Behind the Roast: Inside Our New Coffee Lab and Why It Matters to Your Cup

At CoffeeAM, our goal has always been to roast and deliver the freshest, most flavorful coffee possible. But freshness and flavor aren’t just about roast dates or brewing methods - they start with the beans themselves. That’s why, with the opening of our new Denver roasting facility, we also built something we’ve long dreamed of: a fully equipped quality control lab.

This lab isn’t just a fancy addition - it’s a game-changer. While we’ve always tested for roast level and cupped each coffee to evaluate taste, we now have the tools and technology to go much deeper. Every single lot of coffee we roast and sell is now scientifically tested, before and after roasting, to ensure it meets our rigorous standards. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at how it works—and why it makes a difference in your cup.

Pre-Purchase Testing: It Starts with the Green

Before we even think about buying a coffee, we request pre-shipment samples and put them through a battery of tests:

Sensory Testing (Sight & Smell):
Visual inspection lets us spot defects like insect damage or uneven processing. These flaws can affect how coffee roasts and can result in bitter, sour, or dull flavors. We also assess the aroma of the green beans—because off smells now can mean tainted or aging coffee later.

Defect & Size Sorting:
We run each sample through a Rotap sieve analysis to measure bean size uniformity. Evenly sized beans roast more consistently, which leads to a more balanced and predictable flavor profile in the cup.

Moisture Testing:
Ideal moisture content (typically around 10–12%) is critical. Too much moisture can lead to uneven roasting, mold growth, or muted flavors. Too little, and the coffee may roast too quickly, producing scorched or flat-tasting brews.

Ochratoxin Testing:
Ochratoxin A is a mycotoxin that can develop in poorly handled beans. It’s heat-resistant, meaning it can survive the roasting process and may pose health risks. We test every lot to ensure our coffees fall well below the strict European safety limit of 0.5 parts per billion—protecting both flavor and your well-being.

Test Roasting & Cupping:
Once the green beans pass physical testing, we roast and cup the samples to evaluate taste, body, acidity, and aftertaste. If it doesn’t meet our flavor standards, we don’t buy it - simple as that.

Post-Arrival & Roasting: Double-Checking for Consistency

Even after we’ve approved a coffee at origin, we test again when it arrives at our facility in the U.S. Shipping and storage conditions can alter quality, and we want to be 100% sure the product still holds up.

Each bag of green coffee is inspected by our roasting team before it’s used, ensuring nothing slipped through the cracks. And after roasting, we test again—checking color consistency, grind distribution, moisture loss, and flavor through cuppings. This final layer of testing ensures what we ship to you is exactly what we promised: premium coffee roasted to perfection.

More Than Just Testing—Creating New Favorites

Our lab isn’t just about quality control—it’s also a space for creativity. We’re using it to experiment with new blends and flavor profiles that weren’t possible before. In fact, we’ve got something brand new launching next week that’s already turning heads here at CoffeeAM. We can’t wait to share it with you.

Why It Matters
You deserve to know what’s in your cup—and more importantly, what’s not. With our new lab, we’re doing more than making great-tasting coffee. We’re making clean, carefully tested, health-conscious coffee that meets the highest standards in the industry. And that means more consistency, more flavor, and more peace of mind with every sip.
Stay tuned for Blog 4 in our series, where we’ll introduce one of our new blends born in the lab—and ready for your morning mug.