malachi wrote:Really?
If I were to make a list of all the people who I truly respect as cuppers, almost all of them (at least 90%) work at companies I would describe as "micro-roasters" (ie Stumptown, Intelligentsia, Terroir, Ecco, Kaffa, Square Mile, Coffee Collective, Tim Wendleboe Coffee, etc).

I couldn't disagree more with OP's statement about freshness, but will cut him some slack on the "micro-roaster" statement. First, he did say "a lot" which is not like saying most or all. It might also be, as Jim discussed, an issue of definition. I tend to agree that "a lot" of micro-roasters are terrible. I also think, like you, that pretty much all of the great coffee cuppers, roasters, etc are micro-roasters. Living in Florida I can tell you that there are plenty of "micro-roasters" around the state. I can also tell you that, pretty much without exception, none of their coffee is palatable--certainly in another universe as compared to the true artists at places like intelly, gimme, stumptown, cccc, etc.

Fortunately for me, I travel enough to enjoy some of the more "developed" coffee areas around the country.

Jim - maybe u have learned by now, but in case you haven't torrefacto is the opposite of your post.

Torrefacto refers to a particular process of roasting coffee beans, common in Spain, France, Portugal, Costa Rica and Argentina. The process involves adding a certain amount of sugar during roasting in order to glaze the beans. This results in a reduction in the acidity and bitter taste of the coffee. The glazed beans are then mixed with normal roasted beans.

The addition of sugar during the torrefacto roasting process increases the production of compounds with antioxidant properties. Both ground and brewed torrefacto coffee has higher antioxidant capacity than standard roasts. In addition, the espresso method of extraction yielded higher antioxidant activity than other brewing methods.

IMHO - the best coffee on the planet.