Partner not Profiteer

Coffee is one of the few things that most people enjoy every day that has the power to affect people on the other side of the world.  Many of the coffees we roast are grown on small family owned farms or “fincas” in limited quantities.  At Black Mountain Coffee Roasting we take pride in partnering with farmers that produce top quality coffees while still using traditional farming techniques. Selecting the coffees that we offer and choosing the optimal roast profile for each coffee are top priorities in what we do.  Understanding that each individual coffee has been cultivated by farmers enables us admire each coffee for it unique flavor qualities.

Do you know who you are supporting with your purchases?

We are Chris and Katie Bayer and we love coffee! Hand roasted ethically sourced environmentally conscious unique high quality black gold perfection. We want to make your best mornings perfect, and your worst morning better. We want to make your evening gatherings warmer.

We came to coffee in a roundabout way, as an unlooked for second chance. In early 2008 after the economy tanked we took a leap and restarted our lives by returning to our roots in the beautiful mountain town of Idyllwild, CA.  I took a job at the local coffee shop as a “barista."  I had no idea what I was doing, but I was eager to learn a new skill. It was also a chance to get to know the local crowd.  By the fall of 2008 I was managing Higher Grounds Coffee House, and Katie was my first hire.  I threw my self into this second chance, and I went from knowing virtually nothing about specialty coffee in January, to managing a staff in the same coffee shop 8 months later.  Needless to say, I read and learned a ton about coffee in a very short time.  Things were good in the coffee shop and I continued to grow in my knowledge of all things coffee, including roasting.

It didn't take long for roasting to become my new passion.  It wasn’t that I didn’t enjoy the cafe side of the business, it was more that I had found my calling in the scientific-artistry that is coffee roasting. In 2013, six months after an ownership change we parted ways with the coffee shop where I learned the craft that I love.  We realized what we really wanted to do was start our own coffee roasting business, so that is what we did.

I began roasting about ¼ cup at a time in a popcorn popper that I got at a church yard sale for $10.  It was pretty obvious that the air popper method wasn't going to work for me.  It was dirty and smoky and took a really long time to get more than a half pound of roasted beans.  Worst of all it was wildly inconsistent.  I began researching roasters that could meet our needs.  Once I found a roaster that I felt could put out a consistent high quality roast we put our plan into motion, and Black Mountain Coffee Roasting was born.