Our head roaster, Rebeca Silva, wins the Spanish Coffee Roasting Championship

Roasting coffee is our profession and in these 10 years of experience we have refined our technique to the maximum to offer the best results. Proof of this is the award received by our Head Roaster, Rebeca Silva, winner of the Spanish Coffee Roasting Championship.

Silva has been part of the coffee world for 10 years but, in his opinion, "his time at NOMAD has served to get to know coffee in a more scientific and professional way, polishing his knowledge, improving techniques and processes, getting to know, tasting and cupping an infinite variety of coffees from all over the world. It is a privilege that has allowed me to perfect my skills in all senses". The roaster highlights that the victory is also thanks to the entire NOMAD team, especially Fran, Núria and Andrés, since they accompanied her throughout the process, "helping me to remain calm and keep my objectives clear even when I was under a lot of stress due to what it means to participate in a competition of this level".

In case you don't know, the Spanish Coffee Roasting Championship is the prelude to a world final, in which Silva will participate, and consists of several tests that cover all the stages of coffee: from the selection of green coffee to roasting and tasting. To do this, and in order to ensure that all participants have the same tools, the same roaster model is used to process 350 g of green coffee, which is provided blindly. "In this phase we are not told anything about the coffee, i.e. we do not know its variety, process, size, density, etc.," explains Silva, who had to analyze its physical and chemical characteristics in order to roast different samples of this coffee and then taste them to design a roasting plan or Roast Plan.

Under these criteria and with a time limit, the production roast will be made, trying to achieve the objectives described in our Roast Plan in terms of initial temperature, weight loss, exit temperature and color of the roasted coffee. The judges will do a cupping and sensory evaluation in which they will take into account the flavor of the cup, the balance and consistency of the roast, and will score it together with the initial evaluation of the green coffee and the objectives of the roasting plan.

How did Silva prepare for the competition? "First, by talking a lot with Fran González, coffee director at Nomad Coffee, and discussing as much information as possible about the roast profiles I could look for depending on the coffee they could give me, as well as thoroughly studying the rules and the correct use of the Specialty Coffee Association's scoring sheets, both the one that refers to the evaluation of green coffee and the roasting plan." The roaster says that for the world finals she continues to train herself in these technical aspects, beating the clock so as not to run over time and controlling her nerves, doing roasting tests and a lot of cupping. By roasting many coffees of varied characteristics at NOMAD, Silva has had the opportunity to practice continuously.