Fred Aiken Writing

The coffee roaster hears the popping developing inside the roaster. Water vapor begins to escape and the coffee metamorphs into a golden light brown. The coffee roaster takes the trier out and takes a deep breath of the coffee’s aroma in.

The coffee roaster smells the terroir. The coffee roaster smells the fermentation method used at the milling station. The coffee roaster smells the sugars that developed during the Maillard reaction. The coffee roaster smells everything that they did to the coffee’s anatomy.

Perfect, the coffee roaster thinks. A full-blown symphony begins within the roaster, as the coffee beans spin maniacally around. The coffee roaster is the composer to the sound of music. 

A loud whirring sound begins playing from the cooling bin as the coffee reaches optimal temperature. The coffee roaster climbs in. The coffee roaster wants to become one with the coffee. As the drum’s door of the roaster opens, coffee spills out indiscriminately. 

Heat is all the coffee roaster feels as the beans crawl over his blistered torso and limbs. It feels indescribably painful, since the coffee came out well over 400^oF. At first, the coffee roaster questions why exactly they climbed into the cooling bin as the coffee completely burns every fiber of their body.

But the coffee roaster reminds themself that the coffee is perfect, and now the coffee roaster is too.