Torrefacto

Torrefacto refers to a particular process of roasting coffee beans, common in Spain, Paraguay, Portugal, Mexico, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Uruguay and Argentina, in which a certain amount of sugar is added to the beans during roasting in order to glaze them. Adding the sugar increases the effect of the Maillard reaction during roasting, contributing to the beans distinct flavor, and the glazed beans are then mixed with normally roasted beans. Originally a cheap way of preserving coffee beans in the 1920s, the process was also used, given the common use of low-grade robusta coffee, to mask negative aroma and taste characteristics in the beans.