LaBicicletta, a coffee blend developed by DOMA Coffee Roasting Company, began with a humble mission: help support women’s cycling. It was a simple idea-but ideas have power. Here at DOMA we’ve seen what ideas can do: they can bring people together, they can inspire and empower us: an idea can change the world.

Let me tell you what I mean…

Mark and Sarah Bender had decided to celebrate their fifteenth wedding anniversary with a trip to Hawaii. The day they were set to return home Mark suffered a life changing injury that would land him in the ICU of a local hospital. News of Mark’s accident soon reached Jenni Gaertner. For Jenni, Mark is a friend, a fellow cyclist, and a valued member of the cycling community. Jenni wanted to do something to help. That’s when Jenni had an idea: why not use the proceeds from LaBicicletta to raise money to support the Bender family?

What began as an idea quickly became a movement. To date DOMA has helped raise over $5,000. Orders have come in from across the country: from individuals and companies alike, all wanting to help support Mark’s recovery. So far the response has been incredible and here at DOMA we hope things are just getting warmed up.

LaBicicletta is more than a bag of coffee: it is an idea.
It is an idea that reminds everyone of the good that lies in each of us.
It is a testament to courage, to compassion, and to generosity.
It is an idea and sometimes ideas can change the world.

Be a part of it!
Proceeds from sales of LaBicicletta purchased either online, at DOMA headquarters, or at Vertical Earth will go towards the Mark Bender Fundraiser through April 31, 2013.

Vertical Earth
2175 N. Main
Coeur D Alene, ID 83814

DOMA Coffee Roasting Company
6240 E Seltice Way : Unit A
Post Falls, ID 83854

www.domacoffee.com

After a short trip to Spokane, I gained a whole new appreciation for the way DOMA chooses to print the bags their coffee comes in. All different sizes, with all different designs and various colors, the coffee bags are pretty awesome, whatever way you slice it. What makes them even more special and unique compared to any other coffee bag you may see in the grocery store, is that all of the bags are letter pressed, on an ancient Chandler Price press, by Chris Dreyer.

Dreyer Press is located in the basement of a building so confusing you practically need a tour guide to find your way through it, the artisan mastery takes place in a cave well guarded against the heat of summer. Walking into the room, there are two sections, one with old poster prints, a vintage clock and even a 1930s era Corona typewriter and the other side in which stands a huge cast iron press; the machine where magic happens.

Before doing anything, Chris takes time to prepare the press. First, this means choosing the correct dies(s) for the bags he’s pressing, then carefully placing them/it into a square window frame type thing with blocks to secure it into place. Each block is carefully tightened to ensure nothing will fall out. It’s like a puzzle, but imagine all of the pieces don’t fit together on their own and need to be tightened to make the right picture.

Next comes the colors. You can only do one color at a time so for something like La Bicicletta, every bag is run through the press multiple times. One color is first chosen and placed as a blob on the edge of a large metal circle about the size of a crêpe pan. This disk spins on a regular basis and has rollers gliding up and down to spread the ink blob all across the palette into a smooth coating.

When in full action, Chris seems to become one with the machine, he is the other half necessary to create magic. He gets into a rhythm that seems like it shouldn’t ever stop. The big wheel whirls to make the rollers roll. The disk spins and the ink spreads. Then a bag is placed in a slot. The handle is pulled and “chunk-chunk” a bag is printed. Chris’ hands glide in and out quickly (so much you’re worried they’ll be smashed, but we later learned there’s just enough space he won’t break any bones). What I saw was pretty amazing. This time, his expert eyes pulled out the bag to scrutinize the ink and comment, “look, you see here? There’s too much ink on the press so the letters are a little blurred. In a couple more bags it’ll look better.” Then he continued on his way…

One of the first things you may notice walking into the plant is that the lights are rarely on. At first this may appear bizarre, but really it’s all part of Doma’s commitment to sustainability. Other people may argue that in reality the lights aren’t on because we all would be blinded by so much light… the guys prefer to work in the dark and are obstinate in their mindset.

