Welcome to the blog for Derek Sips. We are a family owned, largely one person run, coffee roasting business (Derek’s wife, Pamela, jumps in when our children are down to sleep). We are thankful and grateful for the opportunity to provide great quality coffee for the everyday sippers.
While we refer to ourselves around here as “Derek Sips”, there are technically 7 of us that are excited about all things coffee. Even our 5 children enjoy having “a sip” of coffee as often as we will let them. One of our 7 year olds recently asked, “Why can kids not drink coffee? I would really like to take coffee to drink at school!” While that particular scenario has not happened, we have enjoyed letting him and his siblings take part in the family business by labeling bags, participating in markets, and having a small “taste” of firsthand knowledge on what our coffee beans are all about.
Before we bulk order green coffee beans, we start by researching coffees and learning about what the cuppers have found. Cuppers try coffee beans and record what they taste, usually choosing 3 to 5 prominent flavors. They typically list them in the order the flavors are encountered (meaning from the smell before grinding, post grinding, brewing, and tasting). The flavors can vary based on the region where the coffee is grown, how it is washed (processed), what type of coffee bean (varietal), and how it is roasted, among other factors.
We roast our green coffee beans in a way to highlight the flavor profiles. Thus, you will find most of our beans are a medium to medium dark roast. We sometimes need to roast a bean a number of times to see if we can distinguish different notes. We also want to see how we enjoy those flavors in a cup of black coffee. Derek often enjoys chocolate and nutty notes in coffee. Pam is fond of citrus and cream notes, as long as they aren’t too acidic. The kids love all coffee but can occasionally draw out chocolate and vanilla notes! We try to feature several beans at any given time with enough variety in flavor profiles to help ensure everyone can find their favorites. Or if you’re like Pam, try a new and different coffee each week!
grace and peace,
Derek Sips Family