube channels and Instagram accounts run by coffee enthusiasts – most customers of small roasteries like BlackBird Coffee stick to the familiar taste of average coffee, as Mario tells us. BlackBird Coffee’s bestseller is a slightly darker-roasted espresso, where many delicate flavor notes are overshadowed by dominant roast aromas. This aligns with the palate most people have been conditioned to prefer. Mario finds it a pity that fruitier coffees are less popular with the masses. That’s why he aims to win over customers with standout offerings, like the thermally fermented Fernando Cordero from Costa Rica or a washed Xadichio from Ethiopia.

For many, specialty coffee isn’t just about exceptional taste. So what drives this trend? Instagram and similar platforms certainly play a role in giving specialty coffee its hip status, but there’s more to it – a holistic approach. For many people, choosing beans from a small roastery rather than a supermarket is tied to an awareness of quality, sustainable consumption, and mindfulness. It’s about intentionality: do I toss groceries into my cart quickly and efficiently at the supermarket to save time for other things? Or do I find quality of life in visiting local producers, chatting about business and harvests? With specialty coffee, it’s the experience itself that takes center stage: chatting with the roaster, sampling the latest roast, and learning the story behind each bean. Coffee isn’t just a commodity, and becomes an emotional experience instead.

Of course, the hype is also fueled by the fact that specialty coffee doesn’t come cheap. With prices hovering around €30–50 per kilo, it’s a significant step up from supermarket coffee – a touch of luxury. Speaking of luxury, specialty coffee has its extremes: for exclusive varieties like Black Ivory coffee, digested and excreted by elephants, buyers pay up to four-figure prices. Elephant poop in your cup? Now that’s special.

Let the beans dance – timing and technique in the roasting process

The first six months were hell – until I really got to know the roaster and understood how every tiny adjustment changes the result.

It’s time to roast! Mario invites us to witness the transformation of a batch of Red Catuai, an Arabica variety. Five kilograms of raw coffee, smelling faintly of hay, are poured into the large roaster, preheated to about 100–150°C. This gentle introduction to heat ensures the beans roast evenly later, as the machine’s temperature raises up to 210°C. Mario’s early days with the roaster were full of challenges, and he quickly learned to lower his expectations: “In the beginning, I was just hoping for something remotely drinkable.” But the learning curve was steep, and as an engineer, he came to appreciate the value of patience, experimentation, and adjustments to master the roasting process. For Mario, the art of roasting lies in crafting unique roast profiles tailored to each bean type and origin, bringing out their distinct flavors. The key is finding the balance – the perfect sweet spot where sweetness and acidity peak, just before bitterness takes over. Achieving this requires precise control of the roast curve and constant temperature adjustments, avoiding over-roasting at all costs.

 

 

Before the roasting process comes to an end, Mario quickly compares the beans’ color several times using the sampler. Then, it’s all about speed: turn off the roaster, take out the beans, and cool them immediately with extreme cold air. Otherwise, they’ll continue roasting outside the machine. In a final step of quality control, the color sorter removes defective beans. After that, the roasted coffee is packaged and ready for distribution.

As witnesses to this intricate process, we can conclude: coffee roasting is both a small science and a grand art. However, all that hard work can be destroyed in an instant with the wrong grinder or preparation mistakes. This is precisely where specialty coffee sets itself apart from average industrial coffee, where flavors are often “roasted to death” by ultra-high temperatures and super-fast roasting processes.

How to get the best out of your beans–or: €150 for the best coffee in the world?

 

A few consumer questions for the roaster:

DOWNTOWN: How quickly should I use up a bag of coffee?

Mario: “With freshly roasted coffee, it’s important not to use it immediately. Wait at least two weeks for the full flavor to develop and for most of the CO₂ to degas. Once the bag is opened, the coffee should be used as quickly as possible and stored in its original packaging.”

DOWNTOWN: Am I doing it all wrong if I have my coffee ground at the roastery?

Mario: “Not at all. If you don’t have a good grinder at home, that’s fine. The roaster knows the optimal grind size for every brewing method, from filter coffee to French press to espresso. Still, grinding at home is better for several reasons: First, oxidation kills flavours. The increased surface area of ground coffee makes it more susceptible to oxygen, which, in turn, affects taste. Plus, grinding at home allows you to perfectly adjust the grind size to your specific machine.”

