Three Bears Coffee Company is built on quality coffees cultivated by conscientious growers. From the very beginning, the goal has been to provide exposure and commerce to coffee producers with unique offerings that are passionate about what they do, bringing their work and products to my local community. The growers and business partners I choose to work with share my devotion to a job well done, a strong sense of equity and camaraderie, and a concern for longevity and sustainability.

Coffee beans are the basis for the whole industry, and so the roasting operation is the primary function of Three Bears Coffee Company. The simple pleasures of grinding, brewing, and enjoying a cup of coffee are what sparked my interest many years ago, and these remain my motivations today. There are lots of different approaches to those simple pleasures but they are all essentially tied to the coffee itself, and each coffee has its own unique characteristics based on origin, variety, and processing techniques. Those different aspects are what I like to put in focus and they are the distinctions that interest me most in the wide world of coffee.

I’ve sourced coffees to roast by searching for particular agricultural and processing methods, as well as by seeking out business structures that operate effectively and for the mutual benefit of the people involved. I have sought to build long term relationships and have offered beans from most of the producers for a decade or more, proving to be a reliable buying partner in an industry where business can often be more transitory driven by prevailing trends. There are coffees available from the main growing regions of the world, from cooperatives and small farms that are pursuing quality work.

Our original affinity for natural-process coffees persists and they are heavily presented in our offerings. Sun-drying of coffee cherries allows the beans to absorb flavors and natural sweetness from the surrounding fruit, often resulting in a fuller-bodied and lower acidity brew. This process is time-intensive and sometimes precarious, requiring careful attention and quality-control, from suitable conditions for harvesting through weeks of raking and turning the cherries to achieve proper drying. The meticulous labor involved offers opportunity for coffee-growing communities to develop premium products that warrant premium purchase prices, creating vital inflows to their economies. When they also establish mutual benefit organizations such as cooperatives, they are more likely to ensure persistent and equitable income for their skilled work. With our roasting we attempt to highlight the unique qualities of each coffee, and we are grateful that sharing them with customers in our community can support people doing their good and valuable work.