Our story
Jonas Emil is a micro coffee roaster based in Shanghai. Since 2009, we have been quietly honing our craft of fine coffee roasting. We roast specialty-grade coffee in small batches in a low-tech drum roaster, relying on human sensors to read the visual, aural and aromatic signals of the roasting process. Like any good tradesperson, we have mastered the craft through practice. Our handiwork is completed in our customers’ cups, so we strive to reduce the distance between the roaster and your coffee maker to assure maximum freshness. Small batch roasting minimizes the time our coffee sits in inventory.
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More about us
Who we are
Jonas Emil Coffee Roaster’s is a local Shanghai micro-roaster that does things a big roaster can’t!
What we do
Here at Jonas Emil Coffee Roasters, we treat coffee roasting as an art. We roast carefully selected beans, in small batches using our own recipes for special blends, right here in Shanghai.
Why we do it
At the turn of the century, Jonas Emil Carlson left his home in Sweden at the tender age of 14 seeking a better life in the United-States. With little more than the clothes on his back, Jonas Brought a hard work ethic to his new home. The new world imposed many challenges for the young man. He changed his family name from Carlson to Henry due to the post office complaining there were to many Carlsons in the Swedish immigrant community. One thing that did not change was his love for good coffee. “Swedish gasoline” is what Jonas would call it because it kept him going through good times and bad. That love of coffee has been passed down for two generations. Jonas Emil Coffee founder, David Henry, remembers getting his first taste of coffee on his grandfathers lap; milky and sweet. Jonas’s grandson brought that appreciation with him to Shanghai twenty years ago to share with others.
What is craft roasting
Although freshness is an important factor in coffee flavor, the roasting process is truly the key to exceptional coffee. Here at Jonas Emil Coffee Roasters, we believe coffee roasting to be an art. In the roast the coffee beans go through countless chemical and physical changes. Science has identified many of these changes, but much remains a mystery. Coffee beans are a natural agricultural product; no two batches are the exactly the same. To coax the best flavor from our coffee beans, Jonas Emil Relies on the sensitive perception of the sight, sounds and smells of the roasting process, honed over years of coffee roasting experience.
Coffee Freshness
Coffee flavor peaks several days after roasting. Once the roast is finished, the coffee beans continue to develop their flavor for several days to a week, depending on the particular bean and the roast level. Once it peaks, it begins to gradually lose freshness. We recommend you use your coffee within six weeks of the roast date to obtain that just roasted freshness. To be sure, coffee maintains flavor and is safe to drink for a long time, maybe a year or more; but the freshness factor slowly dissipates day by day. Coffee maintains freshness longer if it is stored as whole beans. Jonas Emil Stores it’s coffee as whole beans and will grind it when our customers order it to retain freshness.
No doubt you have seen coffee shops advertising “fresh ground” coffee. This measure to preserve flavor is laudable, but even whole beans will lose freshness over time. The freshest coffee is fresh roasted and freshly ground. At home, we recommend for maximum freshness that you buy a grinder and grind the coffee just before you make it. However, we recognise customers sometimes trade off a degree of freshness for convenience. So we are happy to grind the coffee for you, but only just before we deliver it. We buy high quality imported coffee Arabica beans to assure our customers are able to drink truly good coffee.
