Meet Our Cuppers – Dave Rochus, Master Roaster
July 29, 2020 (Published: January 10, 2013)
So what is a cupper, you ask? At Crimson Cup, it’s someone who is passionate about coffee. Many of our Cuppers have invested long hours – in some cases, years – in learning to objectively assess the quality of coffee. Each of our Cuppers brings a unique palate, set of skills and personality to our mission of consistently roasting the world’s best-tasting coffee. This is one of a series of interviews with our Cuppers.
Dave Rochus is Crimson Cup’s Master Roaster. Responsible for providing the finest roasted coffee with each batch, he works with four different roasters:
- The largest, “Godzilla,” is a Roure roaster that can roast up to 325 pounds of coffee beans in one batch. It’s used primarily to roast our most popular coffees such as Armando’s Blend.
- Another Roure Roaster, “Little Red,” can roast 66 pounds at a time.
- Probat Roasters “Hansel and Gretel” are each able to roast 25 pounds at a time.
Using different roasters allows Crimson Cup to roast just the right amount of each coffee to ensure consistency and freshness. They also are available for customized roast requests.
Dave joined Crimson Cup in 2008, where he learned the skill of roasting by training with other roasters on our team including Armando Escobar.
Dave enjoys the precision work of creating consistently awesome coffee. “Roasting is an art of perfection with each batch roasted,” he says. “There is such a feeling of satisfaction when a roast is pulled at the perfect time.”
When Dave’s ready to enjoy a cup of Java, he prefers to use a pour-over brewing method. “New brewing methods have really become popular, and many require a very specific roast level to create the most accurate coffee taste and experience.”
Asked what most people would find surprising about the job of coffee roaster, he answers that most people don’t realize all of the manual labor that goes into roasting a batch of coffee beans. “It’s hard work, but it’s rewarding!”
A Westerville native, Dave currently resides in Johnstown, Ohio.