New business brewing in Lake Mills

BY BONNIE KAY BALDWIN

LAKE MILLS GRAPHIC

For those coffee lovers out there wanting to try a new cup of Joe and searching for the best coffee they can find, there’s a drop of good news dawning.

Justin and Michelle Kester have fired up a brand-new undertaking—roasting coffee beans.

The idea, as Justin put it, came to mind, “as I was flushing fire hydrants last spring,” he said with a chuckle. (Justin works for the city of Lake Mills.)

Justin was looking for a way to make a little extra money. He mentioned it to his wife, Mi­chelle, and began researching the topic.

“I have kind of been interested in trying new ventures, and I enjoy drinking coffee. I’d like to bring the joy I get out of drinking cof­fee, to others,” said Justin.

So, this Lake Millian did research on the origins of coffee beans and tips and tricks of roasting coffee, and it intrigued him.

The enterprising couple purchased a fluid roaster, ordered some beans from a wholesaler, set up shop in their garage, and came up with a name.

The name the family came up with was, Two Daughters’ Coffee, because (you guessed it), they have two daughters—Millie, 8, and Jude, 5. The daughters thought the name was silly at first, but the name just fit.

The beans come to them green . . . although Justin said that sometimes they have a blueish or yellow/light green tint.

Justin and Michelle purchased one ‘fluid bed roaster’ which blows hot air through the beans, actually lofting the beans a bit which gives the rotation of the beans in the roasting chamber, he said.

“Kind of like an air popper works,” said Justin. “Fluid, doesn’t mean there is liquid, it just means motion.”

“We offer whole beans and ground beans, and light, medium, and dark roast in 16 oz. packages currently. We are not set up for ship­ping or delivery, yet. We are still testing the waters. Orders must be picked up at our house, 208 N. Harrison, Lake Mills.”

Two Daughters’ presently has six differ­ent kinds of coffee available: Columbia Bu­caramanga El Gato Supremo; Mexico Chiapas Turquesa; Costa Rica, La Magnolia; Rwanda Maboro; Brazil Fazenda Da Lagoa; and Decaf Brazil Sul di Minas.

They sold their first bag of coffee, Jan. 20, of this year.

“So far it’s been real good and we are getting a lot of feedback on the coffee. The custom­ers realize how smooth and different a freshly roasted coffee can taste, and note the satisfac­tion you can get in your cup, as opposed to a grocery store name brand. By the time the con­sumer gets their ground coffee off the shelf, a lot of flavor is gone, and often there’s a bitter taste left behind,” Justin explained.

Justin and Michelle can roast roughly, 18 pounds in an hour, if things turn out perfectly, Justin said. He continued with this analogy, “This is a trending time, somewhat like the microbreweries have been for the beer lovers.”

“Sometimes, it’s not easy to find the sat­isfaction of a successfully roasted coffee. It’s a completely different flavor. My wife used to put a lot of creamer and sugar in her coffee, and now she can drink our freshly roasted cof­fee, without adding anything.”

For more information, check out the web­site—https://twodaughterscoffee.square.site/, or email them at twodaughterscoffee@gmail. com.

“We hope to run this as a family business, but if business keeps growing, maybe we will put up a shed. It would be my goal to be able to ship to grocery stores and to all 50 states, eventually,” said Justin.