The Montana Coffee We Drink Behind the Counter

Coffee is the thing people buy from us that has nothing to do with why they came in. They arrive for meat and leave with beans, usually because somebody behind the counter mentioned what we drink back there.

Montana has a small roasting scene that never tried to become anything national, which is the same story as most good things made in this state.

Why Roast Date Matters More Than Origin

People shop coffee by country and ignore the number that predicts how it tastes. Beans are best somewhere between a few days and about a month off the roaster. After that they flatten out, and no brewing method recovers what is gone.

A bag from a shelf at a supermarket has usually been sitting for months, which is why it tastes like coffee in general rather than like anything in particular. Buying from a roaster an hour up the road is not sentiment. It is the freshest option available.

Boone and Crockett

Elkhorn Coffee Roasters is in Montana and this is the one we go through fastest. It is a darker roast that holds up to being reheated at ten in the morning after sitting since six, which is a real requirement in a working kitchen.

If somebody tells us they take it black and strong, this is the bag we hand them.

Big Hank

Big Hank is whole bean and a shade lighter, with more of the fruit still in it. It rewards a grinder and a scale, and it punishes a drip machine that has not been cleaned since spring.

Buy whole bean if you own a grinder and will use it. Buy ground if you will not, because stale whole bean is not better than fresh ground.

The Huckleberry Roast

Flavored coffee has a reputation, most of it earned by the syrupy stuff sold in tins. This one is worth separating from that.

Huckleberry is tart rather than sweet, so it reads against the coffee instead of sitting on top of it. It smells stronger than it tastes, which is the correct direction for a flavored coffee and the opposite of what most of them do.

This is the bag visitors take home and the one people mail to relatives, because it tastes like where they were rather than like a flavor from a list. We also carry a Colombia from Elkhorn for anyone who wants a straight single origin with nothing done to it.

How to Not Ruin It

Three things account for most bad cups. Water that is boiling rather than just off the boil, a grind that does not match the method, and beans that have been open on a counter for a month.

Keep beans in something airtight, away from light, at room temperature. The freezer is a debate we are not going to settle here, but the door of a warm kitchen is not the answer either.

Grind coarse for a press and finer for a drip, and if the cup tastes bitter the grind is usually too fine rather than the beans being too dark.

Coffee as the Easy Gift

Beans travel better than almost anything we sell. They weigh little, nothing breaks, heat does not matter the way it does with chocolate, and the recipient uses it up rather than storing it.

Paired with the pancake mix it becomes a breakfast rather than a bag, which is the version people send to family out of state.

Questions We Get

Where is this coffee roasted?
Elkhorn Coffee Roasters is in Montana. We carry a rotating selection of their roasts.

Whole bean or ground?
Whole bean if you own a grinder and will use it. Otherwise ground, since fresh ground beats stale whole bean.

Is the huckleberry coffee sweet?
No. Huckleberry is tart, so it comes through as fruit against the roast rather than as sugar.

How long do beans stay good?
Best within about a month of the roast date. Store them airtight, away from light, at room temperature.

Do you ship coffee?
Yes, throughout the United States.