Industry trends are nothing but mirrors reflecting personal preferences, which in turn are almost always reacting to technical innovations. What that means for the coffee industry is that as we continue getting better at growing coffee, processing coffee, transporting, testing, brewing, and tasting coffee, all of these gradual and ever-continuing changes deeply effect what we think is better or worse.
In terms of roasting, it has undeniably effected what we do to produce better flavor. When we say delicately roasted, we mean roasting to just the right place where the sweetness, acidity, balance and clarity are the best they can be, and the coffee grower's intention truly shines through the cup. And when the most important element that effects flavor really comes down to the farm and how they process it, we've learned that roasting is less about hitting a prescriptive exit temperature and development time, and more about highlighting the best aspects of a particular bean.
As roasters, we need to take a more analytical approach to green coffee - what is the cultivar, how high was it grown, what's the water activity, how will this be brewed? All of these specifics help us understand and deliver a product that exemplifies the hard work of coffee farmers around the world . Overall, this is an opinion shared by specialty roasters, but coupled with the explosion in quality from growers, there's even more onus on those of us processing coffee to display the incredible work going on at these farms around the world.