Roast my Roast. Collegial coaching among roasteries

"What if there were an opportunity to show your own roasts to a specialist audience and get direct feedback?"

We've heard this question repeatedly from course participants. And they were all right. The exchange and direct feedback on your own roasts is valuable.

As coffee roasteries, we usually drink our own coffees. We develop a style and stick with it. Many roasters work alone for a long time. But what if there's more potential in the coffee? What if there are other roasting approaches? And what if we could expose ourselves to honest criticism in a safe environment?

In this circle, which functions like a good "Shark Tank," present your roast to other roasteries and receive honest, constructive feedback.

Course facts

Times: 1:30 PM – 5:00 PM

Course instructor: Philipp Schallberger and Nadja Schwarz

Course language: German

Course fees: 150 CHF

Prerequisites: Participants already roast and sell their coffees. They have their own roasting style and know what they like. They are open to constructive feedback and willing to provide feedback to others as well.

Target audience: Coffee roasters who are no longer at the very beginning of their career, up to experienced professionals who want to discuss their coffees in a safe setting

How it works

In this three-and-a-half-hour exchange, everyone lays their cards on the table.

• All participants bring their own roast.
• We taste the coffees together in a cupping and provide direct feedback on the flavor and roasting approach.
• Nadja and Philipp classify the coffees sensorially and technically and discuss the roasting approaches of coffees from their own roastery.

Process

• Maximum 10 participants
• Maximum two participants per roastery
• Each person brings one coffee
• 15 minutes available per person and coffee
• Joint cupping and discussion
• Presentation of the roasting profile by the roastery

Why this format?

• Because there is hardly any exchange among industry colleagues that is professionally grounded, calm, and takes place in a safe environment.
• Because many roasteries are uncertain whether a coffee is roasted correctly, what potential is still available, and whether the green coffee really suits its purpose.

What will I take with me?

• Constructive feedback from industry colleagues
• More confidence in your own roasting approach
• New perspectives and roasting philosophies
• Exchange and networking within the industry

What do I bring?

• Cupping experience - all coffees will be brewed as a cupping
• Enthusiasm for exchange
• Openness, ability to accept criticism, and willingness to provide honest feedback

Course instructors

Nadja Schwarz is a certified Q-Grader for Arabica and Robusta as well as a successful graduate of WSET 3 in the field of wine. Nadja brings an impressive sensory background and communicates taste skillfully and precisely. She learned her craft in a green coffee laboratory, where she still works as a freelancer today. As a project manager at Public History Food, the certified hotelier focused on strengthening regional cuisine and coordinated projects in the field of alpine products and biodiversity. Nadja enjoys making coffee accessible to everyone - with wit, precision, and a down-to-earth approach that is rarely found in the specialty food industry.

Philipp Schallberger is co-owner of Kaffeemacher. He runs the roastery and is responsible for green coffee sourcing and projects in coffee-growing origins. He was a Q-Arabica Grader and judged world barista championships for several years. Philipp also shares his experience from foundation work with smallholder producers and from research and development at a major roastery as a consultant. He hosts the Kaffeemacher podcast Coffea, co-founded Switzerland's first organic oat drink "Gutsch," and if he weren't making coffee, it would probably be wine.