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Jack Rendulich
Spilling the Beans
Patrons at Duluth Coffee Company on East Superior Street focus on their reading and work while beans tumble into a roaster.
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Hannah Hudson / Courtesy Danielle Ewalt
Spilling the Beans
Beans in the cooling tray of the roaster at Big Water Coffee Roasters in Bayfield, Wisconsin.
You don’t need to go far these days to find a locally roasted cup of coffee to enjoy while looking out over Lake Superior.
Like the rise in micro-brewed beers, local coffee roasting has boomed recently with Lake-region roasters meeting the demand for locally crafted food and drink.
“People are more into the craft of their food,” says Danielle Ewalt, who has co-owned Big Water Coffee Roasters in Bayfield, Wisconsin, with her husband, Jon, since 2007.
She feels her shop meets a community need even more basic – and older – than the locavore trend.
“People just need coffee to get through their day.”
The trend may be new, but locally roasted coffee has been available in the western Lake Superior region since 1916. That’s when G.A. Andresen and W.J. Ryan started producing coffee as Andresen and Ryan Co. at 14 E. Michigan St. in downtown Duluth. The business eventually became ARCO Coffee and in the 1960s and early 1970s, ships brought bagged coffee beans from Brazil for ARCO, says Adele Yorde of the Duluth Seaway Port Authority.
In the 1980s, ARCO moved across the bay to Superior. Today, it still supplies the region with locally roasted coffee beans, as well as coffee machines and other supplies.
Even given Lake Superior’s nearly 100-year history of coffee roasting, many involved in the regional coffee scene don’t feel it’s fair to call the latest surge of coffee roasters a “resurgence.”
“We believe it’s more of an emergence than what you would call a resurgence,” says Ezra Bennett of Duluth’s Alakef Coffee Roasters. “However, we think that for the past five years or better, there has been an increased demand for what you would call craft or artisan-style products, be it coffee, bread, wine or beer.”
Coffee roasting is definitely a craft, says Danielle.
A good roast starts with the bean itself, says Josh Lindstrom of Fika Coffee in Grand Marais, Minnesota. “It starts with the quality of the green bean, what’s inherent in the bean.”
At the heart of any coffee roasting operation is the coffee roaster, a large machine often heated with propane or natural gas. The two most common types are drum and hot-air roasters.
In general, the beans go in when the roaster temperature reaches the 400-degree Fahrenheit range, says Ron Kurnik of Superior Coffee Roasting in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.
To use a drum coffee roaster, green beans are poured into a hopper, then dropped into a drum.
While the beans roast, the operator can control the air flow, which affects the roaster’s temperature. When the beans are done, they’re released into an agitator outside the roaster to cool down. During the 12- to 15-minute process, the beans go from being endothermic (absorbing heat) to exothermic (emitting heat). The beans need to cool quickly so they don’t keep roasting.
One key term you’ll hear coffee roasters use is “first crack,” says Danielle. The first crack refers to popcorn-popping sound the beans give off inside the roaster. That sound indicates that beans have released their moisture and have reached a temperature of about 385° F. How long the beans remain in the roaster after the first crack determines what type of roast you’ll achieve, which are generally classified as light, medium, full and French.
“Coffee roasters are very manual machines,” says Danielle. “You control the temperature, and then you decide how long to roast the beans and at what temperature to drop them.”
While just two major variables – time and temperature – factor into roasting, that doesn’t mean it’s easy.
“Learning to properly roast coffee is laborious and time-consuming and involves a lot of experimentation and trial and errors,” says Ezra. “Being consistent about keeping track of things like batch size, amount of heat, roast time, color and temperature will ultimately allow you to roast the perfect bean.”
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Jack Rendulich
Spilling the Beans
“We’re constantly roasting coffee,” says Duluth Coffee Company owner Eric Faust. “We get it in large burlap bags. We roast the coffee as needed.”
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Jack Rendulich
Spilling the Beans
Duluth Coffee Company is a pleasant spot for coffee and conversation, or you can listen to vinyl albums by the Beatles or Duluth’s own Charlie Parr.
Just as with wine, “terroir” – the characteristics of the soil and climate where coffee is grown – affects how a bean roasts, brews and tastes. With coffee now grown all over the world, including Brazil, Mexico, Ethiopia, Papua New Guinea and Peru, area roasters stress the importance of getting to know your beans.
“Once you get to know your coffee, it really helps you to know what to expect in the roasting process, but be ready for surprises,” says Ron. “Sometimes (a surprise) can end up being a good thing!"
Josh finds that people are often surprised by the many different “cup characters” that can be achieved with coffee. “People have one way they think coffee tastes, but apples don’t all taste the same. Burgers don’t all taste the same. Coffee doesn’t taste the same, either.”
Duluth Coffee Co. opened on Superior Street in Duluth in 2012, and owner Eric Faust calls it a “boutique micro roaster.” Coffee is roasted on-site for retail sale in the cafe and for its wholesale clients around Duluth, including Burrito Union, Lake Avenue Restaurant & Bar, Tycoons Alehouse and Zeitgeist Arts Cafe. For local craft brewer Bent Paddle Brewery, “We actually put our coffee into one of their beers (Cold Press Black).”
