Huntley's Java Expert

Roasting those coffee beans in motion is key to her success, says Sandra Knight, owner of Huntley-based Chicago Coffee Roastery, which actually roasts about 3000 pounds per month and is a wholesaler and distributor of coffee, teas and related supplies and equipment.

“I use a fluid bed roaster, because I like the coffee it produces, instead of a drum roaster, which works like a clothes dryer,” she said. “My roaster works like a Lotto machine with air flowing through it and the beans don’t sit. With a drum roaster, the beans are touching metal, and to me, that gives it a scorched taste.”

Knight has eight employees now. One is a master roaster and the rest are involved with packaging. They distribute for 14 other companies and has only a 5 lb. minimum order. Manager Tiffany Greer at Higher Grounds in Huntley buys her products.

“I tried other roasters,” she said. “And after tasting her products, there just is no comparison.”

Knight said she keeps her minimum order requirement low so retailers are able to get only what they need for the week so they can keep it fresh.

“I learned that by working in a retail coffee store,” she said.

That role was her beginning in what has become her passion. At age 21, Knight took a job at “That Coffee Shop” in Dundee’s Spring Hill Mall.

“It was amazing to me how much coffee (by the pound) we sold, how much there was to learn,” Knight said. “There are different types of trees and berries, soil conditions affect it, so from year to year it changes.” Coffee prices now are their highest in 14 years, she added, because coffee producers are keeping five percent more than they ever have. Her coffees are shipped from Brazil, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, Hawaii, Africa and elsewhere.

Other changes she’s experienced since she started her business in 1990 include a resurgence of coffee shops and preferences for tea.

“When I first got in it, people were coming in and buying it by the pound and not by the cup,” she said. “Then coffeehouses came back. And they’re making their money by selling a cup of coffee.”

She says even with the per-cup markup, it’s still not the way to go to make profit. “If they could sell the coffee by the pound they would make so much more money,” she said.  “But history always repeats itself.”

Coffee was roasted lighter when she started her business too, she said. On a quest to learn more, Knight has traveled to Costa Rica and Sri Lanka for coffee and tea tours.

On the latter visit, she was part of a group of nine, escorted by a Sri Lankan tea grower.

“It was 18 days. We saw lowland teas, highland teas...it was such a beautiful country,” she said. “The people are so respectful and polite. They are rich in culture…and the way they live.”

She described the tea plantations as perfectly manicured.

“I plucked tea leaves, and I slept on a plantation,” she said. “I was the only coffee person, but then once we started learning about it I realized a lot of the nuances and terminology, like mouthfeel and acidity, are still used. I realized coffee and tea are similar.” She attributes consumer interest in teas as health-focused.

Knight’s reminders for coffee drinkers are:

• Maximum freshness with an educated palate is 4-6 weeks
• Coffee should not be thawed, and then refrozen
• When kept in whole bean form, coffee stays fresher longer
• Take out from the freezer only what you will use for the week
• The enemies of coffee are oxygen and light

And, her most important one: “Make coffee at home because you are spending maybe a dime a cup for the best products, instead of at the coffee shop where you’re paying for the person who makes it, and the lights.”

More information about Chicago Coffee Roastery is available at www.chicagocoffee.com.