The master roaster behind your java

The Life: Who helps find all those beans for java served up through Coffee Planet outlets in the UAE? Rosco Franklin, the company's roastmater, who discusses what fuels his workdays.

Rosco Franklin, the roastmater of Coffee Planet. Nicole Hill / The National

Someone has to find all those beans for java served up at Coffee Planet outlets across the UAE. Rosco Franklin, the company's "roastmaster", talks about what fuels his workdays.

5am

I'm very much a morning person. My morning routine is grabbing a cup of coffee. At home, I'm using a device to brew the coffee; it's like a syringe. It cleans out the coffee and is just so much more refreshing to taste all the characteristics coming through. The other method I have is a pour-over - a cone-shaped filter. It's a slower process that takes four minutes to brew and you're doing it manually … You get a nice clean cup of coffee and a bit more body coming through.

7am

We're here at the roastery. We have a system when it comes to finding suppliers. To approve the supplier, normally they have to come with some sort of certification. We audit the company first to make sure the green beans - or food - is safe for consumption. Then at the start of the harvest season we'll visit the different farms and select the coffees that best suit for our blends or single-origins.

Lunch

Food-wise, I enjoy going to Jones the Grocer and More Cafe. Coffee-wise, I tend to stick to our outlets because I know I'll get a decent cup of coffee - and the way I like it.

Afternoon

Normally, when you put a blend together, it'll be made up of a variety of origins. You may have a Brazilian coming through, a Colombian in it, a Nicaraguan, Peru, Mexico - and you blend it and give it different percentages in each case. With single-origins, you just showcase their origin. People in Abu Dhabi and Dubai are used to acidity in their coffee, but once you get to Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, they like a lower acidity coffee that can be mellow but enjoyed from start to finish. We try to cater to their markets as well.

Late Afternoon

At the end of the day, we clean the roastery from top to bottom. We put a lot of emphasis in calibrating the equipment we're using and keeping it clean and tight.

After Work

I spend time with the family at home or the beach or park. Mostly we'll have dinner at home. On occasion we'll head to a restaurant to have a nice meal out. A lot of the food we serve in Coffee Planet is suited to match the blends of coffee we have in the cafes. When we're out and dining, I like to do the same with wine and food.

Evening

To relax, watch a bit of telly, surf the net, catch up on the latest gossip going back home in New Zealand. Checking out coffee blogs. I do a bit of reading; mostly coffee-related or cafe magazines I get sent from around the world.

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