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PRESS
Farm Day Press Release | Coffee & Tea | Fancy Food | Tastes of New England | The Leader (2005)| The Leader (2004) | Finger Lakes Times | JAVA Rubs Get National Attention
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Senator Hillary Clinton to Host New York Farm Day
Thursday, 09/13/2007
- New York Foods, New York Wines, New York Restaurants . . .
- Local Produce from Across New York, Including Long Island, the Hudson Valley, the Finger Lakes, Western New York and the North Country, to be Showcased in the Nation's Capital
September 12, 2007, Washington, DC - New York’s award-winning wines, farm-fresh products, and fine restaurants will travel to the nation’s Capitol next week to tastefully show Congress, the Administration, and others that New York is a major agricultural state, and agriculture is a major part of the state’s economy.
On Tuesday, September 18 from 5:30 to 7:30 pm, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton will host “New York Farm Day” in the elegant Senate Russell Caucus Room at the crest of Capitol Hill. Attendees will include dozens of other Senators, the New York Congressional delegation from the House of Representatives, members of the Committees on Agriculture, legislative chiefs of staff, agricultural specialists in Congress and the Administration, members of the Washington media, top area restaurants and fine wine shops.
“Senator Clinton has become a true missionary for New York agriculture, including the grape and wine industry,” said Jim Trezise, President of the statewide New York Wine & Grape Foundation, which organizes the event. “This food and wine showcase is designed to facilitate her strong advocacy of New York agriculture by tastefully showing her colleagues that New York has some of the best foods, wines, and restaurants in the world.”
In the past five years, New York Farm Day has become one of the most popular events on Capitol Hill. As the current edition of US News put it, “It’s that time of year again when lawmakers and top Hill aides eagerly await their invitation to what most call the best industry reception of the year: New York Farm Day, hosted by Sen. Hillary Clinton.” As a reminder of this year’s Farm Day feast, this week all U.S. Senators and New York Representatives will receive a bottle of premium New York wine with a personal note.
“Farm Day is a unique and important opportunity for us to showcase the best of what New York’s farmers and producers have to offer. Every year we bring New York to Washington DC and I am thrilled that this has become such an anticipated event on the Congressional calendar. New York’s farmers and producers are some of the best in the world and this is a great opportunity to spread the word even further about the quality of our produce. I know we are all looking forward to sampling some of the incredible wine, food and produce that will be on display,” Senator Clinton said.
From the Finger Lakes region, farmers and chefs involved with “Finger Lakes Culinary Bounty” will display the abundance of fresh produce and specialty items created upstate including Roasted Asparagus with JAVA-GOUMET JAVA RUB, Keuka Lake Coffee Roasters Meritage Blend Coffee, and JAVA-GOURMET JAVA BARK samples, Franjo Farms Onion Jelly, Crackerman of Etna Crackers, Nunda Mustard, Chutney Fever Chutney, Marc Anthony Specialty Foods Sausage, Cowlick Farms Artisan Cheese, Bronson Hill Creamery Artisan Cheese, Whole in the Wall Pesto, and Nordic Farms Jams & Pickles.
Chef Debra Whiting of Red Newt Cellars Winery & Bistro, Chef Jack Carrington of Sheldrake Point Vineyard & Café and Chef Frank Caravita of Fox Run Vineyards & Café will demonstrate how Finger Lakes wineries have taken the lead in creating fine cuisine in that agriculturally rich region by offering, respectively, Remembrance Farm Pumpkin Soup with Red Jacket Orchards Apples and Sabols Sausage Meatballs; Grilled Polenta with King Bird Farms Chorizo, Stick & Stone Farm Zucchini, and Lively Run Goat Cheese; and Sweet Grass Beef prepared with JAVA-GOURMET SHANGHAI SIX SPICE JAVA RUB and an Asian Slaw.
