Small Town Big Flavor, RoZark Roasterie

Admin
Sep 16, 2017
7 min read

Y’all! Fall is here! As I sit here and find the words for my next Small Town Big Flavor, I am just so excited. There are so many reasons I just love this season. Camping, hiking, crisp air, camp fires, pumpkins, falling leaves, beautiful scenery, sweatshirts, scarves, and cozy homes. What is not to love! And did I mention how wonderful it feels to drink a hot cup of coffee or tea on your deck while covered in a blanket! In fact, I will outline my current situation for you; sitting on my deck, sweatshirt, blanket, and deer gazing while typing. Despite living in town, my yard is surrounded with woods, and if you get out to the deck early enough you can watch them meander through the yard, nibbling on leaves or whatever they can find. It is the most peaceful way to start my day. I do not always have this luxury of a slow start morning, considering I have a demanding toddler who comes searching for me; but when I do I always have a warm cuppa joe in my hand.

See for me, coffee is not solely a caffeine jolt, rather, an experience. Most folks who know me, understand I am most definitely a morning person. I thoroughly enjoy waking before anyone else in the home, so I can hear the birds wake and watch the sun rise. In the stillness of the morning, before the day begins to rush, I enjoy self-time. Without the distractions, I can smell the aroma my cup emits, I can feel the warmth in my hands as I grasp the cup, and I can feel myself slowly waking to enjoy the smallest moments of the morning. Because of this love for alone time with my coffee, I thought I was someone who could truly appreciate the process of the black fuel. I am rather a coffee snob, only particular brands make it into my cup, since it is in fact about the entire process rather than the surge of energy. But I discovered being a snob and appreciating the effort it takes to arrive in my home are vastly different.

So, I decided to take a detour on my outlined route for Small Town Big Flavor, rather than doing a food establishment, I decided to highlight a different type of business. One I am so grateful I found early on in my Heber Springs residency.

I decided I would bring to you RoZark Hills Coffee Roasterie.

Prior to my interview and tour of RoZark, I had absolutely NO idea what all went into coffee roasting. I did not know the multiple steps and beautiful process it truly takes to arrive at a robust cup of coffee. I just knew coffee beans started green, and through the roasting process we got what we drink. Simple kinda woman over here…. I guess being someone who knows about food, how it works and what not, I never took the time to consider coffee. I know the facts regarding nutrition, but had no clue what would distinguish it from good, fair, or poor, other than my palate. So, when I left the roasterie I was elated! Overly excited to share what I had learned with you, and with a whole new appreciation for the process behind arriving in my mug.

A roasterie in Rosebud, Arkansas, the back story.

When I sat down with the owner, Ms. Rita Fox, I had no idea the nifty story I was about to hear. It all started in Seattle, Washington, where Rita’s father owned an industrial equipment business. Her father was one who knew how to fabricate just about anything, if given the time to tinker. One day three men came to him with an old coffee roaster, and laid their request before him. Her father did in fact, refurbish, install, and instruct the gentlemen how their roaster operated. Those men, roasting their coffee, when gourmet coffee was not quite a trend, went on to name an establishment Starbucks.

As the trend grew, many individuals came to Rita’s dad looking to refurbish or build various aspects of roasters. So, with gourmet coffee growing, the business adjusted to meet the demand. As time passed, the parents were ready to retire and travel. In their travels, Rita’s parents fell in love with Romance (pun intended) and decided to make Arkansas their new home.

During one of their visits to family in Romance, Rita and her husband were met with a proposal from her father. Rita’s dad was ready for a new adventure. A few years and multiple twists and turns later, Rosebud Arkansas welcomed RoZark Hills Roasterie as they began roasting in April 1997.

Coffee roasting, the process.

After the interview, Rita was gracious enough to take me on a tour of her roasterie. Y'all... I felt like a kid in a candy shop. I can see why she loves her business so much. She gets to play with all the beautiful coffee, creating a form of art. Her employees are special and her roasting process unique. Rita and her family became artists without ever picking up a paintbrush.

