Wood-fired roasting
Our little place in Chartreuse in the French Alps (close to Grenoble) is rich in forest walks, and all this wood has also made us want to source our fuel locally!
Although most roasters use gas, encouraged by the example of great coffee masters, and by our taste for bread or pizzas cooked this way, we decided to do things differently, do what seemed best to us and chose wood fire.
Unlike pizza however, the aromas of wood or smoke are not found in coffee. The importance of wood is more evident in the softness it brings to the heating: with nearly 15% humidity, the wood produces a vapor which propagates in the air ducts and slows down (and sublimates) the drying phase.
It is a very pleasant moment when we start a little fire and smell and hear the wood fire, before smelling and hearing the coffee beans!