Coffee Chats: MILKLAB x Extraction Coffee Roasters

With the first MILKLAB Roaster Royale in the books, we chatted with our champion, Liam from Extraction Coffee Roasters, to get insights into their winning blend, the significance of this type of competition for roasters, what’s next for Extraction, and much more.

Read on as Liam takes us on his champion’s journey.

Get to know Extraction Roasters

Extraction Coffee Roasters are based in Brisbane, where locals can taste their delicious coffee at the brand’s café, Extraction Artisan Coffee. Extraction’s specialty coffee spans a variety of blends and single origins, which are available for cafés across Australia through a wholesale program.

The Extraction team shares a passion for helping small businesses to thrive and bringing specialty coffee education to the community. This is a key part of Liam’s role as Extraction’s Head of Coffee.

Recap: The inaugural MILKLAB Roaster Royale

At MILKLAB, we’ve been running competitions for a while now — our legendary Barista Battle gets bigger and better with each edition, offering incredible prizes and opportunities for the most talented baristas in the industry globally.

But with Roaster Royale, we took things in a new direction — our first competition specifically for roasters. The brief for our competitors was simple: to roast a coffee blend with the supplied green beans from our partner InterAmerican Coffee, that would harmonise perfectly with MILKLAB Oat. With 1 in 3 coffee drinkers choosing plant milk with their coffee it shone a spotlight on the opportunity to develop coffee roasts to pair with its unique characteristics.

The winning roaster would bag $10,000 cash plus return flights and accommodation to Papua New Guinea thanks to InterAmerican Coffee. So, the prizes were definitely epic, but to win would require a ton of preparation, testing and skill!

Liam talks us through the process behind his winning blend

Setting to work on his Roaster Royale creation, Liam had one goal in mind — to strike the right balance between the flavour of the coffee and the milk. He then followed his own proven process for creating or modifying coffee blends.

“I sample-roasted the beans provided by InterAmerican Coffee and cupped them individually. This gave me an understanding of what each coffee might offer in the blend, e.g., acidity, body, flavour, sweetness, etc.”

“I then created several combinations of these coffees by weight percentages and tasted them with and without MILKLAB Oat.”

Blend development is a mix of creativity and being methodical. Liam’s strategy was to “find a combination that supported the flavour of the milk, rather than detracted from it.”

The roasting process itself was relatively straightforward, with the challenge being pairing beans that complemented each other while supporting Liam’s end goal.

In the end, he selected two coffees for his Roaster Royale blend, “Ethiopia, for flavour, and PNG, for acidity, body and sweetness.”

That winning feeling: What it’s like to be a Roaster Royale champion

While coffee competitions often highlight stunning latte art and barista technique, Roaster Royale is all about showcasing the craft and artistry of roasters — after all, without roasters, there’d be no specialty coffee for us all to enjoy!

“More attention needs to be given to the Australian roasting community. They’re a key stakeholder in the coffee industry. It is roasting that turns raw coffee into the beverage we all know and love,” Liam said.

Often, the role of the roaster is behind the scenes, and is crucial to defining the character and quality of every cup of coffee.

Roasters meticulously select and roast coffee beans, accentuating their best flavours and balancing complex variables, including origin, altitude, and processing methods.

Despite their essential contributions, roasters rarely receive much of the spotlight. With the MILKLAB Roaster Royale, we’re changing that.

“I love this style of competition as it creates an even playing field for all competitors and demonstrates skills that are required on a daily basis,” Liam said.

The competition also brought new insights into the evolving landscape of Australian specialty coffee — particularly the growing preference for plant-based milk.

Melanie from MILKLAB said it’s an exciting time to be a roaster, with access to more milk choices than ever before, and more ability to meet evolving customer preferences.

“With one in three coffee drinkers now choosing plant milk, there is a significant market opportunity for roasters to innovate and tailor their blends specifically for these consumers,” she said.

This trend highlights the importance of understanding and responding to changing consumer preferences, opening up new possibilities for roasters to engage with their audience in a more targeted way.

Melanie also reflected on the collaborative nature of Roaster Royale and the overwhelmingly positive response from participants.

“It was a highlight to collaborate with so many Australian roasters that make up our great coffee community, and we were delighted with the feedback and engagement we got from them, we’re definitely going to be bringing it back. We could see that the roasters were excited to be part of an initiative that talked directly to them and their contributions to the coffee industry, in a way we haven’t done before.”

Liam summed up his Roaster Royale experience as “a big confidence booster.”

“It reassured me that my skills were moving in the right direction. The prize money was an added bonus of course!”

Want to try the Roaster Royale-winning blend for yourself?

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As our Roaster Royale champs, Extraction will be offering their winning blend at Extraction Artisan Coffee — where for a limited time, you’ll be able to taste the blend freshly made with the milk it was created for, MILKLAB Oat. This is one cup of coffee that’s well worth a detour if you’re located in Brisbane!

Extraction Coffee Roasters has just launched an exciting rebranding transition, so be sure to follow along with their journey on Instagram to stay updated.

“Thank you to MILKLAB and InterAmerican Coffee for creating and sponsoring this important coffee competition. Events like this provide a platform for roasters to educate the public about their key role within the coffee industry,” Liam said.

Congratulations to Liam and Extraction Roasters for winning the inaugural Roaster Royale! Don’t miss your chance to try the winning blend with MILKLAB Oat, available for a limited time exclusively at Extraction Artisan Coffee in Brisbane.