Big Sur Coffee is a specialty roastery in Shanghai that has been in operation since 2016 and is based on a simple idea: good roasting should let the coffee itself shine through. The goal, therefore, is not to mask its character, but to best highlight the characteristics of a specific variety and the region where it comes from. For espresso, they use a Loring S35 roaster, while coffees intended for drip brewing are roasted on a smaller Loring S7.
The Big Sur style is distinctly focused on very light roasts, clarity, and precision of flavor. The Nordic Style Coffee Guide ranks it among the prominent Asian roasters focused on ultra-light roasts and highlights, above all , the clarity, floral notes, complexity, and distinct character of origin in its coffees. The roastery therefore does not seek to “overpower” the coffee through roasting, but rather to reveal as much as possible of what is naturally hidden within the bean itself.
They place great emphasis on the selection of green beans themselves. At Big Sur, they compare them to ingredients in the kitchen, because, in their view, it is the quality of the green beans that determines how good the final cup can be. That’s why they strive to stay as close as possible to the coffee’s origin, communicating directly with producers and farm owners and purchasing individual lots through direct trade. Consequently, their selection consists primarily of carefully selected single-origin coffees and smaller lots, where the focus is on origin, variety, processing method, and the most precise roasting possible.