If you tried to visit us on Monday at 11:00, you found our doors closed. This isn't because we're sleeping — it's because we're roasting.
Three days a week, we dedicate ourselves solely to roasting
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday — the cafe is closed. In the basement, the Diedrich IR-12 runs 6-8 hours a day, processing small batches of green beans into the coffees you drink Thursday-Sunday.
Why is that? Because properly roasted specialty coffee requires 100% attention. You can't simultaneously prepare espresso for a customer at the bar and listen for the first crack in the roaster drum. You'd miss one, possibly both.
Freshness isn't marketing. It's physics.
When coffee comes out of the roaster, it's full of CO₂ gas trapped in the bean cells. In the first 24 hours, the gas escapes intensely — the beans are too "charcoal-fresh" and would produce an acidic, unbalanced cup.
Between 4-14 days after roasting, the coffee is in its "sweet spot" — the gas has stabilized enough not to destroy the extraction, but the aromas are still vibrant.
After 30 days, oxidation begins to change the beans. Fruit flavors turn into cardboard notes. Acidity dies. "Old" coffees are sad coffees.
Why it matters to you
When you buy coffee from Incognito — whether online or at the cafe — you're sold coffee roasted in the last week. You see the exact date on the bag. Not "first half of the year." Not "this month." The exact date.
This means:
- At home: the bag is in its sweet spot from day 1 when you open it
- At the cafe: Sunday's espresso is made from beans roasted this week, not 2 months ago
- On the shelf: the rotation of origins changes frequently because we don't want old stock
Our weekly rhythm
| Day | Activity |
|---|---|
| Monday | Roasting day 1 (selected origins) |
| Tuesday | Roasting day 2 + cupping evaluation |
| Wednesday | Roasting day 3 + packaging + online order delivery |
| Thursday-Sunday | Cafe open, we look forward to seeing you |
What we can do better
More volume means more satisfied customers. And it's tempting. But more volume with the same level of attention would mean 5-6 days of roasting a week, or 12 hours a day, or a larger roaster with compromises.
Instead, we chose to stay small. 3 roasting days, 4 cafe days. 1-3 kg batches per origin. Absolute freshness sold.
In the specialty coffee world, this is the standard. In Romania, it's not yet the norm. You realized that when you drank a "harvested 2024" Sumatra at a mall cafe.
Want to see the roasting? Thursday-Sunday we await you at the cafe — in the basement there's also a mini-show explaining the process. If you'd like a specific visit with your team, write to us at coffee@incognito-coffee.ro.