“Kind of what we see ourselves as is purveyors of coffee that is seasonal and from single origins,” Eric says. “There’s a lot of coffees out there, like highlander grog and breakfast blends. We don’t do a lot of blends.”
One blend exception is their espresso, but most of what’s roasted and sold at Duluth Coffee is “origin-specific,” from farmers in Guatemala, Papua New Guinea or Sumatra.
Roasting, according to Eric, provides a chance to influence coffee taste. “We control the roasting process to develop and balance the natural nuances and flavor of the coffee.”
Despite its ubiquitous nature, the variety of flavor that can be achieved with coffee makes it a very personal drink, and it’s that search for “the perfect cup” that has led many Lake Superior coffee roasters into the craft.
Growing up, Ron used to roast beans using a tabletop roaster with his mother. “The freshness of that coffee really stuck with me,” he says. He started Superior Coffee Roasting as a way to share the flavor of fresh coffee with his community.
“Freshness is a key factor,” agrees Danielle. “For the flavor to really stand out, you need to drink freshly roasted coffee.”
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Hannah Hudson / Courtesy Danielle Ewalt
Spilling the Beans
Jon Ewalt smells the beans in a trier while roasting.
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Hannah Hudson / Courtesy Danielle Ewalt
Spilling the Beans
An espresso shot extracting from the portafilter on the espresso machine at Big Water Coffee Roasters in Bayfield, Wisconsin.
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Hannah Hudson / Courtesy Danielle Ewalt
Spilling the Beans
Danielle and Jon Ewalt, owners of Big Water Coffee Roasters, with their kids, Ramona and Edison.
Because everyone has different idea about what they want out of their cup of coffee, Danielle says there’s more collaboration than competition among the Lake Superior coffee roasters. Each brings something different to the mug.
“It’s so fun to try different roasters’ beans,” she says. “If you get a bunch of roasters together, they’ll probably talk about ‘Oh, how does your roaster do this?’ or ‘How long do you keep the beans in after first crack?’”
There’s plenty of complicated science behind roasting the coffee, but brewing yourself a cup of coffee at home shouldn’t fill you with trepidation, says Danielle.
Big Water offers suggestions on how to prepare their beans – how fine to grind the beans, the amount to use to brew a cup, the method of brewing (French press versus drip).
But don’t feel guilty if you ignore those suggestions, she says.
“Our big thing is ‘Our beans, your coffee,’” says Danielle. “We never want people to feel apprehensive about coffee. Coffee can come with a side of attitude, but if you just want a cup of coffee, that’s OK.”
If the coffee in your cup is pleasing and delicious, Lake Superior coffee roasters consider their job well done.
“The people who are drinking coffee,” Ezra says, “are the best judge of whether or not you are doing it right.”
Regional Roasters
Jack Rendulich
Spilling the Beans
Here is a sampler of coffee roasters found near Lake Superior, from large suppliers to coffee shops. Do you see your favorite on this list? If not, leave a comment below and we’ll add it to our online list.
Alakef Coffee Roasters, 1330 E. Superior St., Ste. 200, Duluth. 218-724-6849, alakef.com.
ARCO Coffee Co., 2206 Winter St., Superior, Wisconsin. 800-283-2726, arcocoffee.com.
Big Water Coffee Roasters, 117 Rittenhouse Ave., Bayfield, Wisconsin. 715-779-9619, bigwatercoffee.com.
Boreal Beans at Brockway Inn Motel & Coffeehouse, 840 Gratiot St. (Highway M-26), Copper Harbor, Michigan. 906-289-4588, brockwayinn.com.
Coffee Landing Cafe, 444 3rd St., International Falls, Minnesota. 218-373-2233, facebook.com/coffeelandingcafe.
Dead River Coffee, 119 W. Baraga Ave., Marquette. 906-226-2112, deadrivercoffee.com.
Duluth Coffee Co., 105 E. Superior St., Duluth. 218-464-5025, duluthcoffeecompany.com.
Fika Coffee, Grand Marais, Minnesota. 218-387-4040, fikacoffee.com.
Great Northwest Coffee Company, 250 Algoma St. S., Thunder Bay. 807-344-5764.
Jitters, 102 W. Superior St., Duluth. 218-720-6015, jitterscoffeeduluth.com.
Keweenaw Coffee Works, 326 5th St., Calumet, Michigan. 906-337-6220, keweenawcoffeeworks.com.
Northwestern Coffee Mills, 20146 Soderlund Rd., Mason, Wisconsin. 715-746-2100, northwesterncoffeemills.com.
Superior Coffee Roasting Co., 2611 Ashmun St., Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. 906-203-7804, superiorcoffeeroasting.com.
Ada Igoe, a freelance writer living in Grand Marais, Minnesota, admits that she doesn’t drink coffee, but despite that quirk, we still love her and her work.