Juggernaut Coffee Co. & their Espresso Blend
You’ll find Juggernaut Coffee Co. in Grand Forks BC, on a homestead, 11km out of town, surrounded by trees with no neighbours in sight – so actually, it’s probably more likely you won’t find it.
The Juggernaut Homestead
Juggernaut Coffee Co. is a two-person operation run by Katie and Dave Mitchell.
Their homestead, which doubles as Juggernaut Head Quarters is on 16 acres of forested land. The property is filled with big gardens and is home to not only Katie, Dave and their daughters, but also to the animals on their hobby farm.
“We have laying hens, meat birds and we usually raise pigs. My wife milks her goat, kids run around barefoot, and we just enjoy our lives,” Dave Mitchell told us.
Their roasting journey began as a hobby. They would roast 5lb bags of green beans with a hand-crank popcorn popper over a stove or a candle while camping. After deciding to roast commercially and receiving an encouraging, “go for it,” from their green importer, they upgraded to a drum roaster for their BBQ.
“My wife would be out on the porch of our guest cabin roasting coffee in the evenings. We have two little twin girls – they are 5 years old now – so I would take over looking after them when I got home from work and she would roast coffee,” Mitchell told us.
Eventually, after business increased, they upgraded again to a Diedrich IR-7 and moved production inside, into their 400-square-foot guest cabin. From there they roast once a week.
“Every Friday is roast day and then I spend 6 days a week with my kids,” Mitchell explained.
When roasting, they focus on maintaining a smooth and sweet profile. They have mastered the art of achieving a classic cup. Their espresso blend and dark roast coffee are favourites at the cafes in Grand forks.
When there is coffee left over, Katie and Dave put it in an honesty box at the end of their driveway for people to help themselves. They find that the classic, low acidity, darker profiles are scooped up the fastest.
“To each their own. I have my own personal preference, I drink an Ethiopian light roast every morning for my first cup,” Mitchell told us.
When it comes to green sourcing the Mitchells employ the same philosophies they do to their farm and agricultural community – environmental responsibility and restorative agriculture. They try to exclusively purchase organic certified coffee or Rainforest Alliance.
“I don’t care what the beans cost, I want it to be good quality beans that haven’t been sprayed with any pesticides,” Mitchell explained.
For the future, they hope for a slight increase in business, but they will cap it at 200lbs per week.
“It’s more important to me to be with my kids than to make a pile of money,” explained Dave.
The Espresso Blend
The Espresso Blend featured in Issue #9 of the Espresso Pack is a mix of three different origins: Honduras, Peru and Ethiopia. Each one brings its own personality to the cup.
"We want to preserve country of origin flavours with a little bit of roastiness so it's more approachable for more people," Dave explained.
The Ethiopian third of the cup brings a fruit forwardness and pleasant acidity with a smooth finish - staple flavours of the Ethiopian terroir. The Peruvian and Honduran thirds bring chocolatey and cocoa flavours that help maintain the cup's classic profile.