Roasting Roots

Coffee has been part of my life since I was picking coffee cherries on the side of a volcano in Nicaragua in 2002 and 2003. The women of the family I lived with picked coffee to earn money for their family, laughing and singing as they made their way up the mountain. After learning to roast over the kitchen fire (most of the time with the pig watching from the doorway), I learned commercial roasting during barista training at a well known coffee roaster in Seattle. Showing interest in the roaster during a tour of the facility, the head roaster took time to show me how it worked, and allowed me to roast several batches on my own. During a brief ski bum stage of my life after college, I slung espresso for a quality coffee shop in Bend, cupping and tasting coffee several times a week and learning to differentiate taste profiles. I was taught to analyze my espresso shots and troubleshoot to create the best espresso I had ever tasted. Once it was discovered that I had some roasting background, I was hired to weekend roast for a local roaster, where I became more confident in my ability. My husband Travis and I have dreamed of bringing our freshly roasted coffee to Eastern Oregon for many years, saving and discussing our business as we went. Here we are: Travis is now a confident roaster, we have a beautiful, bright green Diedrich roaster, and we are loving turning a local Heppner building into something beautiful again.

-Laura, Co-owner