The Rise of Coffee Roasting in Western New York
Small coffee roasteries are percolating across Western New York and customers are flocking to be fueled by the carefully roasted, delicately balanced brews. Roasters are offering specialty coffee beans, unfamiliar brewing techniques, and expertise that rivals coffee trends in major cities across the world. You could consider many roasters and coffeehouses in Western New York as part of the “third-wave coffee movement,” a philosophy which magnifies coffee as a craft, not just a piping hot cup of liquid energy.
Coffee publications, including Perfect Daily Grind and The Coffee Magazine, refer to the first wave of coffee in the U.S. when demand for it grew in homes and restaurants during the 1960s. The second wave came later when major coffeehouse companies began transforming coffee from a commodity to a luxury beverage. Coffee franchises exposed java culture and knowledge to consumers while flexing its profitability muscle in the industry. Now, sitting in the middle of the third wave, coffee culture is expanding to consider the quality of the bean from the first seed to the last sip. Third wavers are researchers who incorporate the quality of the beans’ heritage, conscious roasting, and precise brewing techniques to extract the full flavor of the coffee. If the second wave is where the clichéd know-it-all barista was born, the third wave is where humble coffee geeks have found the courage to convert their hobby into a business and share their own ideologies with a new crowd of coffee enthusiasts.
I consulted with three coffee roasters whose approach to coffee emulates third-wave characteristics, ranging in location from the rolling hills of Chautauqua County all the way to the Niagara escarpment. For them, coffee is a lifestyle, not a job. All three businesses utilize specialty beans, a specific category of beans that have been rated, scrutinized and scored by coffee connoisseurs from around the world. The quality raters note the appearance, smell and taste while also testing the best roasting and brewing practices according to the bean. Raters then deliver grades on a 1- to 100-point scale. Coffee beans graded 80 or higher are dubbed “specialty.”
In addition to quality, roasters also consider the origin of the fruit. Many are choosing beans from one specific region over those combined from various countries. While blends can be delicious, a single crop’s climate, altitude, soil, season, irrigation, harvesting method and processing technique play a role in the complex flavor profiles of the type of bean. In a single-origin brew, subtle flavors can be smelled and tasted in each cup. There’s no cap on the flavor notes one can experience, but many popular detections include berries, chocolate, nut, honey and brown sugar.
Brewing methods range from using freshly ground beans in drip coffee makers to pour overs—an extraction that involves a gooseneck kettle with hot, tempered, filtered water slowly drizzled over fresh grounds and filtered straight into a cup. It’s a basic extraction that produces a full-flavored beverage. A classic French press and espresso machine are usually on the menu as well.
Our sample of local roasteries includes Crown Street Roasting Co., Overwinter Coffee, and TrueBean Coffee Co. Each echoed a passion for coffee and customer service. For the owners of these businesses, coffee is an art, science and trade.
After a homebrewed beer attempt went awry, Michael Bigney decided to try roasting coffee. It wasn’t that it was easier, it was just a different medium to explore the science of food. In 2014, Bigney set up a roaster in his garage and began his experiments. After lots of researching and testing his batches, he created flavors that needed to be shared. He began roasting beans for his family and friends until fall 2016, when he shared his creation with the public. He set up shop at a two-day craft show in the Southern Tier, had a successful weekend, and was inspired to keep going. By August 2017, Bigney and his wife, Sarah, opened Crown Street Roasting Co. in Jamestown.
To Bigney, coffee roasting is a practice that requires constant attention and refinement along the way. He is watching the airflow, heat, pressure and time while constantly making adjustments on his roaster throughout the process. He perpetuates the kind of attention the beans have received their whole life. Bigney states, “I love being here and what I do even though it is all-consuming. I wouldn’t want anything else.” He adds, “There’s a ton of information out there about coffee. [Roasting] is something that I am constantly learning and researching. We implement this in our business with our teammates and encourage them to explore, ask questions and be curious.”
At Overwinter Coffee in Buffalo, head roaster Ben Trojan began his coffee journey in a “rebellion against dark coffee and adding-stuff-to-coffee trends.” He explains, “Coffee is more than just a vehicle for cream and sugar.” As a light roaster, Trojan found unique flavor profiles according to the beans’ origin, climate and processing method. “The only way to make that shine is to not cook it all off,” says Trojan.
Sharing a good cup of coffee without judgment is part of Overwinter’s business ethos. Along with co-owner Josh Halliman, Trojan believes that “coffee is for everyone. It’s to share and unite us, especially during this polarizing time. I am happy to share our coffee knowledge and also happy to be quiet and just give our customers their coffee.”
Being customer-centric means fulfilling the needs of all coffee drinkers. Contrary to the popularized thought of, “Death before decaf,” Trojan declares, “People who drink decaf coffee are the real coffee lovers. If you can’t have caffeine because of your health, like a heart condition or a pregnancy, and you still want coffee, you’re definitely in it for the experience. We have a no-decaf-sass policy at Overwinter. It’s part of the training. Decaf is people, too.”
Over at TrueBean Coffee Co. in Lockport, owner Jason Dittly, a machinist turned artist turned culinarian, found his passion for roasting coffee when he learned that it meant melding his love of science, the arts and food into one focused passion. A coffee purist, Dittly’s dedication to the taste stems from paying homage to the earth, the plant and the farmers who produced it. His approach to roasting is “to capture the point where the good compounds are at their peak and unwanted compounds have diminished. Bringing out those flavors is an artistic expression to me.”
One of Dittly’s coffee philosophies is a quality home extraction. While all of the roasters emphasize the need for a quality grinder, his additional message to consumers is to experience a perfect home brew by grinding the beans just before making your coffee. He is not a fan of pre-ground coffee as the flavors can diminish within a few days. “You have to enjoy it to its fullest.” While Dittly’s role is to roast it, it’s the barista’s job, even at home, to finish the complex process.
Bigney, Trojan and Dittly agree that the future of roasting coffee in Western New York is looking bright. According to Dittly, “We are a blue-collar, Rust Belt community. We have historically drunk coffee as a commodity for energy and now it’s turning into a craft and culture.” Trojan agrees, “Once we get to the other side of COVID, I think we will see more specialty coffee shops popping up outside of the city and into the suburbs.” Bigney shares the same scope. “It takes a community of roasters to push each other to grow. I think the growth in coffee culture would be awesome and hopefully there’s more coming around.”
Third-wave coffee facilitates a space and time for us to slow down and enjoy mindfully roasted coffee and thoughtful, ritualistic extraction at the coffee bar or at home. Coffee requires us to pay attention to our senses, our pleasures and the company surrounding us.
