Q&A With Rick Evans of Evans Brothers Coffee Roasters
Photography by Victoria Cooper
What should people know about you and/or Evans Brothers Coffee?
Evans Brothers Coffee is a true family business, founded by brothers Rick and Randy Evans, who share a love for each other, for great coffee, and for creating community and connection. Established in 2009, they have won the Good Food Awards twice, along with other national and regional recognition. In addition to operating a couple of successful cafes, they remain committed to helping their wholesale partners succeed with top quality coffee programs. They are small enough where the owners are still very involved, but established to where there is a team of resources available for training and support. If looking for a true full-service Idaho coffee roaster, call Evans Brothers!
Tell us a little more about your commitment to sustainability:
Our philosophy on coffee roasting begins with an emphasis on sourcing exceptional raw beans. This means that we do our homework about the coffee we are purchasing. We want to know about the origin, the farmer, the cultivation, processing, and storage. Sustainability is important, and for us, it goes beyond simply purchasing Organic and Fair Trade coffee. We are seeking relationships with producers who share our beliefs and passion for providing the best coffee possible. We strive to tell their story and honor the hard work they put in, and whenever possible we travel to these faraway places in efforts to cultivate those relationships. An origin trip is rewarding, but more importantly it makes a statement to our producer partners... that we recognize their efforts and are committing to the common goal of providing the highest quality coffee to our customers.
Which product are you most excited about right now?
We have a product line of coffees we call Roaster's Reserve, focusing on special micro-lots, and direct relationship coffees that are distinguishable and exceptional. We just returned from the 8th annual Colombia Best Cup! This is a competition hosted by our partners Cafe Imports and Banexport in an effort to source some of the most unique and beautiful coffees Colombia has to offer and reward those producers with high prices for their coffees. Through this program we’ve been able to offer some amazing Colombian coffees while developing long term relationships with producers, including producer Maria Carmenza Calpa, whose coffee we’ve been buying for the last 4 years. Of the 1,200 coffees submitted for the competition, we were given the opportunity to cup and meet the producers of the top 30 coffees! At the live auction (following a week of cupping and scoring the entries), we won the auction for the 3rd place coffee, produced by Edwin Fidel Ortiz - a 34 year old 2nd generation farmer. It has tasting notes of black tea, honeydew melon, peach rings with a bright, sparkling lemon acidity! What's special about this is that all the additional price on these high scoring coffees goes directly to the producers, making a huge difference in their livelihoods (and their ability to continue to reinvest in top quality coffee).
