Step into the world of specialty coffee with our first Roastery Spotlight featuring Dialect Coffee, where passion for coffee meets the rhythm of music. We had the pleasure of speaking to Mark Al-Shemmeri, the visionary behind dialect, to delve into the art of coffee roasting, the intersection of coffee and music, and invaluable advice for coffee enthusiasts embarking on their specialty coffee journey.
What inspired you to start dialect coffee, and what sets your roastery apart?
Dialect is an outlet of creativity for me (Mark) and my sister (Hannah). We both approach things without concerning ourselves with how things should be done - finding our own way. Dialect started shortly after I finished my engineering doctorate on coffee roasting. It was a way to share the things we both love to do - science and art. We don't have our own tangible space yet, but we share what we can whilst being nomadic, using coffee as our platform. It's our interpretation of the coffees and how we present and share them with the world that we want to continue to share.
What are your current favourite coffee beans that you've roasted, and what makes them special?
It's super difficult to choose a favourite! Each time we choose a new coffee it becomes my current favourite - right now i keep circling back to the camionetta anoxic washed pink bourbon that we got from raw material. This coffee process is a new concept by name but has been around for a while (check out raw material’s site for more info). I really think this is the perfect flavour profile that represents my preference - fruity, but not too fruity and super drinkable on filter and really complements milk-based drinks too!
How do you see the relationship between music and coffee, and how does it influence your approach to roasting?
Me and Hannah have both been in heavy bands for a while. I'm not convinced we could do either without the other! Music, coffee and art are all ways of expressing ourselves and our creativity. With music, it's structured creativity, fitting the riffs and words to a driving beat and for me it's the same when it comes to coffee. The structure for coffee development is the path from green coffee - through the roaster, the grinder, the extractor - all the way to the cup. It's up to us to choose the right beans, the complementary process and representative art that makes that multi-sensory experience in the cup so melodic.
What advice would you give to someone new to specialty coffee who wants to explore and appreciate it more deeply?
In the specialty scene, there are so many different interpretations of what coffee can be - this is what makes the community so special. So go taste coffee in as many different places as possible and ask the roasters and baristas about their coffee. The biggest hurdle for most people is the flavour profile of specialty coffee and trying to describe it. Don't be put off if you didn't identify that super obscure variety of raspberry! The more different coffees you drink, the more flavour memories you'll build and the more confident you'll be in relating to the flavour descriptors.
Check out Dialect's offering at https://dialect.coffee/ - You won't be disappointed!