JAMES: ROASTING COFFEE FOR 8 YEARS

Best thing about the job:  You never stop learning.

What most people don't know about coffee roasting: It makes for an interesting conversation when people ask what I do for living – usually people don’t know much!

Favourite Coffee: Revelation

STEVEN: ROASTING COFFEE FOR 5 YEARS

What most people don't know about coffee roasting: Every coffee has it’s perfect shade, from light to dark roast. We roasters have to make sure we gauge the right colour for every roast, monitoring by eye, to bring the best out of the coffee.

Favourite Coffee: Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia

JOSH: ROASTING COFFEE FOR 3 YEARS

What most people don't know about coffee roasting:We use all our senses when hand roasting coffee. There’s a noticeable change in smell around the colour change stage(from green towards brown): it starts to lose the grassy notes and changes towards a more “roasted nut” aroma.

Favourite Coffee - to drink or roast: Yirgacheffe – floral, creamy mouthfeel and nice sharp acidity. It’s been here the whole time I’ve worked at Union, so I’ve been able to roast different harvests, matching the flavour profile so it’s always consistent.

ANDY: ROASTING COFFEE FOR 1 YEAR

What most people don't know about coffee roasting: the coffees never really react to roasting the same way on any two days, so you have to be there to react to them. You have to stay alert and use your brain.

Favourite Coffee to roast or drink:My favourite to roast is Leopoldo Muyshondt (a microlot from El Salvador), because it's very stable and consistent, but also smells lovely.

TOM: ROASTING COFFEE FOR 2 YEARS

What most people don't know about coffee roasting:

The manner in which you apply heat at different stages of the roast can massively affect the flavour profile. For example, if you apply a lot of heat at first crack, this can make the coffee really smoky.

Favourite Coffee: I couldn't say! I'm a big fan of exploring so it changes everyday.