This is part of an ongoing series of quick interviews with coffee professionals I've run into who were kind enough to participate.

Today's victim is Craig Moore of Straight Razor Roasting.

[Me] Before we get started, what's your name, company, and title?

[Craig] My name is Craig Moore, I'm the co-owner and CEO of Straight Razor Roasting Inc.

1. What do you do, how long have you done it, and how did you get started?

Right now, my main focus is the back end operations of the business. Managing inventory, roast schedules, customer relations, and countless other admin related tasks. Being a small company, I wear a lot of hats. I've been at it for a little over a year now. I got started in it by accident, really. When I was doing my post-grad, which was entirely unrelated to coffee, my roommate happened to be a certified Q-grader. He introduced me to specialty coffee, and it evolved from there over a couple of years before actually starting the business. I spent a year or so saving to buy my first micro-lot and it was off to the races. Now, we're hovering between 20 and 25 single-origins at any given time.

2. What's your favorite bean right now and how are you brewing it?

Hmm.. it's hard to pick one, so I'm going top 3. It's a close race between Kenya Othaya, Nicaragua Linda Vista, and Ethiopia Yirg Zero. All are very special for their own reasons, and I like to mix it up between the three. My go-to brew method is Chemex, followed closely by Bonmac pour-over cones. 93c water temperature with a 16:1 ratio, although I like to experiment quite often.

3. What do you like most about the coffee industry right now?

I like the openness and helpful nature of a lot of the third wave roasters. I regularly meet with other people in the industry, and everyone is more than willing to chip in with advice or guidance. The main focus here is providing awesome coffee for the consumer as opposed to keeping secrets. This makes for a feeling of camaraderie.

4. What do you like least about the coffee industry right now?

Hmm... tough one. I'd have to go with a lack of universal certification as it relates to ethical coffee, and the prices surrounding some of the current models. Answering the question "Is it certified Fair Trade?" with "No, but..." often falls pretty flat, even after explaining the Direct Trade model.

5. What would you like the average end-consumer to know about what you do that you don't think they know already?

Well, in my case, it would be the amount of work that we put into making sure each coffee we sell is as good as it can be. To develop a single roast profile, we're experimenting with temperature curves, pulling dozens of samples, and cupping repeatedly. It can be weeks of work to develop the taste we're looking for, and that's for a single roast profile for one coffee. Add in multiple roast levels for 20+ coffees, and we're a pretty caffeinated bunch.

Craig is the Co-Owner and CEO at Straight Razor Roasting: https://www.straightrazorroasting.com.
Follow them on twitter at https://twitter.com/SRRCo.