DOWNTOWN: What are the biggest differences between filter coffee and espresso?

Mario: “For espresso, the brew ratio is crucial – that’s the ratio of ground coffee to the amount of brewed coffee. Espresso is intense and concentrated, showcasing a wide variety of flavors in a very small volume. That’s why many people think that it has a higher caffeine content. They’re often surprised to learn that even a double espresso contains less caffeine than a cup of filter coffee. With filter coffee, the contact time between water and coffee grounds is much longer, extracting more caffeine. Plus, the typical portion of filter coffee is much bigger than an espresso. My favorite drink is filter coffee. Its gentle, slow flavor release offers a complex and versatile taste experience. With filter coffee, you can truly taste everything the coffee has gone through over the course of the year.”

DOWNTOWN: What’s your secret tip for making truly great coffee?

Mario: “If you already have a good grinder, you’re just €150 away! Get yourself a quality gooseneck kettle with temperature control, a ceramic dripper, a glass carafe, and, of course, our coffee – and you’ll be able to enjoy the best coffee in the world.”

An espresso delivers concentrated intensity, but with filter coffee, you experience the full spectrum – flavors unfold over time and change with every temperature.

For more tips on brewing coffee and the best gear, check out our articles and the barista course at Rotbart Kaffee!

Is organic coffee really the better choice?

Let’s get one thing straight: buying organic coffee from a discount supermarket is often little more than purchasing a feel-good product for your conscience. What we consistently hear from coffee experts is this: organic certifications in coffee farming are not a guarantee of a high-quality product, just as Fairtrade labels don’t always ensure that small farmers can make a sustainable living. If you’re buying organic coffee from major supermarket brands, keep in mind that it’s often grown in monocultures that have little to do with ecology or biodiversity and a lot to do with greenwashing.

While BlackBird Coffee does offer certified organic options, Mario places greater emphasis on working with small coffee farmers who practice agroforestry. This sustainable farming method involves planting shade-giving fruit or utility trees among coffee plants and integrating ground crops like beans and corn to naturally enrich the soil. These methods eliminate the need for synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. The ecological value of coffee grown this way is usually far greater than most organic coffees from supermarkets – regardless of whether they’re certified or not.

It’s great that we, as consumers, have a say: instead of picking up mass-market organic coffee at the supermarket, we can show our appreciation for small producers by buying coffee from agroforestry projects through our local roasters. In return, we gain an emotional reward that supermarket products simply can’t offer: the satisfaction of choosing a product from a transparent value chain and knowing we’re supporting small coffee-farming families who practice their craft with passion, pride, and love for nature.

Our coffee journey

For those who see coffee primarily as a life-sustaining caffeine boost, the idea of delving into the origins and flavors of individual beans might seem superfluous. But for us, that’s no longer the case. With every expert we meet and every product we test, we’re diving deeper into the rabbit hole we fell into at the start of this journey with rb.crafts, the German coffee machine customizer.

We’re discovering different perspectives: the barista who shares his knowledge of coffee and latte art during a course, focusing on the grinder as the centerpiece of coffee preparation; the machine tuner, dedicated to precision, quality, and craftsmanship; and now the roaster, who celebrates the coffee bean as the unsung hero, revealing how every bit of potential can be teased out during processing.

Thanks to these insights, we’re beginning to understand just how many factors influence a simple cup of coffee, and how much effort goes into a handful of beans. For us, exploring the world of specialty coffee has become a chance to rethink our consumption, to drink coffee not by the liter, but mindfully. Just like Mario, who doesn’t drink huge amounts of coffee himself but enjoys every sip. His preference? Filter coffee, which lasts longest in flavor and satisfaction. For him, coffee is too precious to be consumed without appreciating the hard work of those who produce it.

Specialty coffee from small roasteries like BlackBird Coffee deserves more attention – both at home and in cafés. It has the power to enrich our coffee experience far beyond the faceless, cheap products from supermarkets and wholesalers. Because coffee is both a tangible product and an emotional one, with a story that begins on a plantation and culminates gloriously inside a cup. Don’t care about the bean? Oh, we certainly do!

For more info, visit blackbirdcoffee.de.

Words: Felicia Nastal Photos: Robin Schmitt