How did I stumble into coffee?
Like most people, I've been drinking coffee daily for quite some time. For the longest time, I bought my coffee in supermarkets and obviously, it was already ground.
But then, I started working in a coffee roastery and bagged coffee there. This too was the first time I drank coffee from Ethiopia . My relation to coffee changed immediately. I never knew coffee could taste any other way than bitter.
Struck by the coffee fever, I started reading and watching everything I could get my hands on about coffee. I realized I had only just scratched the surface . The coffee I had tried was actually one of the worse good coffees there are.
Roasting coffee for the first time!
Since I wasn't allowed to touch the roaster at work, I ordered myself a Whirley Pop. That's essentially a pot to make popcorn in. That's how I roasted my very first coffee.
Following this, my employer let me roast on a Probat UG-22, an ancient roaster from the 50s allowing batch sizes of up to 22kg.
Fascinated by the art of roasting, I bought myself a small 2kg roaster. I used it to roast great coffees and started getting the hang of roasting.
My Mission!
Coffee Means People!
Every day we drink coffee without even knowing how many people had to put a lot of effort in it's production.
My goal is to shed light on how coffee is produced and on the people that produce it . Unfortunately, to this day, farmers earn way too little for their work. So we should step up and pay more for the great coffee we get. Let's give back and provide a future for the farmers, in which they have safe to drink water and money to send their kids to schools!
2019 - The Humble Beginning
In 2019 I started selling my roasted coffee. However I couldn't afford a bigger coffee roaster as I started my business with only 2000€. At this point in time I drove to Pont-à-Mousson every 2 weeks, where I loaned the roaster of the American Loren Huck. I drove there with 100kg of green beans and returned with around 80kg of roasted beans.
2021 - My own roastery in Beaufort
With the help of my customers I received over 5000€ through a crowdfunding round. It was now time to find a home for my roastery.
From the municipality of Beaufort I started renting an old cow stable in the Montée du Château.
Since November 2021 my coffee is roasted in the small roastery in Beaufort. I roast around 250kg of coffee per month and ship it throughout Luxembourg!
From the bottom of my heart: Thank you to everyone that has been around for the ride!
2023 - Travels to Colombia
In June 2023 I traveled to Colombia, where I worked for 10 days at Juan Pablo Lasso Argote's farm in Génova. He taught me everything which happens before roasting the coffee in Luxembourg. From harvesting,to washing and drying, producing coffee is made by hand and it's hard work!
This is where we full circle back Coffee Means People! Your coffee has gone through an insane amount of hands before you can brew yourself a cup. A lot of people had to work in the production, that's why it is sometimes important to take a second and think of coffee not only as a commodity, but as hand in hand work, between many different parties.
Coffee Means People!