From Seed to Bottle: Behind the Scene in a Cold Brew Factory
In the specialty coffee industry, you will often hear two words: "micro" and "fresh." Microlotes freshly roasted directly from a micro-roasting shop; Freshly ground coffee for a preparation method, are some examples. But bottled cold brew is undoubtedly a completely new world within the coffee industry.
The packaged cold brew is often prepared in factories where it comes out ready for distribution in hundreds of stores. Although specialty cold brew is usually prepared with freshly roasted coffee beans, Hatch Cold Brew Coffee stays fresh for up to 180 days.
Which leads me to wonder, in what way do they use specialty coffees, of high quality, which allows them to extract profiles of unique flavors on such a large scale and with such a long shelf life? Alfonso Tupaz, CEO and founder of Hatch, invited me to his factory to find out.
Getting to know the Cold Brew Entrepreneurs
When I arrived at the elegant red brick office of Hatch Beverage Company, I could not help but get excited. I could not wait to see what Alfonso had accomplished with his cold brew bottler. I knew that the company had spent a year conceptualizing the development of the plant, but had not been able to invest in what was necessary to get it going. But now I was about to discover the results.
Hatch's expert roasters, Alfonso and Boris, were already waiting for me. After greeting us and giving us a warm hug, I decided to discover what motivated Alfonso to start his own company.
He told me: "We started in the production of beverages. My dad was with Coca-Cola in West Africa, managing 18 facilities. In fact, my family is still in the packaging industry: like plastics, cans, etc. In addition, we also have a glass factory and a label factory. As you can see, we have a great track record in high-speed manufacturing but in this case we decided to apply our knowledge and skills in coffee making. "
Experience and passion is a promising combination, and I was very eager to see the results. Let the tour begin ...
- The Toaster
Our tour through the Hatch factory followed the coffee route, which led us to start with the sector where the toaster is located. This is the place where Boris usually works hard. He is responsible for toasting the three different Hatch coffees and their respective blends, and he makes sure to always get the best out of each one.
The huge building where Hatch works was built in the 80s, so they had to make impressive renovations. One of them was the installation of a dazzling Loring Toaster, the box in which it arrived has been reused and turned into a striking laboratory table for coffee.
After toasting, and before being sent to the preparation station, Boris lets the coffee sit for a week. Thus, since coffee is an organic product that continues to age after roasting, it is given the right time to rest so that it degasses, without losing the flavors.
- Preparation Station
The freshly roasted and ground coffee is sent to the preparation station, where finally the skills of the producer and the art of the toaster will be revealed.
"Our main focus is on what we call Origin Cold Brew Coffee," Alfonso told me. "Also, we are the first in North America to implement a system that allows us to extend the cold brew conservation period," he added.
The cold brew takes longer to extract than hot coffee. The ground coffee is poured into large tanks filled with cold water. In addition, these tanks are wrapped in glycol cooling jackets, which allows Hatch to maintain a constant preparation temperature of 4 ° C (39.2 ° F). When this is finished, the coffee should rest there for a total of 20 hours.
- Bottling & Treatment Station
When the wait is over and the magic hour arrives, the cold brew filters through a closed system that takes it to the treatment system patented by Hatch. It is a labyrinth of shiny, stainless steel pipes, and it is also based on what the entire factory was built.
Alfonso said: "For something that requires a treatment before filling, it is very important to maintain a clean production line." That's why they use a closed system, to avoid any possible contamination. The closed systems before required a manual cleaning, and it was the workers who had to disassemble the pipes to do it. However, today, factories like Hatch can use a "on-site cleaning system" which is more efficient.
An equal approach is used in the sanitation of an automatic bottling line. Each section is contained in its own sterilized area and maintains positive air pressure. The first section is what is called air drying. Blow the particles that may be inside the bottle.
