Quality Assurance Process: Espresso Blends

Quality Assurance Process: Espresso Blends

1st Aug 2024

Quality Assurance Process: Espresso Blends

Our quality assurance process is a daily ritual — meticulous and purpose-driven. We’re producing around 10 batches of blended coffee every day. All of which are uniquely roasted, blended and tested before release to our customers. Before release, the coffees must pass two tests.

 

 

“Consistantly good coffee doesn’t come easy - but this is what we love to do!”

Test #1 - Colour Assessment

The first test is an objective roast colour assessment using infrared light to confirm the roast level, resulting in a number that indicates how light or dark our roast is. Each coffee and blend has an individual number set against it and the coffee must meet this expectation before it gets to move on to the final test.

 

 

“We test our coffee across all grinders and espresso machines that we use in market. This is to test how our coffee is performing in our range of setups. The results are all recorded.”

 

Test #2 - Taste Assessment

The final test is a taste assessment. At Toby’s, we’ve developed a tasting tool called “THE GRID”. This measures the intensity of the four key attributes found in espresso: acidity, flavour, finish, and mouthfeel. Each coffee and blend is assigned an intensity level for each attribute and it must hit this level before it can be released for sale. Our confidence in this program comes from having a fixed recipe for each coffee, allowing us to understand and taste any changes in environment, roast, or coffee quality.