Stone Creek Coffee Roasters Tour

As usual readers of this blog know, I discovered Stone Creek Coffee Roasters at CoffeeCon in Chicago, and have loved every coffee I've had from them.  This weekend we were in Wisconsin for a family gathering. Nothing ends a terrific weekend, like a quick stop in Milwaukee to tour the roasting facility/kitchen/headquarters for Stone Creek Coffee.

Mark and I got to join the tour, as they take you through a brief history of coffee, and the building which houses Stone Creek. In the past the building has been a Boston Store, Palmolive Soap fixtures and an antique store.

After the history lesson, we were taken downstairs to where the green beans are stored. Each of these bags contains about 160 lbs of green coffee beans. What I didn't know was how fragile coffee beans can be. These bags are designed to maintain the purity and flavor of the coffee. If it weren't for the protective bags, let's say the coffee was near gasoline, it is possible fumes could get into the coffee and alter the taste of the coffee.

The beans don't have to travel far to the roaster, it's upstairs. The Dietrich Roaster they use is an incredible piece of machinery to behold.


Of course this is where the magic happens.....what's so cool, is that you can smell it happening, and it's what I imagine Heaven smells like....well...Coffee Heaven.

Our next stop was the cupping and class rooms. This is where coffees are cupped, either coffees Stone Creek roasts, or other coffees that want to become Stone Creek coffees.  Our guide was kind enough to make espressos for anyone who cared for one. Duh...of course we wanted one. Mark and I both tasted notes of caramel. Quite yummy.


This marked the end of the tour, but not the end of our visit. We explored the cafe, and had to try something. We both chose a Boston Latte. This is one heck of a terrific drink. We also sampled some pastries. Might I suggest their scones!

We did shop...and boy did we shop. We got two very different coffees. One is a Bollivia Cima Del Jaguar, which is one of their Lab Series coffees. The second is Costa Rica Seasonal 2014. We will be drinking these coffees during this week, and I will be reviewing them.

I encourage folks to visit Stone Creek, take the tour and try their coffees. I think you will be very pleased you did. Mark and I had a wonderful time at Stone Creek, and our love affair with this company continues. Hmmmm.....I wonder if they do weddings at Stone Creek???

Charlie