Brew by the Sun: A Sunday Morning Ritual from Solar Roast
Sunday morning is one of the few times coffee gets to be more than fuel. The kettle can take its time. The first sip does not have to compete with a meeting. You can notice the light changing across the room.
That makes Sunday the right day for a Solar Roast ritual: a cup organized around attention, sunlight, and one very improbable coffee story.
Start where Solar Roast started
In the summer of 2004, brothers Mike and David Hartkop built their first solar-powered coffee roaster from an old satellite dish, one hundred plastic mirrors, and a broccoli strainer. They called it Helios I, and it could roast roughly one pound of coffee at a time.
The idea kept growing. In 2007, they chased better solar exposure east to Pueblo, Colorado, where abundant sunshine gave the experiment a permanent home. What began in a garage became Solar Roast Coffee.
You do not need a field of mirrors to borrow the spirit of that first machine. You only need a little sunlight and enough time to pay attention.
The five-step solar Sunday ritual
- Find the morning light. Open the blinds, step onto the porch, or sit beside the brightest window. Do this before checking the weather on your phone. Look at the real sky first.
- Choose a coffee for the morning you have. Pick light roast for clarity and lift, medium for balance, or dark for depth and comfort. There is no morally correct roast—only the cup you want today.
- Measure once, then stop fussing. For pour-over, try 20 grams of coffee with 320 grams of water. For French press, try 30 grams with 480 grams of water. Consistency gives you room to notice flavor.
- Brew without multitasking. Listen to the water. Watch the grounds bloom. Let four quiet minutes be four quiet minutes.
- Taste the same cup three times. Take one sip hot, another warm, and the last as the cup approaches room temperature. Do not add anything until after the second sip.
Why taste the cup three times?
Temperature changes what you notice. A very hot cup can emphasize aroma and roast intensity. As it cools, sweetness, fruit, cocoa, spice, or a gentle acidity may become easier to identify.
The coffee has not become a different coffee. You have simply given yourself three views of it—like watching the same landscape at sunrise, full morning, and noon.
Choose your place on the solar dial
| Sunday mood | Roast direction | A Solar Roast starting point |
|---|---|---|
| Bright, curious, ready to notice details | Light roast | Peru Organic |
| Easy, balanced, no decisions required | Medium roast | Guatemala Organic |
| Slow, deep, blanket-and-a-book morning | Dark roast | Sumatra Organic |
If your mood and your usual roast disagree, follow the mood. Sunday is a good day to learn that your “favorite coffee” may actually be several favorites for different mornings.
Make one solar note
You do not need tasting jargon. Write five short lines:
- Sky: clear, cloudy, rain, snow, or something in between
- Coffee: origin and roast
- Brew: method and ratio
- First sip: the first honest word that comes to mind
- Last sip: what appeared as the cup cooled
Keep the note with the bag. After a few Sundays, you will have a small record of weather, coffee, and attention—your own solar calendar.
Pass the cup
The best version of this ritual ends with another person. Brew enough for two. Set the second mug down without explaining the tasting notes first, then ask one question: “What do you notice?”
You may get chocolate, toast, orange, campfire, or simply “coffee.” All are valid. The point is not to pass a test. The point is to share a few unhurried minutes.
Let the sun set the pace
Solar Roast began with two brothers looking at an old satellite dish and seeing a different way to roast coffee. That combination—sunlight, curiosity, and making something with what was available—is still a useful Sunday lesson.
Tomorrow will ask you to move quickly again. This cup does not.
Put the kettle on. Find the light. Brew by the sun.
Hero photograph by Gülru Sude via Pexels. Historical Helios and rooftop solar photographs are from Solar Roast’s own media archive.
Read the full story of the Helios roasters and Solar Roast’s move to Pueblo on our About Us page.