Despite the futuristic look of his coffee roaster, John Danza claims the mechanisms of the machine are actually quite simple. He’s been working the roaster since 6 a.m., turning batches of matte green beans into the dark, shiny ones he uses in his coffee bus, The Crown Cafe. A screen on the front of his machine shows the temperature in the drum steadily rising, and Danza makes a note of the first crack of the beans.
He’s working on a dark roast, which takes a bit longer than a light roast. After the second crack of the beans, about 11 minutes into the roasting process, a toasty, caramel-like smell wafts out of the drum, and he starts the cooling process.
Roasting is the second stop of three in Danza’s day. This morning, he woke up at 3:30 a.m. to start baking and has a fresh batch of almond and hazelnut croissants ready for The Crown. Soon, Danza will head to Willamette Street and start serving customers until the bus closes at 3 p.m.
‘I’ll dump a bad cup of coffee’
Danza started roasting coffee beans nine years ago…