Base Coat Coffee Drops is a project built to roast exciting, unique, and clean tasting extra light coffee. We purchase coffee that supports education, science, and innovation -- three things we care about deeply.

The project was started in response to (what felt like) two necessities: 1) the eagerness to learn how to drum roast and 2) to drink coffee in the "extra light" style, which had been extremely hard to come by in the PNW. As a result, we tailor to roast experiments and exploring our curiosities all while being hyper-transparent about our process. It's a project fueled by passion, but also honesty.

Often times its expected that the producer provides all of their possible info, but rarely the roaster. We're trying to flip that script. We ask less when we buy and share more than we probably should. We can do this because we have trust in our exporter and importer partners. While we look to also build trust with our customers through our professionalism and sincerity, we also value breaking norms in our whimsical and hyper-honest natures.

Our coffee sourcing is primarily aimed at supporting young and innovative producers. When we can, we also prioritize buying from less represented communities in coffee. At our core, we're driven by coffee science and curating shared coffee experiences.

How it works

Most months, we will source two to three exceptional coffees that we believe will adhere to our profile styles. We roast one under the principle of having whimsical fun while also learning something. In the first week that coffee is available, we sell it only as a roast experiment -- where you as the buyer get to participate in the sensory feedback of the experiment.

Coffee drops are launched as extra light or light, as well an espresso/drip profile if we think it can pair with milk. Here are the (loose) definitions of those profiles we've grown to love on the Proaster:

Extra light

  • Currently, we offer two styles in this window, nordic and ultralight. The main difference being how the development looks. We don't love using the term "ultralight" as sometimes it feels like a chase for the lightest possible roast rather than the best tasting roast. Our ultras are decently light and will present like many other ULs but take into account that we're drum roasting and have limited max heat at the moment. Right now, we're prioritizing more evenness in a roast for a slightly lower agtron number.
  • Ultralight: ~30 seconds of development time or less (drop temp 385-389°F); and about as light as we can possibly take the green. Usually our least soluble offering but also least characterized by our drum roaster. Florals and coffee structure are in full display. Acidity is present, but toned down.
  • Nordic: Coffee is lively, and represented without accentuation through roast. Development time is typically 35 to 50 seconds and represented by a strong dip in RoR (we essentially cut gas 10-15 seconds into first crack and let it ride). Acidity is most prominent, roast character is mildly present, sweetness is lifted from extended development. Flavors are structured and at high intensity.

Light

  • Light: 55 to 80 second development. Coffee is roasted relatively quickly to preserve structure. Post first crack development is low heat momentum. Drying and maillard typically lasts longer than in our extra light profiling. Coffee is still tea-like, but less structured, super sweet, and still has high clarity of flavor.

Espresso/Drip

  • Similar to "american light". Coffee is roasted with a slower momentum in order to stew flavors. The coffee body is boldest in this presentation and more soluble. This coffee style aims to potentially pair with milk and extract with a fuller body on 9 bar espresso, but still offer complexity and balance when served black.

On occasion, we also buy less of an even more exceptional lot to practice roasting for the competition scene. We sell these in 60g and 100g (~3.5oz) bags on a limited basis.

About us

This project is run by Aidan and Peter. They have been friends since pre-school and spent much time in our adolescence daydreaming about building a business together. Coffee came into their lives in their own happenstance ways. Since then, their immediate goal with this project is to kickstart their own careers in coffee without having to conform to any current cafe landscapes.

Prior to Base Coat, Aidan left academia and software developing to spend two years at two different cafes prying that a roastery position would become available. Impatience eventually grew too large. In that time, he also realized that the coffee profiling he had been exposed to -- and the subsequent green coffee being purchased -- did not really excite him. Starting this project meant he had the freedom to follow what did excite him in the industry. Through a coffee conference talk, he found himself attending a local coffee roasting course taught by Mike Nelson (founder of Guilder/Junior's Coffee) at a PDX-based co-roasting space. Shortly after, he was regularly hobby roasting whatever exciting green he could get his hands on.

Aidan is based in Portland, Oregon. He is coffee roasting and buying, and has vested interest in coffee roast profiling and origin-level coffee details. He cares a lot about the green we're buying and sharing our journey as we go. Peter is based in the Hudson Valley, New York. Peter has more of the "design mind" as well as a passion for building community. He is very talented at curating and refining content. He is very passionate about connection, shared experience, and how coffee can enable those interactions.