Nestled in the town of Hadley in the Pioneer Valley and just over 60 miles from our doors lives Share Coffee Roasters, a small, independent coffee roaster who roasts all of the coffee we grind & brew fresh right in our lobby every morning.

Share focuses on importing high quality coffees from around the world, paying between two and four times the cost of even Fairtrade coffee.  In today’s coffee market, the price per pound for commodity green coffee can dip below what it costs to produce.  By sourcing very high quality coffee and being willing to spend upwards of 400% above the market average for that coffee, Share is helping to support farmers who are putting hard work into growing their coffee.

Once that green coffee arrives at Share, it’s up to the skill of Ken & his team to bring out the very best in those beans. All of their coffee is roasted in a restored Probat coffee roaster from the 1950s, updated with today’s technology. Ken tracks and controls every detail he can during the roasting process, from three separate temperatures and airflow to weight loss after roasting. Once the coffee is roasted to perfection, it’s cooled and bagged, ready for cupping, a term for coffee taste-testing.

Each and every batch of coffee roasted, no matter how closely it follows Share’s roasting parameters, is graded on characteristics such as aroma, body, acidity, and sweetness in a process known as cupping before it can leave their roastery. Once that coffee gets to us, it’s ground immediately before each brew and is on our shelves for at most a little over a week from the time of roasting. This ensures that you have the highest quality & freshest coffee possible, rivaling any high end coffee shop around!

So, next time you’re enjoying a cup of our incredible lobby coffee, know you’re also doing your part to support a local business as well as helping hard-working farmers from around the world.

If you ever find yourself out in Amherst or Northampton, be sure to check out one of their cafes or pick up a bag to take home in our Mercantile.