Len Brault

For many years I have been running seminars for hobbyist and commercial coffee roasters, introducing new concepts and techniques and new coffee species to those who attend. I have always loved communication and education, visually and in text. This Handbook has given me a chance to reach more people with the best information I can provide for becoming a successful and happy coffee roaster and blender. I have been writing and creating art since the days my parents had to spank me for my crayon drawings on the walls. I've written over 200 works of expository prose and have been an Art Director, Creative Director, and Copywriter at well-known advertising agencies. Prior to creating an online store for coffee, I founded and ran a Design and Communications firm for 17 years. Since 2005, I have run an online coffee website www.LensCoffee.com and held many seminars on coffee brewing and roasting. I was written up in the Vietnam Economic Times as “The man who would bring Vietnamese coffee culture to the USA.” Currently, my company supports projects to help prevent the extinction of Liberica in the Philippines and initiatives to expand the practice of direct trade in the coffee industry. My personal mission is to help preserve the diversity of the coffee genome and help farmers adapt to climate change through the use of alternate coffee species that can better withstand warmer conditions and the blights that can advance to higher altitudes when the climate warms. I envision coffee as a commodity with a tremendous capacity to create improvement in millions of lives worldwide. The Coffee Roaster's Handbook has given me an opportunity to coalesce the information I have learned over the years, and bring a practical, fun approach to the craft of coffee roasting for beginners or any coffee fan who wants to learn more about exotic species of coffee or specific roasting techniques. In these times many people are looking for a new hobby or craft that can make a tangible difference in their lives. Roasting coffee at home certainly had many payoffs. Financially, the coffee lover can experiment with new species of coffee and create fresh brewed coffee for a fraction of the cost of purchasing coffee roasted commercially. Emotionally, the craft of coffee roasting and blending is enormously rewarding... not just for the hobbyist but for whoever they want to share their best efforts with. I hope this Handbook informs that rewarding journey and helps take the coffee enthusiast to a higher plane of coffee happiness.