Anna Perreira was working in the New York financial industry when she decided to quit her job and become a coffee roaster. After moving to San Francisco in 2011 to study under renowned roaster Willem Boot, Anna started up Yellow Brick Coffee on Tucson’s south side.
Along with her brother David, Anna supplies freshly-roasted single-origin beans for a growing number of Tucson bars and restaurants. The two also run a cafe at their facility, where they brew coffee with everything from French press machines to a coffee siphon that looks like something from a chemistry lab.
The world of coffee can sometimes be a bit intimidating, so the two took some time to share their expertise on how to responsibly buy beans and prepare them at home for maximum flavor. Their answers, which the two collaborated on, have been edited for length.
Why is it important to use locally roasted coffee in your own kitchen?
Beans or grounds that sit on a grocery store shelf are likely to have aged significantly, losing aromatics and flavor. And of course, buying local means you’re supporting your local economy, because most of your hard-earned money will be staying in Arizona.
There are a lot of coffee buzzwords out there: fair trade, shade-grown, etc. How does a responsible consumer decide what to buy?
Know your roaster. Ask them questions. If they’ve done their research and source ethically, they’ll be able to speak about it. The coffee supply chain is long and complex.
With regard to the term “shade-grown,” my impression is that this is one of those terms that had developed solely for the purposes of marketing. ... Almost all coffee is shade grown.
For homebrewers in search of that perfect cup of coffee, what’s the best type of coffee maker to buy?
At our shop, we recommend a variety of brewing techniques to highlight different characteristic in our single-origin offerings.
For example, a French press can get a little muddy, extracting the full body potential of a rich velvety coffee, but a pour-over, or even an Aeropress might help to highlight more delicate flavor notes, like florals or fruits.
Most importantly, we recommend buying a burr grinder to grind your beans just prior to brewing. One more thing to consider is the paper or plastic waste (e.g. filters or brewing pods) that a coffee maker might produce.
More people are beginning to roast their own coffee at home. Do you have any advice for them?
We come across many home roasters in our roasting classes. The best way to get to know a coffee is to play with its roasting profile. The problem is, you roast it a bunch of different ways, and by the time you’ve figured out the perfect profile, your home stash is gone. Still, it’s a fun process. And even more fun to evaluate.
Name the one coffee maker you’d bring with you on a the desert island.
Aeropress. It won’t break, and is super easy to clean and reuse. My brother and I both take it camping.
