Ryan and Sally Petterson sell their organic coffee at a holiday event in Stapleton. The Pettersons brew and deliver craft coffee. Front Porch photo by Laura Mahony
Are you a coffee addict who thinks your coffee should be superb to earn a place in your cup?
Ryan Petterson and his wife, Sally, started a craft coffee business, Stapleton Roasters, in October. They roast organic coffee beans from Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic where they have a personal relationship with each of the farmers.
Petterson says, “Craft coffee is catching on. Once people try the product, most people really can tell the difference. Experts are predicting that there’s a huge trend coming here that will cause a migration from current grocery store coffees and Starbucks.”
“We will deliver half a pound at a time because we want people to experience all our coffees,” Ryan Petterson explained. “We currently roast six different coffees from different regions. Somewhere in that spectrum of coffees you’re going to find that perfect cup, and that perfect cup is different for everybody.
“We sell whole beans only,” he said. “We feel that fresh-roasted coffee is the best. The aromas and oils haven’t started to break down yet. When you grind the coffee, that speeds up the process of losing the taste.
Ryan Petterson was researching the business of sourcing coffee directly from coffee farms around the world and roasting it at a Stapleton site when he and his wife, Sally, “had an awakening as a young family.” Sally was the mother of a 5-year-old and a 5-year-old in 2012 when she was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. Today, after nine months of surgery and chemotherapy, Sally has been “cleared of cancer,” Ryan said.
“We felt that the experience changed our perspective on life,” he said. “I started home roasting coffee and got great feedback. We partnered with great coffee roasters in the country and got really great advice. I focus on the roasting, financial and strategic level. Sally is a natural people person. She’s doing more of the sales, deliveries and getting people involved. She gets our product out there.”
Ryan, Sally and their sons, Brady, 8, and Nathan, 5, took a family trip last summer to meet the farmers who supply the coffee beans that they roast.
“We saw as a family what goes on in poor, rural areas where they don’t have access to health care,” Ryan said. “So, a significant portion of our profits goes into the community here and gives back to the communities where the coffee comes from.”
Stapleton Roasters will deliver or ship coffee orders from half a pound up to hundreds of pounds. Half a pound of coffee is priced from $7.25 to $10.75, depending on its origin.
Although their office is located at 2373 Central Park Blvd., Stapleton Roasters is not a retail shop. To order coffee, go to www.stapletonroasters.com. For more information, call 720.984.4604 or email [email protected].