We Updated Our Coffee Profiles

Since the summer of 2014, when we served our first cup of coffee at Santralİstanbul, we’ve believed in one thing: always serving “good coffee.”  Guided by this motto, we have spent years sourcing the best beans from local farms around the world and roasting them with the most suitable profiles.  We roast our coffees as “single origin,” meaning from a single farm without blending, and deliver them to our stores in the freshest way possible. At Espressolab, we’ve always aimed to do things well, but believing there’s always room for improvement, we recently enhanced our roasting profiles with the support of world-renowned coffee roasting expert Renato Correia, who brings years of experience to the craft.  By making adjustments on top of our previous roasting profiles, we’ve achieved even better results.

So, what kind of changes can you expect to find in the coffees served at our stores, and what innovations await us in our roasting profiles?

Each coffee bean carries a unique flavor profile shaped by the conditions in which it was grown.  To bring out and highlight these flavors, we’ve started roasting at lower temperatures.  During roasting, coffee beans are exposed to continuous heat; at a certain temperature, they begin to crack, expand, and their internal aromas caramelize and become more pronounced.  From this point, the ideal temperature and duration are determined to achieve the best flavor — typically at temperatures exceeding 200 °C. We have slightly reduced the time the beans spend in the roaster after the first crack, ensuring that they are roasted at high temperatures over a shorter period.  This results in a lighter roast.  With these lighter and less intensely heated roasts, the flavors, aromas, and fragrances within the beans have become much clearer and easier to perceive. With our new profile coffees, you’ll be able to sense the wonderful aromas of the beans even as you grind them, and once brewed, you’ll discover the vibrant fruity acidity and fragrances each bean has to offer.

Thanks to our new roasting profiles, the distinct flavors and aromas unique to each growing region will be more noticeable on the palate. This will help us discover coffees we love among a wide range of flavor profiles and, more importantly, better understand the differences between each one.  As a result, when combined with the high-mineral daily fresh milk from our own farm, our coffee will deliver a pleasantly sweet acidity and leave a unique flavor impression on the palate.

Renewed Espresso

The differences we mentioned above don’t just come from changes in roasting methods.  We’ve also made small adjustments in our stores to help our baristas prepare even tastier coffees.  When crafting espresso or filter coffee, we’ve refined our recipes to ensure that fruity notes linger beautifully on the palate and enhance the overall mouthfeel.

Balanced and Enjoyable Flavor Profile

Another crucial factor after making all these improvements is the quality of the water used.  We’ve aimed to meet global standards in coffee brewing, knowing that good coffee depends on good water. That’s why we updated our filtration systems, revising water permeability and mineral balance. We’ve kept our water TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) levels between 80 and 100 ppm.  This allows us to extract fruity acids that might otherwise remain undissolved, resulting in a balanced flavor in the cup.  Our new roasting profile has also made the coffee in the cup appear clearer and more vibrant.  Background flavors have given way to long-lasting, balanced, and enjoyable taste profiles.

Just like many other industries, coffee continues to evolve through sustainable improvements.  We constantly ask ourselves: “How can we make our coffee even more delicious?” — and we’re working to bring those answers to your cup.