Participating Finger Lakes wineries include Americana Vineyards Winery, Anthony Road Wine Company, Casa Larga Vineyards, Cayuga Ridge Estate Winery, Chateau LaFayette Reneau, Dr. Konstantin Frank’s Vinifera Wine Cellars, Fox Run Vineyards, Fulkerson Winery, Glenora Wine Cellars, Hazlitt 1852 Vineyards, Heron Hill Winery, Hosmer Winery, Hunt Country Vineyards, King Ferry Winery (Treleaven), Knapp Winery, Lakewood Vineyards, Prejean Winery, Red Newt Cellars, Sheldrake Point Vineyards, Standing Stone Vineyards, Thirsty Owl Wine Company, Wagner Vineyards, and Widmer’s Wine Cellars.
A new addition this year is the New York Wine & Culinary Center in Canandaigua, a world-class facility to educate people about New York wines and foods from throughout the state through wine tastings, hands-on cooking classes, staff training and other programs. Executive Chef Dan Martello will prepare a Country Plate with Rosecrest Farm Pork, Naples Valley Mustard, and Johnson Estate Port Wine.
Farming is vital to New York’s economy. About 25% of the State’s land area, or 7,500,000 acres, is covered by 35,000 farms. New York is among America’s major agricultural states, ranking #2 in apples and maple syrup, #3 in dairy, grapes, wine, and corn silage, #4 in pears, and #5 in floriculture. The wine, grape and grape juice industry alone contributes over $3.4 billion annually to the State’s economy, and is the fastest growing industry in the agriculture and tourism sectors.
“New York has it all – great foods, great wines, great restaurants,” said Trezise. “When most people think of New York, they think of the Statue of Liberty, Broadway, or Times Square. But New York is much greater than those wonderful attractions, and it’s fun to watch people discover that fact. We applaud Senator Clinton for using New York Farm Day to raise awareness among her colleagues, the media, and others that New York State produces some of the world’s best foods and wines, which some of the world’s best chefs turn into mouth-watering magic.”
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June 2007
- Grilling with Coffee! -
Coffee Blends for Your BBQ
Perk up your poultry! Wake up your steak! Coffee can be a great addition to many recipes. As a dry rub, marinade, or brine, coffee is making a big splash at summertime barbeques across the country. “Coffee is known to enhance the flavor of meats and many renowned chefs use it as one of their cooking secrets,” says Susan Atkisson of Keuka Lake Coffee Roasters, creators of Java Rubs.
By incorporating coffee and coffee blends into your next BBQ you’ll quickly see why coffee is the grill master’s best friend. The creators of Java Rubs share their experiences:
- Coffee enhances the flavors of everything you cook!
- Coffee helps to caramelize the surface of what you are cooking and the caramelization from the coffee helps to seal in juices creating tastier entrees.
- Coffee helps build and create a depth of flavor rather than stripping flavor as adding water in cooking can do.
- Coffee also helps to create subtle toasty notes and a flavorful mocha hue.
Java Rubs are coffee blends and are used just like any dry meat rub. They go well with meat, seafood, vegetables, and even fruits. The coffee helps to build depth of flavor in your dish without being harsh, bitter, or overwhelming. Java Rubs should be liberally applied to your meat selection about one hour prior to cooking. Great for grilling, the Java Rubs are also great for broiling, or searing in a cast iron pan for best results.
Aromatic and unique, there are several special and distinct Java Rubs--one specifically formulated for use with beef, lamb, and game meats; one for fish, seafood, and veggies; one for pork and poultry; and one for fruit and dessert use. For the more exotic palate, Java Rubs also come in the following new special blends:
Mocha Java Mole
Brazilian coffee, dark cocoa powder and ancho chili give a distinct, spicy, Latin flavor to meats and poultry.
Sicilian Citrus
Espresso, lemon peel, orange peel, sea salt, basil, and more. This unique Mediterranean flavor blend is recommended for poultry and pork. It is also recommended for grilled vegetables and fish.
Jamaican Java Jerk
Sunrise Blend coffee, allspice, cayenne pepper, onion, thyme, and more. This jerk style Java Rub adds a tasty kick to chicken and pork.
Shanghai Six Spice
Guatemalan Antigua coffee, ginger, cinnamon, anise, cloves and more. Recommended for lamb or game meats.
Founded in 2003, Keuka Lake Coffee Roasters is located at the tip of Keuka Lake in upstate New York. There you’ll find owners Susan Atkisson and Brian Friguliette—two extreme foodies who are also true entrepreneurs. “We’re inventing new uses for America’s most beloved morning beverage,” said Friguliette. “The Java Rubs are just one of our many coffee-based specialty foods” he added. Included among their other products, you’ll find coffee infused sauces and marinades. Looking for something on the sweet side? Try their incredible Java Bark or Java Sprinkles. Both are great on ice cream.
This month, Keuka Lake Coffee Roasters will begin marketing their coffee-based specialty foods under the JAVA-GOURMET label. “We believe this new name will help to define this unique product and provide a more easily recognizable look as the products begin distribution outside of the Keuka Lake area,” said Atkisson.
All of the Java Rubs have 100% Arabica coffee as their primary ingredient and are very reasonably priced at $5.99 for a 2 oz. Java Rub tin.
www.java-gourmet.com
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Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Keuka Lake Coffee Roasters Goes International with New Java Rubs
Coffee lovers unite! New York-based Keuka Lake Coffee Roasters adds five internationally themed, coffee-based rubs for meats, fish, vegetables and more to their already flourishing line of Java Rubs. One of the owners, Susan Atkisson, says about the popular line, "Coffee in our Java Rubs gives depth and supporting notes to the other flavors in the blend, as well as caramelizing for a beautiful crust on meats, which helps seal in juices and flavor."
The company recently added to the unique line of coffee-based rubs: _Mocha Java Mole, a blend of Brazilian coffee, dark cocoa powder, ancho chili and more that gives meats a spicy Latin flavor; Sicilian Citrus Rub, Italian espresso blended with lemon and orange peels, garlic, basil and sea salt; Jamaican Java Jerk, a unique combination of Sunrise Blend coffee and jerk seasoning mixed with a! llspice, cayenne pepper, onion and thyme; Shanghai Six Spice, a lively blend of Guatemalan Antigua coffee and traditional Asian five-spice seasonings, along with ginger, cinnamon, anise and cloves; and Java Yaki Teriyaki Sauce, 100-percent organic Ethiopian Yirgacheffe coffee, ground or brewed, blended with teriyaki sauce containing all-natural soy sauce, orange zest, rice wine vinegar and minced garlic. For more information call 888/478-2739 or visit www.keukalakecoffeeroasters.com.
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Keuka Lake Coffee Roasters by Matt Prest
Just outside of the village of Penn Yan, NY, 350 miles west of Boston, MA, on the northern tip of Keuka Lake, an outwardly rustic barn houses the operations of Keuka Lake Coffee Roasters. The newly converted and renovated barn sits on six-and-a-half acres of land and offers panoramic sunrise views of New York’s wine country. It is in this barn where Keuka Lake Coffee Roaster’s packaging, manufacturing, roasting, and cooking take place.
Keuka Lake Coffee RoastersSusan Atkisson, originally from California, and Brian Friguliette, a Boston native, first established the roasting company on paper in October of 2003. After toying with the idea of starting their own gourmet coffee roasting company, in June of 2004, the two decided to risk job security and financial well-being to see their business dreams come true.
Friguliette and Atkisson moved to New York’s Finger Lake region with hopes of tying into the area’s tourism industry and the notion that the sophisticated wine-lovers in the region would also fancy their gourmet coffee. “Initially we didn’t have this in mind as being our sole job and source of income,” says Atkisson, “We just wanted to do this on the side. Once we got going, however, we saw the potential of this being a full time endeavor.”
Owned by two food enthusiasts and entrepreneurs who truly think outside of the box, Keuka Lake Coffee Roasters is not a typical gourmet roaster. The trend-setting coffee producer is among the country’s sole manufacturers of coffee-based specialty foods, including meat rubs, marinades, sauces, and candy. “We are expanding and exploring new uses for coffee,” says Friguliette. “We want to be a specialty food producer as opposed to strictly a coffee roaster.”
The idea to assimilate coffee with spices and herbs came to the two cooking fanatics while attending the Fox Run Vineyards’ Garlic Festival in Penn Yan. With similar garnishing characteristics, garlic and coffee combine to make a potable, tasty, and healthy seasoning for any meat. Because of Atkisson and Friguliette’s vicinity to New York’s well-known hunting region, the two experimented with red meat rubs and even used brewed coffee to simmer a pot roast.
The coffee-contorting duo has now established four different varieties of seasoned Java Rub, each featuring a different single-origin coffee bean as a flavor base. From the pork and poultry rub, which possesses a unique southwestern flavor, to the sweet dessert rub used for baking and cooking with fruit, the rubs have been incorporated into a wide variety of culinary techniques. The rubs have been manipulated and perfected to suit a wide variety of cooking styles, explains Friguliette. “The Java Rubs enhance the meat’s flavor without the overpowering taste of coffee,” says Friguliette, an avid hunter and cook.
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Atkisson and Friguliette know that there is more than one way to season meat. Keuka Lake Coffee Roaster’s signature Java Soak is a tangy marinade used for soaking fish or meat, a tantalizing alternative to the dry rub. Likewise, the Java Sauce is a molasses-based barbeque sauce fused with brewed and ground Italian espresso. Broadening their specialty food selection, the two also created Java Bark, a hardened layer of gourmet chocolate and Italian espresso beans that can be enjoyed as a dessert with wine, ice cream, or by itself.
According to Atkisson, coffee has been used in cooking for a long time. Chefs and culinary specialists consider coffee a great addition to cooking repertoires, enhancing the flavor of red meat, poultry, and seafood. While cooking with coffee has not yet become mainstream, Atkisson says the trend is growing. It is now featured in upscale restaurants and has recently been featured by Food Network’s renowned chef Bobby Flay. The coffee adds smoky characteristics, says Atkisson, caramelizing the cooked surface with the coffee’s natural oils and sugars. Caffeine is not an issue when cooking with coffee; similar to cooking with alcohol, high heat breaks the caffeine down over time.
The gourmet Arabica species beans used in their unique recipes come from countries across the globe and are roasted to perfection in small batches of 7-10 pounds. Keuka Lake Coffee Roasters now offers multiple single-origin specialty coffees from Kenya, Columbia, Ethiopia, Mexico, and Central and South America. Aside from these well-known varietals, the roaster also produces its own signature blends, including a true Italian Espresso developed by Friguliette, and the Sunrise Blend, a combination of medium and dark roasted beans from Nicaragua and Columbia.
“Brian does all of the roasting,” explains Atkisson, who speaks very highly of her friend and business partner. “The first step of any of our products is roasting.” While most of their beans are hand selected and purchased from brokers in New York City, explains Atkisson, some of the beans come directly from small farmers and plantations around the world.
Keuka Lake Coffee Roasters specialty foods can be purchased at wineries and markets throughout the Finger Lake region, or online at www.keukalakecoffeeroasters.com. As word of their unique coffee, rubs, sauces, soaks, and candy spread, Atkisson and Friguliette hope to continue to expand outside of the Finger Lakes. The company is currently researching chain grocers and other retail outlets that will help promote their product and the culinary trend it is creating.
The variety of coffee-based rubs, soaks, sauces, and candy is what sets Keuka Lake Coffee Roasters apart from ordinary gourmet roasters.
Keuka Lake Coffee Roasters
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Trading Faces
By Derrick Ek
 Wednesday, February 09, 2005 - They set up shop next to the giant beer tanks inside Corning's Mar-ket Street Brewing Company, serving up all kinds of entrees that aren't typically found on the brewpub's menu.
Most aren't professional chefs, just folks that always wanted to be professional chefs.
This is their big chance, their 15 minutes of culinary fame. Every Wednesday night for the next two months, the brewpub will bring in guest chefs from all over the Corning area, ready to bring some of their favorite creations to the hungry masses.
"They're just people that love to cook, and we invite them in," said Pelham McClellan, co-owner of Mar-ket Street Brewing Co., which is every bit as much a restaurant as a brewpub.
Joe Navaie, owner of the Soul Full Cup Coffeehouse, a few doors down Market Street, kicked off the series in late January. Navaie prepared a Persian chicken platter, with chicken skewers marinated with lemon and mint. He also whipped up a salmon and asparagus entree, marinated in the same sauce.
The following week, Susan Atkisson and Brian Friguliette set up shop at the brewpub. They're the co-owners of Keuka Lake Coffee Roasters, a gourmet coffee outfit near Penn Yan. They used the occasion to help launch a new product, which they call java rub.
Basically, it's a coffee-flavored dry rub for seasoning meat, with Arabica coffee beans, coarse kosher salt, dehydrated garlic, herbs and spices. Coffee intensifies the flavor of meats, and many chefs use it as an ingredient, Atkisson said. There are two varieties of the java rub - one for beef, lamb and venison, and another for pork and poultry.
For the brewpub event, Atkisson and Friguliette prepared a java-rubbed chicken breast with yams and green beans, and bananas java, a dessert similar to bananas Foster.
Tonight's guest chef is Ken Parker, who will return with his trademark shrimp and sausage jambalaya.
Parker, who works at Corning Inc., says when it comes to cooking, he's "definitely an amateur." None-theless, he seems to know his way around a kitchen. Every year, Market Street Brewing Co. offers up a prize to the most popular guest chef, and Parker is the defending champion.
Next week, Margaret Savino and Jim Cedoma will team up, although their menu plans are somewhat of a mystery.
"Something with a Mex-ican flair," is how Savino describes it.
The first week in March, Patti Abernatha will visit the brewpub. Abernatha is a longtime friend of McClellan's, co-owner of Stephanie's Spirits on Market Street and an amatuer chef.
She'll serve up a garlic chicken Alfredo over fettucini, with red peppers and broccoli. Her sauce will be made with a Semillion-Chardonnay, and customers who order the dish will receive a complimentary glass of Left Field Semillion-Chardonnay from Clovely Estates, an Australian winery.
On March 9, the brewpub will host Andy Parker, who - unlike the others - is actually a professional chef.
Parker has been a chef at Pierce's 1852 in Elmira Heights, and at several places around the Finger Lakes. He's done cooking demonstrations for WETM Channel 18 News, and he also teaches classes for Operation Front-line, the hunger relief program run by the Food Bank of the Southern Tier.
For starters, Parker will do an Asian-style spring roll with a spicy peanut dipping sauce. For his entree, he'll prepare smoked sausage and chicken gumbo over rice, with a Cajun-style dark roux. Roux, Parker explained, is a mixture of oil and flour normally used as a thickening agent.
"I cook mine down to the color of milk chocolate," he said. "It gives it a nutty essence and it's just fantastic."
Another new weekly series at the brewpub is the Thurs-day night wine tastings, already booked into April. During the dinner hours of 5-9 p.m., a variety of wineries, mostly from Keuka Lake and Seneca Lake, will set up shop in the dining room.
"Our chefs will create a special that night which will either use their wines, or complement their wines," McClellan said. "Anyone who comes in for dinner, or to the bar, is invited to taste their wines."
Dr. Frank's kicked off the series a few weeks ago.
Thursday night will be Tickle Hill, located on Ball Diamond Road in Hector. A small family-owned winery, Tickle Hill has only been open for about three years, but they have about 20 wines and a handful of awards to their credit already. Their wine list includes a Cayuga White, a Niagara and a fruity white called Susie Q. They also have two blushes - Tickle Me Pink and Tickle My Fancy - along with several reds, a couple of specialty wines and a dessert wine.
After that will be Knapp Vineyards (Feb. 17), Chateau Renaissance (Feb. 24), At-water (March 3), Standing Stone (March 10) and Swedish Hill (March 18).
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New gourmet coffee business tied to Keuka Lake Wine Trail
BY DERRICK EK. Photo by Jason Cox
dek@the-leader.com
 In a lot of ways, the coffee business resembles the winemaking industry.
Coffee beans, like grapes, come in many varieties of differing quality. Both coffee and wine are influenced greatly by production methods. And the finished products have a multitude of flavor components, and are targeted to a wide range of consumers.
"There are people that are thrilled with a $3 bottle of wine, and couldn't tell the difference between that and a $50 bottle of Merlot," said Brian Friguliette, co-owner of Keuka Lake Coffee Roasters, a new gourmet coffee business. "And there are people that get used to the large institutional coffees, like Maxwell House and Folgers."
Those big-time supermarket brands use a blend of high-quality Arabica beans and Robusto beans, which have a higher caffeine content but are generally considered to be inferior in flavor. Friguliette uses only Arabica beans.
"There are a lot of people out there now that are developing better tastes," Friguliette said. "It's the first cup of coffee they drink in the morning, and they might only have one cup or maybe two cups a day. They want to drink something with some quality and taste to it."
Not coincidentally, Keuka Lake Coffee Roasters is already intertwined with the local wine industry, which has boomed in recent years. The type of person that wanders the Finger Lakes sampling fine wines is often the same type of person who enjoys a gourmet flavored coffee, said Susan Atkisson, Friguliette's significant other and business partner.
That's why their coffees are now sold in bags - or served fresh - in many wineries, restaurants, inns and bed-and-breakfasts around Keuka Lake.
Friguliette and Atkisson aren't proprietors of a storefront coffee shop. Instead they operate a commercial small-batch roaster and a small office out of a red barn on their property, which overlooks the top of Keuka's western branch. They roast, flavor and package the coffee themselves.
They rely on a developing network of existing retail locations - wineries such as Glenora, Fox Run, Wagner Valley, Heron Hill; restaurants like Hammondsport's Village Tavern; and other miscellaneous places such as orchards and small markets.
Atkisson grew up in southern California, and was an elementary school teacher for 20 years. She has family in Corning, Hammondsport and Campbell - including her grandmother, Dorotha Bergh, of Corning, who recently turned 100 years old. Atkisson would often vacation on Keuka Lake while visiting her relatives here, and loved the area.
Seven years ago, she moved to Boston, where she met Friguliette, a former microbrewery owner who was working for a large coffee company, where he was in charge of importing coffee beans, and managing the roasting operation. After a "whirlwind romance based on coffee," as Atkisson puts it, the couple decided to buy a home on Keuka Lake. They launched their business about a year ago.
Atkisson had always wanted to run her own business, and Friguliette was able to use his contacts with brokers to import small quantities of high-end coffee beans from Ethiopia, Kenya, Nicaragua, Columbia, Brazil, Guatemala and Mexico (coffee only grows south of the equator, and the only state in the U.S. with coffee farms is Hawaii).
Friguliette enjoys the total control he has over the roasting process. Roasting only small batches has many advantages.
For example, the roasted beans can be air-cooled, allowing them to retain their oils, which contain a lot of the flavor. Large-scale commercial operations are forced to spray the batches with water to cool them and prevent them from burning, which washes away the oils.
Also, when making blends, Friguliette roasts the different types of beans separately, then mixes them together afterward. That's important because the beans require different roasting times and temperatures. Large-scale operations roast everything together when producing a blend, meaning certain beans are either overcooked or undercooked.
"I've gone from equipment that's two or three times the size of a car, and roasting 500 or 600 pounds of coffee at a time, to roasting about 10 pounds at a time," he said.
Each batch takes about 15 minutes, and the beans change from a greenish color to a dark brown, expanding to three times their original size.
Atkisson does a lot of the flavoring and packaging. Aside from its traditional roasts, Keuka Lake Coffee Roasters does specialty flavors such as the Harvest Spice Blend, with maple and cinnamon, the Scandinavian Winter Blend, with almond and ginger and the Italian Chocolate Raspberry. The whole lineup is listed on their Web site, www.keukalakecoffeeroasters.com.
"We use a little flavoring, so you get nice aromas," Atkisson said. "There's a subtle taste, but it's not overpowering. You're still tasting the coffee."
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From the Finger Lakes Times:
Sunday, January 18, 2004
Love of Keuka Lake inspires business
By GINA MUSCATO
Times Staff Writer
PENN YAN — Susan Atkisson was always taken by the beauty of the Finger Lakes, particularly Keuka Lake.
