Blog
-
Mozzo: the magic behind the beans
Back in November 2017, GDC were invited into the headquarters of Mozzo, our fantastic coffee partner, who are fanatical about their beans, and have been on a journey of development.
Magic beans fresh from the roaster
We were given a tour of their facilities in Southampton including their roastery machines, which have grown in line with the business! Plans already in motion are for sizing up again, including a new building to accommodate the 60kg Probat Roaster and Silo System Mozzo have arriving in 2018. Surrounded by the aroma of freshly roasted coffee beans, watching the tightly oiled operation in motion, it’s not hard to see why they need an automated system. Currently, all coffee beans are manually fed into the machines, which is a nearly full-time occupation.
Grant Lang, founder of Mozzo Coffee, proudly standing next to the latest batch of beans!
Grant Lang is passionate not only about coffee and producing exquisite blends, but about sourcing responsibly and supporting the communities where the coffee is grown. Mozzo are proud to have a carefully established supply chain, and which they have been abroad to visit in Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania. Mozzo are proud to have developed the C2C™ fund which currently supports local people helping them learn the skills of the specialty coffee market, and they plan to go back to DRC this year to further develop their community work.
“Establishing the community2community fund™, and the fixed contribution of 1p per capsule and 5p for every kilo of filter and espresso coffee sold by Mozzo, is our way of ensuring that the choice made by all our partners to serve Mozzo coffee delivers a positive impact all the way through the coffee value chain” Mozzo
Next stop on our tour? Coffee lesson, 101, led by Director of Coffee, Danielle Faustino. Think of the brown coffee beans which have been carefully roasted ready to create your perfect caffeine kick…well they have been years in the making by the time they arrive in your cup.
Here’s a quick breakdown of seed to bean:
- Coffee is a seed, you can plant it, but you’ll need to wait at least 3 or 4 years before it starts bearing any fruit!
- When coffee cherries do start growing, they need to be picked (the best way to do this is at the peak of their ripeness and redness!)
- What you actually want is the seed inside, so scratch off another few months and get to work separating the skin from the bean, then drying and milling them.
- So your beans have finally arrived? Great! Now you need to decide on their quality. This is called ‘cupping’. After a visual inspection and a controlled roast, get your best ‘slurp’ out and put your tastebuds to the test, scoring for different criteria.
- Hooray! Beans selected, you can roast, grind and brew to your heart’s content. This sounds much simpler than it is; and Mozzo should know.
Mozzo have spent plenty of time creating the perfect blends to ensure it tastes fantastic everywhere it is served. Next time you sit down to your brew, spare a thought for all the hard work contained in the cup. Mozzo, we salute you!
A cup of coffee heaven
#goteamgdc