Me, roasting late into the night.
A question that many people have is, "How did you get this into coffee?".
It's a good question, so thought I'd explain the evolution of my love for
coffee here.
First, one of the main things I love about coffee is the emotions that it
evokes from
people. A dedicated coffee drinker loves coffee, but also
needs their coffee. People may
love ice cream, but they don't eat it every day first thing in the
morning.
One quarter in college,
I had a thermodynamics class on Tuesdays and Thursdays which started at
7:40am. Proving equations of state is hard enough, let alone at 7:40 in
the morning. The professor sympathized with us a bit and being from the
Dominican Republic, promised to bring a big carafe of coffee for each
class. Thus began my coffee drinking.
Fast forward several years. I quit my job at eBay and moved to Grenoble,
France to rock climb and take French lessons. I had been to Europe
before and really like how each country put their own unique spin on
coffee. France was great because it was espresso wherever you turned:
the language school cafeteria, cafes, restaurants, etc. So, after
spending the entire summer of 2002 drinking espresso, I was seriously
hooked on the stuff. Shortly after returning, my mom got me a nice
Gaggia espresso machine for Christmas.
Once you get one good piece coffee equipment, you're on a slippery slope.
You may begin with the machine and buy ground beans from Peet's. Then, you
notice and realize the freshly ground beans are way better than day-old
ground beans...so you invest in a grinder. Then you realize that big
coffee companies don't sell fresh (or good) coffee so you search for a
better source. If you're lucky enough to have local roasters in your
city, you're happy buying fresh beans from them.
But, eventually, you may mention to your girlfriend that some
guy at work is roasting
his own beans after which she gets you your very own home roaster for
your birthday. The next thing you know, you're flying to
coffee school
in Portland and searching the Internet for used commercial coffee
roasters. Then you're here, writing all of this.
The coffee world is beginning to change and I stepped in shortly after
this change started. Consumers are realizing there is a vast world
beyond super dark roasted coffee shots poured into 32 oz. of steamed
milk. Coffee is just as complex as wine, the beans unique in their
characteristics just like grapes. I sincerely believe that with more
small roasters like me out there, the overall quality of coffee in this
country will increase and coffee drinkers will benefit. My goal is
provide high quality, delicious, interesting and fresh coffee to my
customers and help them learn some of the nuances of coffee. I want
my customers to know exactly where their coffee came from as well as how
and when it was roasted.