coffee philosophy
Roasting technology
Gillies Coffee Company operates a unique specialty coffee facility. The heart of the operation is an environmentally friendly Lilla Model CG-20 S natural gas fired smokeless roasting system with self cleaning and integral chaff elimination. At Gillies, our old-fashioned hand-tended roasting technique is enhanced by computerization, not replaced by it. We produce batch yields from 165Kg-235 Kg. Roasting cycles are approximately 12-minutes. Following the European standard (there is none in the USA) residual coffee moisture content is controlled under 5%.
The plant design permits optimum flexibility by incorporating the use of 19th Century style hands-on craftsmanship throughout. "My friend, Mr. Schoenholt, who is known to be a stickler for detail in the preparation of his coffees, has spared nothing in bringing the force of good minds and the best of roasting and handling technology to bear in this project," said Ciro Lilla, the man many consider one of the most knowledgeable in the world's coffee roaster business.
Roasting Philosophy
Skill in roasting is critical for the resulting beverage to please. It is a process controlled by scientific laws, but the outcome is strictly in the hands of man. Gillies is a “Perfect Point” roaster. A phrase coined by Don Schoenholt to describe our philosophy that every coffee has its own special degree of roast that brings out just the qualities that we want to find in the cup.
Our roasting credo has been likened to Goldilocks; not too dark, not too light, just right. If you think its kid's play you are mistaken. It has taken us countless hours of small batch craft roasting and cupping to find the perfect roast point for each coffee in the Gillies collection.
