Local coffee shop shows off roasting process on National Coffee Day

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – Sunday is a special day for caffeine lovers all over the country.

It’s National Coffee Day.

The Beans and Cream coffee shop in Columbus is a unique one.

It’s home to South Bound Coffee Company, one of three shops in the Golden Triangle that roast their own coffee beans.

“So we put our green coffee in the top. It comes to us in seed form from the farmers. It’s actually the pit of a cherry. It comes to us in that green form after it’s been processed. We put it in the top of the roaster, then as we pull that lever, it drops down into the roaster and it cooks over a period of time,” said head roaster Josiah Andrews.

He’s been in the coffee-making business for about five years now, but he’s been roasting his own beans for about two years.

“The fact that we roast all of our own coffee lets us bridge the gap between the process of growing coffee and the thought, the intent, and the labor of the farmers gets to come through our hands, so we get to do our due diligence to bring what they put all their time and effort into the coffee to try to highlight and bring that out. Not cook it so dark that it’s not highlighted anymore. We keep it in that range where we highlight the natural flavors,” said Andrews.

A lot goes into making those natural flavors. In fact, Andrews said coffee flavors vary depending on where the beans are grown, and what time of year they are harvested.

“If you have a Guji coffee coming from Ethiopia that’s going to harvest at a certain time of year, and it’s probably going to be a slightly different time than a Geisha coffee coming from Columbia or a Cajamarca in Peru and different things,” said Andrews.

Fields Ferguson has worked with South Bound Coffee for almost a year now.

He said there’s a conscious effort to change the “Coffee Culture.”

“In the coffee industry, there’s a term called ‘Third Wave,’ and it’s this specialty coffee era, basically. Meaning that, instead of just giving you a quick and easy caffeine fix, we want to prepare you a cup that is high quality. It’s of the best ingredients, and you get to taste the specific elements of coffee,” said Ferguson.

Ferguson said making coffee is more than a job.

“This is an art form. If you wanted to be very superficial, you could say the way you pour milk into the cup and make a flower or a heart or a tulip or whatever it is… That’s definitely art, but also the fact that we are caring about the bean from the day it’s imported to us, or the day it’s actually farmed, to the day it’s imported, to how we roast it, and then also how we serve it,” said Ferguson.

“Our heart is to educate people about coffee. Some people don’t know how much thought and effort these families or collectives or farmers in these countries are going through to make this coffee taste amazing,” said Andrews.

For more information at South Bound Coffe Co. click here.