SELECTION AND ROASTING:
We scour the planet, handpicking the finest beans and then roast them, using our own special process.

Our green beans are among the finest Arabica beans available. They come directly from north, central, and South America . The name of the country where the bean was grown is listed on the coffee bag. We decide which beans to select and sell by requesting samples from the importer. We then drink our samples and let our friends guzzle them as well - then we get their honest opinion (which they give us because they want more of our free, dark elixir). That's how we know the difference between what's great and what's only good.

We use a "tumble" style roasting process and maintain a consistent roast through the use of very sensitive and technologically advanced equipment: our nose, ears and eyes.

Our schnozs tell us where we are in the roasting process. (Anyone who has ever cooked anything will tell you that food has a different aroma in the beginning than it does when it's done.) There's a distinct aroma that green beans have when they are put into the roaster. Then, during the roasting process, the smell changes into what we like to call a "buttery" smell.

Our ears play a huge role because at different points in the roasting process we hear what's called "the crack". There are basically three cracks that happen. The first crack happens when the green beans change from green to light roast. The second crack is when the bean changes from light roast to medium roast, and the third crack comes when we reach the dark roast stage. What we hear is similar to the cracking sound you get when popcorn changes from kernel to the stuff we eat. There are tons of small "cracks".

Lastly we use the old eyeballs. We set a timer to monitor how long the beans have been in the roaster. Each bean variety roasts for different periods of time to obtain the different shades desired. We also watch the amount of smoke exiting the roaster. Early in the roast there's no smoke, but by the end there's a strong flow of smoke pouring out. We can tell by the amount of smoke coming out how dark the roast will be.

The next step in the roasting process is what we call the bean table. We dump the hot, fresh roasted beans on a table made of heavy-duty stainless steel screen material. Under the table is a large fan which helps cool the batch. We find better consistency in the final product by cooling the roasted beans quickly rather than let them slowly cool, because we think beans continue to cook until their cold.

Please note: our beans are dark roast, unless specified otherwise.