Ironically the photos of my Third Coast Coffee Roasters tour in Austin contain no coffee. While I’m definitely enjoying my morning cup, it was a few other aspects of the operation that delighted me enough to post this here virtual tour.
Third Coast Coffee is a member of Cooperative Coffees, “a green coffee importing cooperative, comprised of 22 community-based coffee roasters in the USA and Canada, who are committed to building and supporting fair and sustainable trade relationships for the benefit of farmers and their exporting cooperatives, families, and communities.” (Seems like a good life list goal is to visit all 22 members!)
The cupping room is designed white for sensory deprivation--making the coffee the main stimulant in the room.
A wall map pin points growers which members of Cooperative Coffees visit to directly purchase the green coffee.
Coffee grounds stay close to home, as compost for a vege garden behind the roastery.
And finally, a different rubber stamp for each coffee variety which they make in house. This thrilled me no end. They use a little oven to bake the rubber and, well, you'll have to ask them for the details.
If you’re in Austin and like to seek out coffee roasters, pop in. There’s no fancy cafe, just good coffee and good people. 4402 S. CONGRESS AVE #109 • AUSTIN TEXAS • 78745 • 512-444-7820
Hi Susie,
Thanks for posting this! We were delighted to have you by.
I thought you might be interested to know that we’ve just launched the virtual companion to our wall map: we now have a Google Earth layer on our website, which allows anyone to learn about the co-ops we work with for themselves, and includes links to further information as well as our lot-tracking system. The link is here: http://www.thirdcoastcoffee.com/wp/2011/06/know-your-grower-know-your-bean/
Thanks,
Luke