She grew up in Hollywood, but she often traveled with her family to visit her grandmother in Corning, and they would head up to the lake and spend two weeks at a cottage her uncle rented.
When Atkisson grew up and had children of her own, she would bring them to Keuka Lake — even renting The Viking a couple years ago for her daughter Jennifer’s senior graduation party.
About eight years ago, Atkisson moved to Massachusetts, making it even easier to visit to the region.
“Now it’s in driving distance,” she said. “Instead of 3,000 miles, it’s only 400 miles.”
In March, Atkisson again visited and brought her close friend Brian Friguliette of Boston. His reaction was not unexpected.
“Brian and I came up, and he fell in love with the area,” she said. “I think it’s a common experience for people brought to the lake.”
The couple returned over the summer and started thinking about buying a cottage. They found a place on 31/2 acres in Penn Yan overlooking the lake and bought it in October.
That’s also when they began talking about opening a gourmet coffee shop, which seemed like a good fit given Friguliette’s experience in the coffee industry and Atkisson’s vision.
“I’ve always had the urge to have my own business,” said Atkisson, an elementary school teacher for 20 years.
Friguliette has worked for a Boston-area coffee business for the past five years, overseeing roasting operations. Before that, he owned a microbrewery in Boston for about eight years.
“He’s the one with the expertise and knowledge of coffee, and he’s ready to have his own business again,” said Atkisson, who also wants to promote the area.
One Saturday, they visited The Windmill to scope out the market for such a business.
“It didn’t look like something that was overdone in the area,” Atkisson said. “I had a real specific vision of what I wanted to do and make it my own.”
So, they decided to start Keuka Lake Coffee Roasters out of their Massachusetts home. They sell a variety of coffees and blends, including flavored and decaffeinated coffees.
They use only 100 percent Arabica coffee beans from Colombia and other Central American countries. To make different coffees and blends, Friguliette selects a variety of beans and roasts them at their home in Massachusetts, where they are then packaged.
“Brian does all the roasting himself. It’s an art form and Brian is very good at it,” Atkisson said. “When you’re roasting, a lot of it is in the color and where you get different tastes in the coffee or smoothness is, in part, how it’s roasted.”
Currently, the pair split time between their homes in Massachusetts and Penn Yan, but they will move permanently to Keuka Lake when Atkisson’s son Josh, 18, graduates from high school. Atkisson said they likely will continue to roast and package from their home once they move to Penn Yan.
Keuka Lake Coffee Roasters also sells beans and ground coffee to restaurants and inns and provides packaged coffee for in-room coffee makers and espresso pods for espresso machines. Their coffees also are sold online at www.keukalakecoffeeroasters.com.
For the past few months, The Apple Barrel on Wager Hill Road has been selling their coffee. It also is being served at Fox Run Vineyards Café and the Wagener Estate Bed & Breakfast.
“We’re getting to the point where we’re getting a lot of interest in our business, and that’s really exciting,” Atkisson said.
They are talking with several other inns, wineries and restaurants because those are the venues they see their product doing well in, she said.
“A place like Apple Barrel, local people are used to coming to and will enjoy having a high quality coffee available there,” Atkisson said. “We looked at bed-and-breakfasts because when people go to bed-and-breakfasts, they’re there for breakfast and having good, high-quality coffee people will remember is important.”
Also, people who come to tour wineries tend to be the same kind of people interested in quality coffee, she added.
For now, the couple is not opening a retail store but will continue incorporating Keuka Lake Coffee Roasters into existing businesses, Atkisson said.
“In the future, I can’t say 100 percent, but we’ll see what happens,” she said. “Right now, it seems to be serving us quite well.
“We want to be able to live where we want to live. It’s a lifestyle choice for us, and we’re thrilled that we’ll be looking over Keuka Lake each morning, to have that and to be able to have the outdoors right there and all that it provides.”
For more information about Keuka Lake Coffee Roasters, visit the Web site or call toll-free (888) GR8-BREW.
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View the article online here.
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