As part of my internship, I recently learned some pretty awesome facts, check them out at: http://www.domacoffee.com/content.php?id=132

Here’s what we look like working:

Yet another post from the intern:

The story of coffee begins (mostly likely) in Ethiopia, with Kaldi and his goats. Between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, coffee grows on trees as a little, red, cherry-like fruit, they’re green until they’re red and ripe. Each region produces a different taste and aroma depending on the environment and the production process the beans go through. That’s why you hear people say “this tastes like a sumatra, it seems pretty earthy and leathery” or “that one smells like blueberries, it must be an Ethiopia.”

Since the much of the landscape coffee grows in is difficult to access, most beans are handpicked by members of a cooperative, if you’re on a small scale farm. There is a whole other, scary side to coffee that is mass produced on plantations. Thankfully, Doma doesn’t participate in this side of things. Either way, coffee plants can grow in difficult to access places, along steep mountain slopes and forested areas.

Once the fruit is harvested, there are two different processes used to get to the bean. The first, which is most common, uses water. The “cherries” are run through a machine that takes the red casing off. The bean is still left with a sort of slimy gooey casing called mucilage. To get the mucilage off, the beans are soaked in water, this “fermentation” takes the casing off, at which point the beans are dried and ready to be roasted.

The other process, mostly used in Africa (though gaining popularity in Central America) is the “dry process.” As you can imagine, this process is ideal where rainfall is minimal. Coming from not to far away from Seattle, that’s a slightly bizarre concept… In a country like Ethiopia, the whole coffee cherries are set out in the sun to dry. When the cherry reaches a certain moisture content, it is run through a machine that takes the entire outer casing off, mucilage and all. Once again, the bean is ready to be roasted.

When the coffee beans arrive at the Doma plant, they are a pretty, pale, green color. Each coffee is uniquely roasted in the Loring Kestrel SmartRoast. For trade secrets you might have to blackmail Terry or Jim, pay them off with substantial sums of money a private, sunny island with palm trees and a life supply of ice cream.

Once roasted, each is placed in big tubs ready to be weighed and packaged inside the beautifully designed Doma coffee bags. I once was taught how to weigh the coffee and put it into the appropriate bag, but had trouble keeping up with the high speeds and perfect bagging techniques mastered by Matt and Justin. They are skilled in the rhythmic process of scoop, weigh, fold four times, stack and repeat. I felt sluggish and clumsy in comparison and may come back under cover of darkness to practice…

In the meantime, you now have beautifully roasted beans, ready to be sold and made into coffee!

Breton again:

From the Doma coffee roasting plant you can follow the life of a bean from farm to cup. There have been several expeditions to the coffee cooperatives traveling to countries such as Peru, Mexico, Brazil, Sumatra, Nicaragua and Guatemala. On the end of that journey, are the retailers, the baristas and coffee shops where the average person can sip on a cup of hot coffee, lounge on a chair and read a good book.

Last week, I didn’t quite do that, but I did meet some local baristas when they came in for training in the lab. All the coffee shops that carry Doma coffee have the opportunity to come to the plant and get training as a barista. This means learning how to make the perfect espresso. When I say perfect, I’m going back to the idea that coffee isn’t only a commodity, it’s both an art and science.

We began by getting a general introduction to Doma. To summarize: Doma was created 12 years ago by husband and wife Terry and Rebecca Patano. The name is the combination of the first two letters of their sons’ Dominic and Marco– DoMa. The image of the man on the label? A photo of Terry’s dad taken at the old pier on Lake Coeur d’Alene in 1943. How much more local do you get than that?

After a detailed explanation of how coffee grows (see next post), and a tour of the roasting facility, we had gained a much greater appreciation for the the beans in the bag. Now enlightened, we were ready to learn how to make a perfect shot of espresso. To begin, we ground exactly 18 grams of coffee. Then we used a tamper to tamp the coffee with 30 pounds of pressure. To make sure these measurements were correct, we did several practice measurements using scales.