So, as I am gawking around at all the equipment, we stop at a tiny station, one I would have walked by without even a thought. She informed me this is the first stop on the journey to roasting a fantastic cup of coffee. We were at the Sample roasting area, a process which identifies what best extenuates the bean flavor or identifies the flaws. A small amount of beans are roasted and scored based on a SCAA (Specialty Coffee Association of America) scoresheet. This scoring system identifies aspects such as acidity, balance, sweetness, and so on.

As mentioned previously, one of the few things I knew was coffee beans are green, but what I did not know was how SPECIFIC orders to brokers must be for these green beans! Not all beans are created equal. On each hand-sized sample are lot numbers which consists of specific group of farmers, who harvested their beans on a particular day. After they discover which beans create the desired quality, the order is placed with the broker with the very specific lot number being requested. Even something such as harvesting the beans on a different day will completely change the flavor of the roast, resulting in an undesirable flavor, which sends everyone back to the drawing board aka this tiny sample roaster.

Wow, be sure to get the number right!

Seems no big deal so far, I was following pretty closely at this point. And as a RoZark drinker I knew one of the most sought after qualities is freshness. So even though the logistics of the roasts and how to achieve desired quality have been discovered, the actual roasting of the beans in bulk happens as ordered. So, every week, the earlier days the shelves are filled with bags upon bags of coffee to be shipped to the numerous locations to fill the orders. But by the end of the week the shelves are completely empty. Their coffee NEVER sits on the shelf waiting for a purchase, it is made for those who order only. The day I visited and toured with Ms. Fox just so happened to be earlier in the week, so I got to see the shelves slowly filling. But I was quite taken back when I realized the shelves would be empty in a few days.

Once again, still following up until this point, and then as someone who had never stepped into a roasterie I could not thoroughly appreciate the knowledge Ms. Rita and her employees possess regarding beans and the roasting of them. I could not even tell you what a “roaster” looked like, or the sizes, or how it worked; until I stepped into their warehouse. So, as I continued to listen to the process, I became very aware of how many critical steps existed. Even leaving the beans a smidge too long would lead to over-roasting and a completely undesirable product. Each bean roasts vastly different; variances in temperature and time exist depending on the bean origin, and the desired quality. And once the beans have been roasted, they must be moved to cooling tray to stop the roasting process quickly.

After the beans have cooled, the beans can then be blended to create their many different options we all know and love, such as Roast Masters Blend, RoZark Espresso, or Italian Roast.

Flavors can also be added to various blends or varietals, depending on which accepts the flavors without interfering with overall quality. A few I can mention from taster’s experience include: Snikee Doodle, Caramel Nut Shortbread, Southern Pecan, and Christmas Cookie. Oh, the Christmas Cookie, I am coming for you in a few short months. There are obviously many more options beyond the few mentioned, but as a self-proclaimed coffee connoisseur, who desires the bold flavor of the beans, my husband and I tend to gravitate toward the varietals such as Guatemalan, Ethiopian, and Sumatra.

As with their coffee, I discovered RoZark also offers a variety of hand-selected teas for you to add to your cups. Rita explained how they wanted to be as proud of the tea offerings as they are of the coffee. So selecting teas is done very carefully.

I have not personally tried them, but knowing the effort toward quality and freshness of their coffee, I am willing to bet their teas carry similar standards.

Yes, I would have to say I walked in thinking I knew a bit about coffee, but walked out knowing I knew all too little. I can say I have complained in my time about the cost of my gourmet cuppa joe. But after seeing the effort put into roasting process alone, I can happily sip at my favorite mug, knowing many hands have grown, crafted, and mastered what I have chosen to include in my morning time, or afternoon break time. I am thankful I can now fully appreciate my local roasterie’s product, and possible earn my self-proclaimed title of coffee connoisseur.