Roaster Spotlight: Black Oak Coffee Roasters from Ukiah, CA

Black Oak: We have been a two time Golden Bean North America overall champion, winner of America’s best espresso, and a Good Food Award Finalist. In the SCA circuit, our head roaster won the Cup Tasters’ Competition, going on to represent the United States in the international round, and our green buyer placed in the top 5 in the US Roasting Competition. In addition, we have won close to 100 medals in the Golden Bean competition over the years as well as having had a few coffees score in the 90+ range with Coffee Review.

AWC: How do you source your coffee? What do you look for? 
Black Oak: We source our coffee in a variety of ways depending on its country of origin and what relationships we have built in those places over the years. First and foremost we look for interesting, diverse, and delicious flavors. We evaluate all of our samples first, using a blind screening process, and choose favorites from selections provided by our trusted partners. 

When choosing a coffee we look at it from three different perspectives: first, does the coffee have good structure (meaning sweetness, acidity, taste, balance) and an interesting flavor?  Second, does the coffee have an interesting story? i.e., does it come from a novel origin, single farm, single varietal or processing technique that makes it memorable, that ties the coffee's flavor to its terroir?  Finally, is the origin of the coffee transparent? We need to know that we can verify which region, farm, or cooperative that it comes from and that we are sourcing from farms that don’t use unethical practices such as child or slave labor. Additionally, we actively seek out farmers who are working to make their environment better or engaging in practices that make their communities healthier. We will favor those coffees over others.

AWC: Do you have a favorite brewing set-up for your own coffee?
Black Oak: I’m not fussy and just want a consistent cup to enjoy with my breakfast. For this I like a chocolatey single origin brewed with a Kalita 103. I love this brewer because it's simple, very hard to break, drains uniformly and you can buy filters for it at any grocery store. It can handle high doses (like 50-70 grams) without bitterness, so it can brew a great home batch brew. This is what I enjoy daily with my wife.

If I want to go hard and geek out, I like a fruity natural processed coffee that's brewed in a very particular way. First, I’ll start with relatively soft water (40-70 ppm), around 190 F brew temp, using a flat bottom brewer such as a Kalita wave 185. I love this technique because it tends to feature subtlety and acidity as opposed to bitter compounds. It can really help a fruity or floral coffee taste more expressive.

AWC: How did Black Oak get started?
Black Oak: Black Oak began (and continues to thrive) in a small town called Ukiah, California in Mendocino County. In 2012, we had no idea how a quality focused roaster would be received in a sub-rural working class community. Somewhat to our surprise–and much to our delight–people seemed to really appreciate our coffee and kept coming in. We developed our techniques for roasting, sourcing, brewing and service from a place of desire to provide a truly great product, and things grew organically from there. We benefited from the help of some key friends and colleagues that we were able to bounce ideas off and ask questions when we got stumped until we firmly found our feet. I remember the feeling of reading the first blog review of our coffee and thinking, wow–people actually get us.

AWC: How did you become a coffee professional?
Black Oak: All my life I have been attracted to the idea of being able to produce delicious things at home. I have dabbled in everything from organic farming, to home beer brewing, to small batch coffee roasting in a stovetop popcorn popper. When I moved to Mendocino County there was a coffee business, called the Coffee Critic, that had long been a cornerstone of the community. When that enterprise failed, I was presented with an opportunity. Not only was I able to put my particular interests and entrepreneurial background to use, but I was also able to revive a historic gathering place as well as create much needed jobs to support the local economy.

AWC: Is there a single coffee from Black Oak that you are especially known for?
Black Oak: The coffees that really put us on the national coffee map were naturally processed coffees, particularly from Ethiopia. I have a distinct recollection–and I’m sure many share this experience–of drinking a naturally processed coffee that tasted really fruity for the first time.  This experience is a foundational taste-memory for me. My first taste was from Augie’s Coffee in Redlands, California. Right away I knew I had to figure out how to compose coffees like that. Fast forward a few years, and Black Oak had developed its own version, cultivated relationships with sources, and ended up winning a few national level competitions for them. It's a lot easier to source and roast these coffees nowadays, but the amazingly good ones are still hard to find, particularly from Ethiopia. In fact, last year we only released one natural processed coffee from Ethiopia because we won’t put our name on these unless they are truly special.

Another roast that we are quite well known for is our Duomo Blend. A big part of what we do is supply coffee to home brewers, espresso enthusiasts and cafes who need an espresso that is chocolatey for days, easy to dial in, and has a good flavor balance.  Duomo is the answer to “what do most coffee drinkers like?”  It may not be the most exotic coffee or processing method, but Duomo is home for a great many of our customers.

AWC: What issue in coffee do you care about most?
Black Oak: This is a tough question for me to answer because the coffee issues facing coffee are as numerous, widespread, and complex as the industry as a whole. A significant part of me thinks to riff on the opening line in the Myth of Sisyphus and say- that there is but one serious problem facing coffee and that is climate change. This isn’t to say that other issues in the industry aren’t important. Issues of equality in an industry where profits are highly concentrated, poverty is normal and child and slave labor is still widespread really cannot be understated. However, those issues in the coffee industry are subsequent to the existence of the industry and thus to the increasingly uncertain viability of coffee as a widespread species.

It’s easy to become overwhelmed and either nihilistic or avoidant of the climate-elephant in the room, so I think it’s important to just remember to do what you can where you can in regards to all of our industry’s injustices. For us that takes many forms including: installing a catalytic air scrubber that reduces our CO2 emissions from roasting by over half and means utilizing renewable energy for around 2/3rds of our electrical use. It also means paying our staff a living wage and providing them healthcare, dental, and retirement benefits, donating a portion of all of our coffee purchases to the development of new climate change resistant varieties of coffee through World Coffee Research, donating a portion of our sales to support female health initiatives in coffee producing communities via Grounds for Health, only purchasing coffee sourced from transparent and ethical suppliers, and by continuing to search for new ways we, or any, small coffee roaster can better support our local and global communities.