Then, the bottles are transferred to a dry sterilization station. The pride of Alfonso for his system is evident, he told me that: "I did not want the chemicals to come in contact with the product, because the coffee is 98% water. This means that if there was any residual disinfectant left in the bottle, you would notice it. However, by not using liquid disinfectant, the risk of any residue remaining in the bottle is avoided. "
He also added: "One of the reasons why we decided to enter the cold brew industry is because of the imminent risk, for the industry, of a person getting sick." A failure in the process of cleaning and sanitizing, along the supply chain, can have serious results.
- Bottles & Label Design
Although the bottles and labels are designed long before the coffee arrives to toast, being one of the first steps in the process, Alfonso left this part of the way to the end. First is coffee and then marketing. However, that does not mean that the brand was not an important decision for the team.
Alfonso describes the bottle's custom design as "European and elegant," and says, "What we discovered was that, originally, a lot of cold brew was bottled in beer bottles. And as a result, the cold brew followed the same direction as craft beer. Then they started using nitro, since this also happens with beer. "
"We decided that with a bottled product, simultaneously, we can highlight the origins and at the same time bring new origins to the customers in the stores. We could highlight the farms, our way of seeing. We see it as something very similar to wine. "
Likewise, Hatch wanted to do something innovative with its labels. Alfonso says: "I do not know why, but for a while in North America, there seemed to be a big focus on cold brew being perceived as a very masculine thing. Even the marketing that existed behind this reflected this perception. However, for Hatch, we wanted our packaging design to be more gender-neutral, something that would appeal to everyone equally. "
"More importantly, we wanted to focus on the design and origin of coffee. The reason we have the illustrations is because we would like a local artist from the coffee region to produce the illustrations in the future. "
As with the special coffee packaging, each label provides information about the origin of the coffee and the roasting profile used. Hatch's offer of coffee from a single source also promotes the name of the farm and the producer. "The good thing is that when we bring people to sample and taste, we show them the three offers," and, in addition, Alfonso emphasizes the fact that "people do notice differences in flavor between different origins, even if they are of a cold brew ".
- The Design Board
I know it may seem strange to end my visit in the place where it all started, the design table, but it is because Alfonso wanted to finish the visit by showing me his new line of products: "Cold Brew Tea".
It was an easy move for the company: Because the tea cold brew uses exactly the same production process as the cold brew of coffee. "The wonderful thing is that we can use the entire process line, practically from the preparation station onwards. We have four new flavors to bring to market, and a canned cold brew that will come out later, so we truly have a unique line. "
And then what does cold brew of tea taste like? Well, by not using heat a milder flavor is produced. Alfonso explained that heating things really changes the flavor, and this is especially noticeable in teas due to tannins.
Cold Brew Coffee vs Tea
Alfonso emphasizes the following: "We believe that the cold brew is a trend that will continue to grow, especially as it reaches more people in Canada ... and it seems that the natural progression of this phenomenon is for people to start experimenting with tea."
And if you thought that proper disinfection was important for the cold brew of coffee, the tea cold brew takes this to another level. "One of the things to consider about bottling is the concern associated with people who do not take seriously the aspect of microbiology, that is, the growth of bacteria, the importance of disinfecting bottles, etc. In fact, with coffee you have much less risk because you are toasting green beans, and this process kills everything. However, with tea it is different "
My final question for Alfonso was this: Will this new tea cold brew be attractive to coffee lovers? Alfonso paused, and then said: "I think it would improve the experience for them. It also depends on the person, their mood, the preference of consumption and the occasion. For our tea cold brew, we aimed to make its appeal open to a wider group of people, including those who might not be coffee drinkers or who wanted something lighter. "
Finally, I left Hatch with a lot of caffeine and having understood much more about the production process of cold brews and teas prepared on a large scale. It really is a different world from a brew bar or a micro-toast, but at the same time it shares many of the same characteristics: attention to details, passion and transmitting to the final consumer the trip that the coffee went through from the seed up to the bottle.