Drinking Turtle Creek coffee is environmentally responsible
Story and photo by Suzanne Kindler- Enz

Mick Carnett monitors the roasting temperature and extracts a small amount of beans to check their color and progress.

Where do you go for a really great cup of "joe?"

Mick Carnett of Northeast Columbia started roasting his own beans because he couldn't find a proper cup of coffee. His first experience roasting coffee was across the Pacific on the beautiful tropical island of Maui, Hawaii, where he was living at the time. There he developed a keen taste for fine gourmet coffee.

"I started out roasting just for my wife and me," he said.

Carnett bought a small three- pound roaster and set up in his garage in the Turtle Creek subdivision of Northeast Columbia. He used portable ducting to divert the heat from the roaster and was very careful not to bother the neighbors.

As offers came in for Carnett to roast coffee, his business grew. Carnett and his coffee roaster moved into a commercial space on Forum Drive where he's been filling the neighborhood air with the tantalizing smells of fresh roasted coffee.

Carnett named his company after his subdivision. Thus, a premium gourmet coffee company was born.

Coffee Roasting is an exacting science, a demanding art. By attending coffee fests across the country, and conferences held by the Specialty Coffee Association of America, his technical knowledge of the subject grew until it reached the professional level.

The most recent event he attended was held in Atlanta in conjunction with the Great American Dessert Expo. The one thing that separates the hobby roaster from the professional is membership in the prestigious Roasters Guild, a select group within the Specialty Coffee Association. Strict rules dictate who is accepted as a member of the Guild.

Guild meetings involve rigorous training and testing. "One of the exams was on Organic Acids. It reminded me of college chemistry," said Carnett.

"My basic single- varietal beans come from Costa Rica, Hawaiian, Antigua and Guatalamala," said Carnett. "Every one of these beans is the top of the game in its category."

Each burlap bag of coffee has been carefully inspected and graded for quality before reaching Carnett's roasting facility. "Large commercial coffee companies do not carry coffee of this quality, simply because they need larger quantities and can't avail themselves of the small, higher quality crops," said Carnett. "I was lucky to get my hands on this." A specially marked 25- pound burlap bag known as "Cup of Excellence," is available only in limited quanities.

"I think I'm the only one in the area who has this coffee," he said. "These beans from Daterra are the finest coffees coming out of Brazil these days. Daterra coffee of Brazil is the most socially enviromentally responsible company on the planet."

For more information on Daterra and Turtle Creek Coffee, visit www.TurtleCreekCoffee.co m.