What happens when a former pastor, driven by equal parts curiosity and grit, stumbles into a coffee shop and walks out a few years later a U.S. Roaster Champion? That’s the story of Mark Michelson—Director of Education at the San Franciscan Roaster Co., 2017 U.S. Roaster Champion, and this week’s guest on the Coffee Roasting Legends podcast.
In this rich and honest episode, host Bill Kennedy sits down with Mark to trace his evolution from skeptical coffee drinker to industry educator, sharing pivotal lessons every roaster—new or seasoned—should hear.
You can watch the video of our interview at the bottom of this article.
From “Apple?” to Artisan
Mark’s coffee journey began in earnest around 2008, when he noticed tasting notes like “apple” or “berry” on coffee bags and thought, There’s no way that’s real. That skepticism turned into obsession, and eventually into a profession, after years of relentless curiosity, phone calls to famous roasters, and relentless trial and error.
By 2017, he had won the U.S. Roaster Championship with a coffee he roasted for the very first time. In his words, “it was a reckoning”—proof that skill, not geography, defines great roasting.
The Cup Teaches the Profile, Not the Other Way Around
A central theme in this episode is the value of cupping before profiling. For Michelson, understanding flavor must come before trying to engineer it. He shares his own “aha” moments about airflow, rate of rise, and gas adjustments—but insists none of it matters if you aren’t tasting your results.
“One of the biggest takeaways for new roasters,” Mark explains, “is to stop overcorrecting. Learn to use fewer gas changes. Let the airflow do the heavy lifting.”
It’s a lesson that resonates deeply with San Franciscan roaster owners, whose machines are designed to give roasters full control—without overwhelming them with automation that removes intuition from the process.
There’s No One Right Way to Roast
Throughout the conversation, Mark debunks the myth of a single perfect profile. He openly discusses how he both “flicked and crashed” during his championship-winning roast—moves considered taboo in the roasting world—but still came out on top because the final cup was excellent.
As he puts it, “You can’t taste a graph. You have to taste the coffee.”
That’s why he encourages roasters to approach their craft as artisans, not technicians. Use all your senses—sound, smell, sight, taste. Understand your machine. Learn its quirks. And above all, give yourself room to grow.
The Role of the Roaster: Get in the Way
In an industry where people often say a good roaster “gets out of the way of the coffee,” Michelson offers a compelling counterpoint: “No, it’s your job to get in the way—on purpose—and bring out what’s inside the bean.”
That’s where training comes in.
At San Franciscan, Mark leads hands-on, two-day roasting intensives across the country, starting with bean selection and ending with blend creation. His sessions emphasize practical knowledge over perfectionism, and consistency over overreaction. The goal? Help each roaster discover their own approach—grounded in fundamentals, but informed by intuition.
Practice, Humility, and the Long Game
Toward the end of the episode, Mark shares a piece of advice from legendary roaster Marty Curtis: “The best roaster in the world stands on two feet.” In other words, it's not the machine, the graph, or even the green coffee that matters most—it's the human being at the helm.
As Mark and Bill both reflect, roasting is something you can learn in a week—but it takes a lifetime to master. And staying in love with that final 20% is what keeps the craft alive.
Useful Links
- You can book training with Mark Michaelson here: https://www.sanfranroaster.com/training
- The roaster in the background of the interview is the SF-6
Here is the full interview
