Meet Arnold from the Coffee People
We got in touch with Arnold Ilves, production manager at the Coffee People, a roastery based in Estonia. He told us the great story behind their company and talked about his coffee career, and how ROEST has been lending a hand in their process.
So without further ado, let’s get to know Arnold and the Coffee People!
For the people who don’t know, could you give us a short introduction to who you are and what you do?
My name is Arnold and I am the production manager at Coffee People. In short, I’m involved with every step of the coffee sourcing/roasting process.
“I got into coffee roasting like many of us do. I was a barista for some time but I got bored with rosettas and swans on the cappuccino and found magic in coffee beans themselves. ”
When Arnold’s not busy handling roasting and sourcing, you’ll see him rocking his guitar ;)
Could you tell us the story about Coffee People. How did it begin?
Coffee People sell coffee and espresso machines for homes and offices, train baristas, and promote the consumption of high-quality specialty coffee. Coffee People's guiding philosophy puts people first. We see coffee farmers, roasters, and consumers as part of one large community. We value personal relationships and ethical trading that allows coffee farmers to get their fair share of the price of a cup of coffee. The other end of the coffee production chain is equally important to us. It would be unthinkable to let our customers down and offer them mediocre products.
Coffee People's story is built on great personalities, too. The company was founded by Annar Alas and Heili Politanov, internationally acknowledged and certified coffee judges, who have a nose for sniffing out the rarest pearls among the world's coffee beans. Our head roaster Johan Rohtla is a coffee fanatic trained in biochemistry and molecular biology, which makes him unique in this field. The whole company is full of experts who are skilled specialists and simply great people.
“In 2010, Coffee People was voted the best new coffee company in the world, placing us alongside the world’s leading companies in this field. ”
The amazing team at Coffee People.
How did you get into roasting?
I’ve always been curious about cuisine, cooking and drinks. Coffee and coffee roasting is just another outlet for that thing. Life’s too short to consume cr*p.
I got into roasting like many of us do. I was a barista for some time but I got bored with rosettas and swans on the cappuccino and found magic in coffee beans themselves. Coffee People hired me as a packaging assistant and from there I moved the ladder on to roasting, profile making, managing and so on.
In three words describe the roasting style at Coffee People.
Balanced, ever-evolving, potential revealing
What are the ideal characteristics you are looking for in your cup in terms of flavor?
In a cup first thing, I check is if the cup is clean and if the flavors are balanced and not overpowering. That said, I want the cup to have something different flavor-wise. Nothing certain, and again not overpowering. Just for it to have a character of its own that stands out.
Why did you decide on purchasing a ROEST for your roastery?
We had an old Probat sample roaster for ages and we wanted to upgrade our sample roasting process and ROEST seemed perfect for us. And it looks aesthetically pleasing as well so it fits right in with us!
ROEST has its own space at Coffee People. We’re loving it!
In what ways has the sample roaster helped you so far?
First thing is that we win in time. Before somebody had to be behind the roasting machine all the time and manually check time and temperature etc. Now ROEST does it for us. Secondly, because of all of its features, the sample roasts themselves are a lot more stable and balanced which in turn helps with sourcing and developing profiles.
And finally, what advice would you give new roasters who are just starting out their careers in coffee?
Developing of the senses first and foremost. Proper senses that work together in harmony, in turn, help develop hindsight that helps everyday roasting. I can bring an example in sheet music reading. If you are fluent in sheet music you don’t need to play it with an instrument to understand it. It’s already on the paper and you can hear it in your head. Same with roasting. You know exactly what to do when you see the data while roasting or when cupping coffee and if something is going wrong you know how to fix it as well.
Thank you for the chat, Arnold! It was a pleasure to get to know you and Coffee People.
Want to know more about Coffee People? Check out their offers here!
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Another month, another talk with a ROEST friend! Last month, we reached out to Katja Klein from Kontext Coffee Company: