Our story began in 2008 in a stretch of land in middle America, called the Sandhills. Just like the weather, people raised here are tough. A work ethic and no-nonsense attitude was a necessity here. That ethic and attitude carried over to the food and drink as well, but in our world, it was coffee. Sure, it was the 90s and coffee was now getting better then the sealed can coffee nightmare of the past decade. However, our master roaster, Jim, decided that it still hadn’t come far enough. He noticed that coffee still sat on shelves for months after roasting, becoming stale, along with flavors ranging more towards sour then smooth. A vision began. Why not provide the freshest coffee beans most people would ever taste? As a micro roaster, Jim made that happen. The beans you are tasting have just been roasted. Can the big bean companies say that?
News article from Pure Nebraska (10/11 news – Lincoln, NE) posted on Wed 10:40 AM, Dec 12, 2018.
An O’Neill business is roasting coffee in small batches to bring out memorable flavor profiles.
Pure Nebraska recently visited Jim Bean Coffee, where green coffee beans are micro-roasted. Micro-roasting coffee beans is a trend that’s been growing around the country. Jim Loutzenhiser is having big success with his business in O’Neill. “We buy the green (coffee) beans, we roast them, and we focus on developing the flavor and the taste within the bean,” Loutzenhiser said. “We also focus on freshness, and being able to supply coffee to people that’s been roasted within a week or so.”
The beans the company uses are bought from different areas around the world. Loutzenhiser roasts the beans in a church kitchen in O’Neill, and he has a 6 pound roaster. He heats the beans, and carefully watches the profile, ensuring that the beans are being heated at the proper rate so that he can get the best flavor from the bean. “It depends upon whether it’s a hard bean or a soft bean, if it’s high elevation, or if it’s an Asian bean,” Loutzenhiser said. “Each one of them really have a roast profile, and it makes a big difference if you go with a temperature one way or another. It’s really a fine art.”
For full article visit Pure Nebraska on 10/11 news.
https://www.1011now.com/content/news/Coffee-Business-Booming-in-ONeill-502584361.html