A peek behind the curtain

I got into roasting after tasting coffees from a few roasters working right on the edge of underdevelopment - clean, bright, and unlike anything I'd expected from a cup of coffee. Thanks to a generous local roastery that let me borrow their sample roaster and a bag of leftover green coffee, I fell down the rabbit hole fast. First a Kaffelogic Nano 7, then a Roest L100, and now a Roest P3000 in a dedicated roasting space in Eindhoven.

After a lot of fafo and diving into the science of what happens when heat meets a coffee bean, I've settled into a roast approach built around the same principles of letting the origin speak rather than the roast. I still make incremental tweaks, and the community that's formed around GWO gets to come along for that - tasting, exploring, and sharing their experiences along the way.

GWO is still just me. But it's grown through the people around it - a community that's been along for the ride from the start, relationships with other roasters, and direct connections with the farms and suppliers behind the coffee. One person behind the roaster, but far from alone in it.

The intention behind all of it is simple: make this style of coffee more accessible. I'm critical about what I source and what I put out - and the bar I hold myself to is straightforward. If I were the customer, I would want to be able to pick a bag off the shelf without a second thought. The quality should be there, the pricing should make sense, and with the bigger roaster, availability is something I'm actively working on too.

The name doesn't quite roll off the tongue, and that's fine. GWO has a personal meaning, and I like using it as an acronym that changes from time to time, sometimes something nerdy from the coffee world, sometimes not. A way to keep things playful without taking myself too seriously, while still respecting the craft.

I hope you enjoy what I do.