Coffee Experience
Roasting coffee
This coffee tour is about getting to know the steps from green coffee to the finished coffee in the cup. The starting product green coffee is more or less tasteless. The aroma that we appreciate in coffee comes from roasting. Roasting is therefore of great importance.
When roasting coffee, raw coffee beans are heated to over 200 °C, industrially also to higher temperatures. This causes the coffee beans to lose liquid, darken in colour and develop roasted aromas, acids and other flavour components. A key reaction for the development of flavour and colour of roasted coffee is the Maillard reaction. At temperatures of 150-200 °C, amino acids react with reducing sugars. The reactive carbonyl group of the sugar reacts with the nucleophilic amino group of the amino acid to form a complex mixture of molecules responsible for hundreds of coffee aromas and flavours.
At 170-200 °C, the sugar in the coffee begins to caramelise, turning the sugar brown and releasing aromatic and acidic compounds. Most of the sucrose contained in the coffee bean is converted into caramelised compounds during roasting.
At around 205 °C, the water inside the coffee beans evaporates, causing the bean to expand and crack (both physically and acoustically). This first crack doubles the size of the bean. Before the first crack, the bean changes from a greenish-yellow colour to a light brown colour. At this point, the bean loses about 5% of its weight through water loss. Light roasts are terminated after this step.
At about 220 °C, the heat causes a chemical change inside the bean that leads to the release of carbon dioxide. This process is called pyrolysis. The colour changes to a medium brown and the coffee bean loses 13% of its weight.
The pyrolysis of the coffee beans continues at temperatures of 225-230 °C and causes the second crack in the bean. This second crack is the cellulose in the cell wall of the bean, which breaks open. The bean is now medium dark brown in colour and has an oily sheen. This step releases the aromatic compounds that contribute to the classic taste of coffee. On this tour you will have the opportunity to roast coffee yourself by hand, with a drum spinning over the fire.
You will then brew your own roasted coffee beans into a coffee and learn during the tasting that the different preparation methods result in different tasting coffees. The most natural way to prepare coffee is to extract it with cold water over 24 hours. To make it faster, ground coffee is infused with hot water and left to brew for a short time. This form of extraction with hot water has undergone various modifications over time. For example, by boiling the coffee in water, as was done in Vienna in the past and is still done today with Turkish coffee. To separate the coffee grounds from the coffee brew, other forms of preparation have developed. The most common today is coffee preparation with a filter, with filter as paper being the most common. On this tour you will have the opportunity to learn about the change in taste of the coffee through paper filters, especially in comparison to porcelain filters, which have the least effect on the taste of the coffee flowing through them.
A form of preparation with hot water is also the so-called French Press, where ground coffee is poured over with hot water and after a period of steeping with a filter pressed down, the coffee grounds are separated from the liquid coffee.
The most common method of preparing coffee today is with an espresso machine. Here, the coffee is not only prepared with hot water but also with high pressure, 9 bar. This leads to a particularly intensive extraction of the coffee. However, this form of extraction is also very susceptible. If the flow is too fast, the coffee becomes acidic, and if the flow is too slow, the coffee becomes bitter.
During this tour, you will also learn that such extraction artefacts, such as coffee that is too acidic or too bitter, can be concealed with milk and sugar.
At the end of your Coffee Experience, you will be served a coffee speciality of your choice, e.g. a cappucino or a latte machiato and a piece of homemade Wachau apricot cake. You will receive a sample of roasted coffee to take home.
Hotel pickup and drop-off (locations in the Wachau Valley)
Transportation by car to and from the location of the Coffee Experience
Roasting of coffee with a hand held drum over fire
Tasting of coffee
A sample of roasted coffee
Drinking of a coffee specialty
Homemade apricot cake
- Gain a thorough understanding of coffee roasting.
- Taste different brews of coffee.
- Enjoy a coffee specialty with homemade apricot cake.
Departure details
- Traveler pickup is offered.
- We pickup guests from all Wachau valley accommodations, from train stations in Melk and Krems and from cruise ships that dock in the Wachau valley.
- If hotel or cruise pier is inaccessible by car due to restrictions, pickup will be held from a nearby location within short walking distance.
Return details
- Returns to original departure point
- Booking is done by phone +43 680 301 7720 or email office@radler-rast.com.
- Bookings are confirmed after a non-refundable 150 € deposit has been transferred to our PayPal business account using the link PayPal.Me/radlerrast.
The balance is due at the end of the tour and can be paid in cash or by card. - This tour is a private tour for 2, 4 or 6 travelers.
- 2 people per booking is required.
- Minimum age is 16 years.
- Exact pick up times will be agreed when booking.
- Most travelers can participate.
- Duration 3 – 4 hours approx. The exact duration may vary including pick up and drop off.
Private Coffee Experience for 2 travelers is € 464,24, for 4 travelers € 499,63 and for 6 travelers € 535,02.
- After transferring a non-refundable 150 Euro deposit to our PayPal business account using the link PayPal.Me/radlerrast to confirm the booking the balance is due at the end of the tour and can be paid in cash or by card.