Standards & Sustainability
Standards
At stearns coffee, quality is at the epicenter of everything we do. We believe straight forward, single origin coffees are the best way to experience the complexities of the remote region from which they come.
Single Estates
Clean coffee. Instead of putting additives in our coffee or creating blends to hide tastes we don't want you to taste, we keep our coffees pure. In fact, we want to make sure you taste every rich detail of flavor in every single bean.
Roast Dates
Coffee loses its flavor quickly. So while many products have expiration dates, our coffee has “Roast Dates.” We want you to know just how fresh our coffee is, not when the last possible day to drink our coffee without getting sick would be.
After farmers painstakingly cultivate and harvest their crop, the next step is roasting these beans. The task of a roaster is to properly develop and intensify the characteristics of the coffee's profile. Many roasters use this step as an opportunity to mask or add flavors. By over-roasting (or dark roasting) their beans, they give the consumer a generic dark or bold "coffee flavor" and while consistent, it's completely devoid of it's true complexity.
There are so many factors (climate and soil for instance) that can drastically affect the flavor of coffee. Roasting techniques need to be constantly re-adjusted for each season, and cuppings are necessary todetermine if the final product is up to the same stringent standards implemented by the farmers who first cultivated the coffee.
Our roaster, Counter Culture Coffee, is aware of all the nuances involved when striving for the perfect cup of coffee. They earnestly believe that coffee is relationships and responsibilities; and more than anything, coffee is a connective force that has the potential to bring out the best in people.
At his point, the coffee is ready to find it's way to your cup. At stearns coffee, we know our coffee is unsurpassed, and so it needs to be prepared accordingly. We are well aware of how committed the farmers, as well as our roaster is to developing the finest quality coffees, and concurrently, there is an enormous expectation from the barista. This is the last person in a chain who is able to accomplish what was intended for the coffee. Without the cognizant barista, nothing anticipated for the coffee will take place.
We are precise and disciplined in our approach to preparing drinks. We never grind espresso or coffee before it is going to be used. We don't scorch milk, we finely steam it to a temperature that elicits the natural sugars and inherent sweetness of milk. We are constantly tasting and adjusting. We assemble each drink meticulously, and will only serve something we ourselves would love to drink.
Sustainability
At stearns coffee, we believe that an ethical approach benefits everyone. Counter Culture Coffee will never buy coffee for less than the cost of production plus a fair premium for quality because, fundamentally, they believe that everyone in the chain. Strong, stable relationships are crucial for business, so Counter Culture Coffee is committed to transparency with everyone from coffee farmers to coffee consumers.
Quality coffee requires a tremendous amount of attention, and the men and women who tend and harvest these coffees by hand deserve to be rewarded for the quality of their crop. They seek to recognize and promote great coffee farms, and go far beyond the basics of fairness to collaborate with the artisans who create great coffees. Counter Culture Coffee works to implement positive social practices like community health care, education, and environmental protection; and they strategize to continue improving the quality of the coffee and, as a consequence, continue increasing the price they pay for that coffee.