Once the right amount of grinds was well tamped, we put the portafilter on the espresso machine for 26-30 seconds. As the liquid pours out, it’s important to pay attention to the golden-brown coloring and the crema (foam) that appears in the shot. About two-thirds of the actual shot should be crema. And voilà! a perfect shot of coffee. Steam milk, attempt some amazing coffee art, and you have yourself a beautiful latte.

Hi everybody!

I’m Breton, the new intern at Doma. I’ll be here for about a month. You’ll see me at the Farmers’ Market on Wednesdays and Saturdays or at Doma working on a couple different projects, like coming up with the metrics on Doma’s sustainability.

Since I’m a novice to the coffee world, I’ve been doing a LOT of reading. Everything from “The Better World Shopping Guide,” to “The Professional Barista’s Handbook,” to “Javatrekker Dispatches From the World of Fair Trade Coffee,” to every inch of the Doma Website (and the links connected to it) and even “How to Archer: The Ultimate Guide to Espionage and Style and Women and Also Cocktails Ever Written.” Just kidding. Well kind of, it is on their bookshelf, and I did flip through it…

Overall, I’m excited to be here and enjoying getting to know everyone.

We are having issues at Doma. The Sattwa Chai seems to keep vanishing. Coming soon.

Wow, what a night. Thanks to everyone that showed up and made this event awesome.
In no particular order;
Selkirk Abby. Thanks Jeff for the great variety of beers. Empty kegs are a lot easier to carry. We look forward to your official Grand Opening on June 30th.

Black Top Bistro. Thanks for the great food, we just wish you were here for breakfast.

Sattwa Chai. Thanks for the chai. We made a lot of folks happy with the (cold) summer and (hot) winter drinks.

Dragonfly Vans. At some point, it seemed like a scene from Fast Times. Thanks for letting us destroy one of your rides.

DJ Mercury. Thank you for everything. Music, pour over brew station, competing and general all around niceness.

Rick and Randy from Evans Brothers. Thanks, you guys are truly awesome. And you drank a lot of coffee last night.

Malcolm from Bumper Crop Coffee. I love you, man. Thanks for taking a break in your camping to come hang out. I hope the ice cream wasn’t completely melted by the time you got back. Next time I expect to see your wife and kids.

Barracuda Coffee Company. Thanks for making the drive and thrown’ down. It was great to have the team here.

Synesso. Thank you again.

Deb and Mike Nelson and the “coming soon” Revel 77 cafe.

A really big thank you to all the other folks from cafes in the area. Because of your support, you make these events happen. Seriously. Its been a long time coming.
Special shout out or whatever word the cool kids are using these days to Aaron Monheim. Even without your personal assistant you were able to pull it off!

And last, but certainly not least, the entire DOMA crew. You all worked so hard to help tidy up the place and make it look good. Thank you.

On Thursday night, DOMA Coffee Roasting Company, will be hosting the third installment of Thursday Night Throw-down: Inland Northwest.  TNTINW has been going strong for three months now, bringing together baristas, roasters and other coffee professionals in an effort to build community and culture.

TNT, which was started almost two years ago in New York, consists of a latte art throw-down, as well as other coffee related competitions.  The TNT at DOMA on Thursday will feature local and regional competitors that will battle it out with their latte art skills and manual brewing methods.

The fact of the matter is, coffee is exciting.  We will have a ton going on at DOMA on Thursday, so here is a quick highlight reel.  First, the competition will pit your favorite baristas against each other for bragging rights.  Second, DOMA will have their brand new Synesso Hydra on-site for people to check out and taste shots from.  Third, Blacktop Bistro is providing food, which is always awesome.  Lastly, we have all this awesome stuff, the event will be a massive caffeinated block party, so come on down to DOMA HQ, because the fact of the matter is, you have nothing better to do on a Thursday night!