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The Honey Honduras single origin classic medium has notes of hazelnut, vanilla, pear and citrus. Steadfast Coffee Roasters sources its coffee from a variety of countries.
CELINA - A local couple is so serious about their daily cup of joe that they created a business where they manually roast the beans in small batches.
Eric Fledderjohann and his wife Karlee co-own Steadfast Coffee Roasters, a family-owned home roastery.
Eric roasts the beans while Karlee manages the business, designs the labels and operates social media.
In the span of a about two years, the business has grown to carry nine single origin coffees in different roasts, launched tea latte kits and sells a variety of teas.
The business officially opened on Dec. 12, 2022, when Eric Fledderjohann roasted beans for the first time.
"I roast it all myself by hand in small batches," Eric Fledderjohann said during an interview after Saturday's farmers market in Celina. "I have a roaster that cranks (because) it has a motor. I don't have an automated computer running at all. In my roaster, it's a glass window and I shine a flashlight in there so I'm constantly monitoring (the beans) during the whole roasting process, keeping an eye on the color of the beans. I have a chart (with) the guidelines. What I'm listening for is (when) I want 'second crack.' Mostly, I roast medium roast. As the beans near the end of their roasting phase, they start to crack - kind of like popcorn, but not as loud."
Steadfast Coffee Roasters sources its coffee from a variety of countries.
Roasting coffee beans unlocks the aroma and flavor that are sealed away in the green beans, according to information from the National Coffee Association. The beans are rapidly brought to a high internal temperature then quickly cooled. The roasts fall into one of three color categories: light, medium and dark. Light roast coffee has a more subtle taste, making it work for milder varieties. Medium roast has a stronger flavor and is often referred to as the American roast. Dark roast, in comparison, is less acidic than light roast, and is smokier because it is roasted longer.
"We've always enjoyed trying different coffees, especially when we've gone on vacation," Eric Fledderjohann said of his and his wife's shared interest. "We liked to try to find local places; we would always prefer fresher coffee. It was something we always enjoyed doing and we kind of talked about it for a little while. We finally decided to do it after praying about it and doing a lot of research."
In that research, the team learned about where to source the coffee beans from and the workings of the roasting process to maintain the bean's authenticity and flavor profile.
"That was a bit of a learning curve in learning how to do it all manually," Eric Fledderjohann said. "Of course, I watched a lot of videos, did a lot of reading on doing it by hand."
"We don't do any artificially flavored coffee," Eric Fledderjohann said, "What you're tasting is just the natural coffee. A lot of people don't realize, especially if you don't drink plain black coffee all the time, just how much variance there is even from crop year to crop year. There are a lot of variables. The taste will change based on factors, (including) weather for that year through pollination. If there's a coffee farm that's around lots of other fruit farms, (the beans) would take on a more fruity type taste, depending on what it's near. Even altitude plays a factor."
Eric Fledderjohann and his wife Karlee co-own Steadfast Coffee Roasters, a family-owned home roastery. They operate primarily at the Celina Farmers' Market from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturdays at the fairgrounds.
The business sources beans from all over the world and partners with a U.S.-based company that deals with worldwide farms and cooperatives.
For example, the Honey Honduras single origin classic medium is from Honduras and has notes of hazelnut, vanilla, pear and citrus. The Dark Garanhao, which is Portugese for "stallion," is a single origin dark roast from Brazil and has notes of milk chocolate, raisin and roasted peanuts.
"We do source our Guatemalan (beans) directly from a fourth-generation farm family," Eric Fledderjohann said. "That's my favorite tasting, (and) I may be a little biased. I'm really thankful for the direct trade partnership with them."
Eric Fledderjohann specified that the beans are single origin, meaning the beans come from one farm or one farm area.
Steadfast has beans from different countries with the coffee names corresponding to the country.
A blend, which the company is working toward, is coffee from different countries being blended together to create unique, different profiles.
To pay homage to the country, Karlee Fledderjohann designs the labels in correspondence to the country's flag.
"We add little details that Karlee worked on," Eric Fledderjohann said. "The coloration (of the bags) is based on the flag of the country it comes from (to) kind of set them apart from each other. "
For example, the Peruvian flag has red in it so the Peru coffee has a red-based label.
When the team launched the decaf Mexico single origin classic medium, they had to get creative because other labels already have those colors, red and green.
The finished product is an ombre label that fades from green to white to red.
Eric Fledderjohann said the business's name is a nod to Psalm 108:1.
"Steadfast would speak to being committed to God and what he has for us," he said. "We want to be steadfast in the way we conduct our business, be honest with people (and) be reliable and consistent with our customers. "
Although the business doesn't have a storefront, they operate primarily at the Celina Farmers' Market from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturdays at the fairgrounds.
For more information, visit steadfastcoffeeroasters.co.
