The owners of a unique coffee roasting commercial enterprise that began in Norway 4 years ago and moved to rural Caledonia nearly a year ago are the use of espresso beans from around the sector.
And they particularly like to use beans from international locations that aren’t as widely recognized for them.
“I want to (get espresso beans which might be from) locations like Bali (in Indonesia) and Zambia and Tanzania, no longer simply Columbia and Brazil,” Tricia Babinski said final week inside the small Heart Rock Coffee roasting residence close to the house wherein she and her husband, Houston County Administrator Jeff Babinski, live. “They have such fantastic coffees there.”
Heart Rock Coffee’s espresso beans come from Africa, South America, Central America, Southeast Asia, and India.
Jeff “is the IT guy and the upkeep guy,” Tricia said of her husband. “I do the roasting part, and he helps with all of the other stuff.”
Since May, Heart Rock Coffee has been selling its coffees at the La Crescent Farmers Market, who’s held from 4 to 7 p.M. Tuesdays at Oak and South Second Street in La Crescent, the Hokah Root River Farmers Market held from four to 7 p.M. On Thursdays in the parking zone of St. Peter Catholic Church in Hokah.
Since early July, the baggage of Heart Rock Coffee additionally has been on the market at The Wired Rooster Coffee Shoppe in Caledonia.
Heart Rock Coffee is also bought directly to clients who touch the commercial enterprise. Most of this income had been to people in the Caledonia location.
So some distance, most of Heart Rock Coffee’s income has been on the La Crescent and Hokah farmers markets.
Tricia is interested in promoting at extra retail and coffeehouse outlets. And within the near future, she plans to have hours “maybe one morning per week, or one afternoon every week, where people can just prevent here and buy a bag” at the roasting house.
But she has no plans to open a Heart Rock Coffee coffeehouse.
“I could just love to keep being the only one to deliver the coffee beans,” Tricia said. “I’m not interested in that a good deal overhead and that a lot of pressure” that would be involved in commencing a coffeehouse. “I’d like to preserve taking part in this and enjoying speaking to human beings approximately espresso.”
The Babinski’s moved to the Caledonia vicinity in September after Jeff turned into named Houston County administrator. They have five kids.
“Jeff simply finished 24 years inside the Air Force,” Tricia said and has been stationed at a NATO base at Stavanger, Norway.
The Babinski’s started roasting coffee approximately 4½ years ago while Jeff was stationed in Turkey, another member of the NATO army alliance.
“We’ve constantly cherished espresso together,” Tricia stated. “We concept to ourselves, we revel in excellent espresso, we had been ordering it, and why no longer make it ourselves?” So they offered a small coffee roaster, which roasted one pound at a time, for his or her private use.
“We took that gadget to Norway, in which we met folks that stated ‘Hey, you ought to sell this.’ And it naturally grew from there,” Tricia stated.
She started out promoting roasted coffee beans about four years in the past at the NATO base in Norway.
After shifting to the Caledonia vicinity, income had been direct to clients via phrase of mouth. Then Heart Rock Coffee has become a dealer in May on the La Crescent and Hokah farmers markets.
So some distance, Tricia stated, Heart Rock Coffee’s biggest dealers have been “anything that’s a medium-roast coffee. That’s a form of what human beings gravitate towards. When you watched a pleasing sipping espresso, it’s going to be a medium-roast espresso.”
Heart Rock Coffee’s new, larger roaster can roast 2.2 pounds of espresso beans at a time. “A light roast espresso will take about thirteen to 14 mins” to cook, Tricia said. “And a dark roast will take slightly over 15 minutes.”
Tricia said she enjoys the whole thing, approximately coffee.
“I love the scent of it. I love the feel of it,” she said. “It’s nonviolent to me to roast the coffee. I love to talk to people about espresso and to assist them with their espresso desires.”
Tricia started the Heart Rock Coffee call from the heart-shaped rocks that she and her husband have loved accumulating their travels.
