Business & Tech
Roasting Coffee on Martha's Vineyard
For more than 20 years, this coffee-roasting machine has been on the job in Vineyard Haven. Here's how dried beans are transformed into aromatic coffee at Tisbury Farm Market.
Just about every day, 25 pounds of pale, dried coffee beans rattle down the hatch into the Probat roasting machine at Tisbury Farm Market.
Depending on the roast level, fewer than 20 pounds of dark and oily beans may come out at the end of the roasting process, which takes less than half an hour.
After the beans are roasted, they need to be air-cooled as quickly as possible for maximum flavor, said market manager and roastmaster Steve Harris.
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Tisbury Farm Market sells its roasted beans directly to consumers and also creates custom blends for other Island businesses, said Harris, who blogs daily on the market's Facebook page.
The market also has a meat counter, cheese department, fresh produce, selected groceries and carry-out meals including a $13 lobster roll.
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Tisbury Farm Market and nearby Vineyard Grocer are both owned by Elio Silva, who said he began roasting coffee on the Vineyard more than 20 years ago.
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