MILAN – Let’s talk today about US Roast, based in Mount Pleasant, Texas and roast on a Loring, it’s a company that does private-label specialty coffee for coffee shops. We spoke with James Parry about this activity and its values.
Where do you source your green coffee from? Do you have direct contact with farmers?
“We source most of our coffees from a broker in Houston who we have worked with for years, but we have had some direct-trade offerings over the years as well. We also had a coffee farm in Nicaragua at one point but stopped because of some issues there.”
How do you select the specialties that you then roast for coffee shops?
“We keep 15 or so single-origins on hand at any given time, so there is a lot to work with already. We developed roast profiles for them on our 10-kilo Ambex and then transferred those roast curves to the 70-kilo Loring we now operate on.
We have an offering of Centrals, East Africans, and a couple Southeast Asian offerings like our Papua New Guinea and Sumatra beans. We have cupped them next to the coffees of some of the best roasters in the country and they are great.”
What roasting do you do? Light, medium, dark?
“We do all three levels of roasting. Our signature espresso roasts tend to be in the medium/dark range, but we have a lot of single-origin offerings in light or medium roast levels as well, It all depends on what our customer is looking for and what the demographic of their customer base is most likely to drink.”
What is the specialty market like in US Roast target area?
“We roast in East Texas, where there is a growing number of specialty shops. People here seem to appreciate good coffee like they do anywhere else.”
How far does your sales network extend?
“We are based in Mount Pleasant, Texas, but we service most of the continental United States! Our customers are in Maryland, Alabama, Colorado, California, and many other places around the country.”
Not only specialty, but also tea: what can you tell us about this offering of yours?
“While our focus is 100% on our coffee offerings, we do have some very great-tasting.”
What roasting machines have you chosen? Gas, electric? How many kilos?
“We roast on the Loring S70 Peregrine! It is a 70-kilo gas roaster.”
How do you feel about hydrogen machines in the future?
“We are open to hydrogen roasting in the future but the efficiency would not be the selling point for us since the Loring is already so environmentally friendly. Our Loring is up to four times more efficient than a comparable Probat.”
How do you drink coffee locally?
“Most days I make an espresso at home. If it’s a slower day I’ll make a pour-over. I like trying beans from other roasters on my espresso machine at home.”
What are US Roast future plans?
“Going forward we plan on expanding our toll-roasting capabilities, as we have another S70 Loring on the way later this year. We have quite a high capacity so our goal is to get both going as much as possible. We are also working on some interesting things like helping the federal prison in Texarkana develop a barista training program for its trade school, developing some new products for coffee shops, and beginning to develop our own coffee shop concept”.”
