After a few years of running his own coffee shop, Jon Plett, joined forces with his brother Sam, who had been roasting coffee from home for several years. Using the coffee knowledge of the “Other Brother,” the two launched the commercial coffee roasting company, which CoffeeCollective is excited to feature for February’s package.
Since 2012, Other Brother has been roasting coffee in the quaint farming community of Winkler in southern Manitoba. Apart from various retailers in Manitoba who sell Other Brother roasts, coffee fanatics are able to reserve bags of beans to enjoy, which are later mailed directly to their front door.
Lessons of coffee roasting were passed down from Jon and Sam’s grandfather and father. As third generation roasters, Jon says the family’s stance on quality and “delivering exceptional products,” are admirable promises that both him and Sam are proud to stand behind.
On top of their roasting know-how, the brothers grew up in Bolivia and Mexico where they became very familiar with the typical life of a coffee farmer.
“From that experience alone we learned a lot about how to treat people and consider what’s best for the global village,” says Jon, which is a main concentration for Other Brother when selecting coffee and working with farmers and partners. “We focus on treating people as people and having a relationship with our suppliers.”
Jon Plett discovering coffee in Dominican Republic
While most of Other Brother’s beans are sourced with help from their partners, at times Jon does discover farms himself. This past November he took a trip to Mexico to meet and deal with farmers and coop representatives directly. Other Brother aims to feature some of newfound beans from this year’s crop by the end of 2014.
In searching for beans Jon says Other Brother looks for quality farming practices including handpicked beans, responsible water consumption and excellent storage facilities. However, more importantly, Jon wishes to see that both the farmers and crops from which the beans are sourced are advancing and better off. “We believe we are accountable to the farmer,” says Jon. “To represent his life’s work the best that we can.”
Because organic certification is expensive, and coffee farmers among the poorest in the world, Jon says Other Brother looks onto organic farming practices and past technical labels.
“We are people serving each other through the median of quality coffee, and if we happen to stumble upon a certification along the way, that’s nice too.”
This month, CoffeeCollective featured two Other Brother roasts:
Guatemala – Huehuetenango
A dark roast that exhibits many layers of chocolate with lemon undertones.
Kenya – AB Kabare
Lightly roasted with a variety of flavours such as deep red fruit, chocolate and citrus.
Visit otherbrotherroasters.com today for more information on this Canadian roaster. You can also find the brothers on Twitter @obroasters or Facebook.com/OtherBrotherRoasters.
Non-members check out the CoffeeCollective store today for your own shipment of Other Brother coffee. For those of you that received your February shipment, let us know what you think!