Readers, meet Esselon Cafe. In addition to their homemade hot chocolate, exceptional sandwiches, delicious salads (one of the best house dressings I've ever had), and crazy good desserts, they serve and sell incredible house-roasted coffees. Richard, the owner, is a man with a deep passion for coffee and all of the intricacies of growing, buying, and roasting. In fact, Richard only buys from small (4 hectares or less) family farms and co-ops, and roasts all of his coffees to order.
Before we settled on Esselon, I did some intensive research and practically questioned poor Richard to death. I was so happy when he had all the right answers! The coffee is purchased either directly from the farms or through a community co-op for a price that is at least at but usually above the standard for fair-trade pricing. All of his coffees are locally roasted in the cafe, which is in Hadley, MA--about an hour away. This means less fuel gets used transporting it from roastery to us and therefore this coffee has a pretty itty-bitty carbon footprint.
And did I mention that it's delicious? Really, really delicious. One of my New Years Resolutions is to drink more tea, but it's definitely harder with this coffee hanging around! By summer we hope to have 1-pound bags available in our gift shop as well. I'm a huge fan of edible souvenirs (Dan and I will be grabbing some California Almond Blossom Honey while we're in San Francisco, mmm!) so I thought that would be a good way for our guests to take home a taste of the Inn. Hooray for edible memories!
With Love,
~Brande N.
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