Our only female roaster in the Top 10 this year is Lise Brink! I (Mel) feel like we would definitely be mates if we lived in the same town :) Congrats Lise on your excellent skills!
Name of Roastery: MIKRO Coffee Co
Name of Roaster: Lise Brink
Pictured here, the fierce females of Mikro: Kayleigh (assistant Roaster) and Lise - Boss Roaster :)
Where did you learn your roasting skills? And how long have you been doing it?
My husband and I run the business together and he used to work for Terbodore many years ago, so when we started out he did the roasting and then taught me to how do it. Now I show him a thing or two behind the machine.
What roasting equipment do you use?
We use Has Garanti 5kg
Do you use software to help you create profiles for coffees? What is your process when you get a new green coffee in the roastery?
We do not use software to create profiles, we like to do sample roasts on new coffees to get a feel for them and to see what flavours they reveal based on small changed in the roast profile.
How did you find the Preliminary Round Tanzanian coffee, was it interesting to work with? And in what way?
Hahaha, it was a tough nut to crack! We were struggling to find the sweet spot between development and a balanced flavour profile, but as in life sometimes the toughest battles yield the greatest rewards.
Do you have a ritual when you roast? (Ie Listen to music, specific days or times of day)
Because of our smaller sized roaster, we roast most days and I like to have the space around me as neat as possible with some good music going in the background and a cortado to my right.
What is your favourite thing about being a coffee roaster?
I love working with my hands, feeling connected to what I'm doing and also utilising my background as a chef in order to nail the cooking process. I'm a bit of a perfectionist, yet also creative, so bringing those elements together in my day job is an absolute joy.
What is the funniest thing that has ever happened to you in the pursuit of delicious coffee?
When we just started out we were roasting on a 250g sample roaster and after a while we had three of them running 8 hours a day. I remember one day I had more kilograms to roast than hours in a day and I was pushing those little roasters to their limit, I turned my back and then one caught alight! Top tip: chaff is highly flammable.
Please tell us a little know fact, completely un-coffee related, that will give readers some insight into who you are as a person.
I am absolutely sport crazy, I love to play hockey, surf, skateboard, etc. I also enjoy watching sport on tv, even American Basketball at 3am in the morning , waking my husband in the process - whoops.
SEE THE FULL TOP 10 AND SCORES HERE
