Through our provision of the tastiest, highest quality fresh-roasted coffees and finest teas on earth, Social Coffee Co. helps thousands of people meet their complete caffein requirements daily, with power and effect.
Glorius Coffee for the people
Our name, our coffee
Social strives like a hypercaffeinated demon to make our coffee a total social experience – from our most distant sources right to your expectant taste buds. We deliver on this promise via socially conscious supply chains to our Toronto roastery where primo green beans are transformed into a delicious line of coffees.
Coffee, tea or the salt-mines
We strive to elevate humanity's coffee awareness and encourage all classes to brew their own. After all, more labour equals more freedom, and thus universal happiness. To us, coffee isn't simply a drink, but a perfect realization of the Social Contract: To ensure all human resources reach maximum productivity through correct and delicious coffee consumption.
We teach what we preach
At our Richmond Hill, Ontario roastery we offer tuition in coffee brewing, espresso-making and taste-testing for curious consumers and professional coffee brewers. We also conduct tasting sessions to demonstrate how we evaluate our green coffee samples.
OUR PROCESS
SELECTION OF RAW MATERIALS
To evaluate and select green (unroasted) coffees before purchasing, we use an advanced sample roaster to test new lots for quality, taste and market suitability. Following the sampling of dozens of lots, we buy in quantities calculated to last just one season to ensure freshness of supply. On receipt, any lots shipped in burlap sacks are cleaned, then re-bagged in freshness-preserving, gas- and moisture-proof multilayer reusable sacs.
Research, development, perfection
Coffee roasting to Social's standards is a dark art demanding extreme care and top equipment. Our traditional drum roasting apparatus is highly modifications to provide data on bean temperature, air temperature, air pressure, fan speed and rate of heat application. This lets our roastmasters control each roast profile and produce a consistently outstanding range of coffees.
Bean roast profile obsession
To achieve Social’s desired profiles, we roast and cup (taste-test) methodically. Our cupping water is filtered and treated with a re-mineralization formula, ensuring our process isn't compromised by variations in water quality. For espresso, our method adheres to a modified SCAA cupping protocol using a state-of-the-art, commercial-grade Slayer espresso machine. We even test with a simple home-style espresso machine to ensure your kitchen brew meets our standards.
Our strategies enhancing yours
After rigorous cupping, selecting and roasting each lot ourselves, we again cup our own roasts post-production to assure the quality continues through to your final sip. This approach means you get delicious, distinctive coffee, and we can provide fair compensation for our farmers and suppliers in faraway lands.
our quality standards
How we blend
Social's blends are the product of proprietary knowledge, experience and care. We continue through the seasons to deliver a consistent cup quality unobtainable from most single origin beans. Social offers two versions of each Espresso and House Blend. One is a solid, stable classic, the other an exciting, adventurous exploration into coffee country.
One rule: Cut no corners
Blending is commonly used to hide inferior or defective beans, letting low-tier roasters sneak them into their so-called premium product. We offer an emphatic NO! to that dodgy practice. Our blended labels stand tall on their own merits, a fact verified by our track record at multiple international coffee competitions: • 1st Place - 2012 Roasters Choice Competition, Portland, USA. Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) • 1st Place - 2011 World Roasters Cup Competition, Taiwan • 2nd Place - 2012 Nordic Roaster Cup, Copenhagen, Denmark • 3rd Place - 2013 Roasters Choice Competition, Boston, USA • 2nd Place - 2011 Roasters Choice Competition, Houston, USA • 2nd Place - 2010 Roasters Choice Competition, Anaheim, USA • 2nd Place - 2012 Canadian Cup Taster, Toronto, CAN
Packaging to lock in flavour and preserve quality
Social deems freshness paramount. We use only multilayer laminated bags, with a one-way valve for vacuum degassing to prevent oxygen damage. Bags are printed with a roast date, not an expiration date – so you always know how fresh it is. We ship within 1-3 days of roasting and encourage customers to order just 1-2 weeks' supply. We also offer a coffee subscription service that ships (no charge) at intervals based on your volume requirements.
Variations on a Theme
Coffee is a seasonal agricultural product with characteristics unique to geography and climate. Flavour changes from year to year, depending on precipitation, sun and wind. It can even vary from one section of a farm to another. As with any agricultural product, we will not purchase coffee from a previously favoured vendor if its coffee dips below our standards.
Social responsibility
Single origin farm
Single origin beans let drinkers enjoy the 'origin characteristics' of a coffee, the way a coffee translates the unique characteristics – soil, climate, latitude, elevation, etc. – of its place of origin. Single origin also enables a deep appreciation of the hard work and dedication of the producer. Meticulous roasting showcases these fine beans, and thus the growers' skill. We search exhaustively to locate the best in single origin beans. Thus, we cannot offer every coffee from every region year-round. This is how Social delivers balanced, classic, artisanally roasted coffee that always tastes fabulous.