FRESH-ROASTED... is the Portola difference. The truth of the matter is most people have never experienced the wonderful flavor essences of fresh-roasted coffee. With coffee, freshness is delicate and volatile - falling victim to oxidation shortly after roasting. Experts agree that coffee loses about 50% of its flavor and aroma in as little as two weeks. Because of this fact, stale coffee has become the norm in America... something Portola is intent on changing, one coffee drinker at a time! We achieve this by roasting-to-order and eliminating a roasted bean inventory. Logistically tricky - but that is what makes our handcrafted process special and guarantees your coffee is the absolute freshest every time - no exceptions.
SUPERIOR BEANS... is where it all begins. Amazing coffee begins with only the finest lots of raw (unroasted) beans that have been farmed, harvested, and processed with the greatest of care. With Portola, your palate will travel the globe experiencing wonderful flavor nuances produced by all of the best coffee growing regions. We only offer coffees from estates and co-ops that share in our passion for extraordinary coffee. So, no matter which Portola coffee touches your lips, you will know nothing was sacrificed - but we prefer to let the taste speak for itself.
UNIQUE PROCESS... After roasting, coffee beans off-gas CO2 for several hours. Rather than wasting this valuable keeper of freshness by allowing it to escape into the environment, we package our beans immediately after roasting and cooling. By packaging the beans right after roasting, the CO2 emitted from the beans drives oxygen out of the bag through the one-way valve and reduces the flavor and aroma damaging process called oxidation.
We never pre-blend our unroasted coffee beans when roasting for our artisan blends. While doing this saves time, it does not allow each bean variety to develop individually in the roast. In order to maximize the individual nuance characteristics of each variety, they must be custom roasted separately and then blended after the roasts are complete. Time consuming?.. you bet! They only way to achieve world-class blends?... Absolutely!