Chef Daniel has been working on a completely new breakfast program (tentatively named “Farmhouse Breakfast at Dig Inn”) that we are hoping to test launch at our Madison Avenue location this Spring. It’s starting to really shape up.

Accordingly, we have been on the hunt for a local coffee roaster that shares our passion for quality & sustainability. Because what’s breakfast without a good cup of Joe?

Our visit to Stumptown

In the course of our search, we have been speaking with a lot of folks, learning a bunch, and drinking a lot of coffee.

This past weekend, we had the opportunity to visit Stumptown Coffee Roasters at their local roasting plant in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Mr. Dan was kind enough to tell us a bit about Stumptown and its history and give us a tour of the plant. We wrapped the day up with beers and pressed sandwiches at Fort Defiance.

Pictures are not allowed, unfortunately, so we don’t have any to share, but it was a very impressive operation. The Stumptown guys believe that if you want to carry their coffee, you should probably care enough to make it out to Red Hook and see it first hand. We can’t argue with that. (If you do want to check it out, it’s just a 20 minute ferry ride from South Street Seaport to Red Hook, and the plant is a 20 minute walk from there.)

Why we like Stumptown

First and foremost, they have an amazing product. I tried it initially at their Ace Hotel location, and it’s delish. This is because of the approach they take to both sourcing and roasting their beans, which is impressive.

In terms of sourcing, much of what they purchase is Direct Trade, meaning that their buyers (3 of them, including the owner & founder) travel 9 months out of the year to meet with and purchase directly from the guys who are actually growing the coffee. The benefits of Direct Trade (vs. Fair Trade) are that higher prices are paid to producers (since operational costs of having a third party certifier are removed) and roasters have more control over quality (since they’re inspecting the coffee themselves and choosing which producers to support).  You can learn more about the differences between Direct Trade and Fair Trade in this helpful Ethical Ocean blog post.

On the roasting front, they only use vintage roasting equipment – a “they don’t make it like they used to” sort of thing. Apparently the steal is thicker and heavier so it contains heat far more effectively than modern production equipment. Makes sense to me.

Stumptown also has a pretty sophisticated training infrastructure for their customers.  Since a big part of the quality of the final product is how well the coffee is brewed on-site, they invest in training programs that allow their customers to maximize freshness and flavor.

So suffice it to say, we were impressed.  While it’s not a done deal yet, we look forward to working towards a fruitful relationship with Stumptown.

If you have an opinion on Stumptown, or any other local roasters, please let us know in the comments.