Welcome to Beaver Tales Coffee! Coffee with a Tlingit Kick!!!

Hello, Fred here,
I never thought a dream could go this far. Beaver Tales Coffee started as a dream, literally. I woke up excited, “Molly, MOLLY!” we’re going to roast coffee! I wrote it down so I wouldn’t forget. This is at about 3 am, on our little sailboat, in LaConner, WA. As any good wife woke by her crazy hubby should, she said “yeah, yeah, go back to sleep”. I did, but woke with same excitement. I looked up roasting coffee on You-Tube, and away I went.

​My first roaster was a rotisserie with a drum basket. It didn’t get hot enough for roasting beans, but it was a start and the enthusiasm was there. I started roasting mind you, on a 27ft Ericson sailboat, with a 60 lb dog, my wife Molly, and cat Bubby aboard. Smoked out the whole boat, but Damn It I got it done! With only 3 videos on You-Tube for training, a not so hot rotisserie, and a full crew on a small boat. My first coffee I drank right after it cooled down, no waiting for gasses to release or nothing. I used my lil’ grinder and made dust outta my beans and drank it. At the time it was the best coffee in the world (only cuz I made it).

So on top of all this, today is Molly and my 5th Wedding Anniversary. Molly and I are bad for each other, in the sense that our dreams don’t mesh up like this all the time. I have had plenty of business ideas and most of them were met with “um, NO!”. We have failed, fallen, stumbled, walked, ran, and are always there for each other, no matter what. One could never find a partner like this in a million years, and I did a “thank you God, (Higher Power or who ever is out there) because I couldn’t make it here on my own. We have stood through trials and tribulations together and we’re always there to help each other up, hold, hug, or just plain hang on to, and hope for the best. My wife is my pillar to lean on when one is needed, and we’re there for one another always.

So back to the best coffee in the world. I had my flops rushing into things, like Christmas 2018. I was going to give family coffee for presents, which I did. And that, is where we get back to the “REST” part!!! I didn’t watch the whole video or something. I didn’t let my coffee rest, and didn’t know resting the beans after roasting brings the flavor out. So off to brother and sister in-laws for Christmas dinner, coffee in hand for whole family, fresh outa my rotisserie roaster, going down I-5 dressed as Santa, on my wife’s Yamaha XS850. Mind you there is a winter weather report for snow. It never snows on a bike, decked out with lights, reindeer antlers, a red nose, and a native decked out as Santa. I dumped the bike going down a hill in a snow storm. My wife was not amused. Santa laying in road. The guy following Santa jumping out of his truck saying “you ok?” followed by “I almost ran over Santa” when a cell phone pops out and for the record. That’s that not a good coffee tale, but one of many, and one of many more to come. With coffee for the whole clan, fresh outa the roaster, sometimes fresh isn’t the best. Like wine, it has to rest for flavor. This is my learning curve. My sister in-law promptly made some weak, light brown water for everyone, and wonder why my coffee was weak. Back to You-Tube and forums for more info on how to be a coffee roaster!!! Thank gawd for the web and all the info one can find online. Problem solved.

Today we have a Sonofresco Roaster, all computer controlled for a more consistent roast. I can roast the same roast back to back and get the same results each time. Finding the right bean is a challenge, but I think we’re on the right track.

Thank you all for the support and feed back on my roasts. Thanks to my wife for all the support through smoky days on the boat. “Baby taste this bean”, mind you she don’t drink coffee but puts up with all my antics of being a new roaster.

Remember, most of the tales here are true, but names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Thanks Fred