With almost 60 years of history as one of Australia’s best-known coffee roasters, creating a blend that signifies Mocopan’s rich history yet links to the future of the company was never going to be simple. 

While it was a long and involved process, the rewards for her labour were in the cup for our Product Development Technologist, Willyng Surya. Roast ‘54, named in recognition of the fact that Mocopan was established in 1954, is a step towards the realm of premium and specialty coffees.

“We looked at what is out there in the specialty market and focused on creating something that is different yet welcoming to a variety of coffee lovers,” Willyng says. “Blend development starts with the careful selection of green beans, from origins all over the world, followed by trial roasts and intense cupping sessions. These trials and tasting sessions and constant tweaking of blend and roast profiles lasted many months, before we were satisfied that we had developed a coffee that delivered on the flavour profile we were targeting.

The finished product is a blend of four different beans. Roast ‘54 uses the Sumatran Mandheling, which is a grade one, triple-picked and sorted bean, as well as the Inza from Colombia, a Papua New Guinean Kimel A and the Djimmah from Ethiopia.

“The fusion of flavours of these beans showcase aroma and flavours of unique to this blend,” Willyng says. “As an espresso, flavours are of dark chocolate and dried nuts, with earthy hints and cedar spice. In milk, it has a rich and complex flavour, well-balanced acidity, and sweetness cutting through milk, and a delightful toasty-buttery aftertaste.”

Our National Field Manager, Ken Corbin and his team, have been taking Roast ’54 out to customers and all have been blown away by the response.

Roast ’54 has been a hit with the old and the new, with Ken reporting that one of Mocopan’s oldest customers, Dairy Queen in the Melbourne suburb of Glenroy, has taken it on as part of their own rebranding exercise, while Sydney pastry chef Adriano Zumbo is also using it in his stores. In fact, Adriano’s enthusiasm for the new blend is so great that he even created a special macaroon to match with its flavours when the product was launched at MICE2013 in May.

“Our traditional customers are loving it, and many have told me that they are drawing new consumers in just because it’s there,” Ken says.

With our 60-year anniversary fast approaching, Roast ’54 celebrates our heritage, while also being very much a product for the present café market. Have you tried it yet? If so, let us know what you think!