Merchant Spotlight • Maniac Coffee Roasting

One of the great joys of running a community-centered business is getting to know and work with the myriad creative makers and crafters who reside in our region and make up our merchant base. These partnering merchants are the cornerstone of our business and our community. This quarterly post spotlights some of these talented folks and their inspiring, nourishing, creative endeavors.

Maniac Coffee Roasting was born of the time when Alex Mastema and his partner owned a Bellingham coffee shop and were striving for the highest quality coffee and drinks. The only way to do that was to start their own roasting company. Fortunately, Alex had decades-old experience roasting beans, having starting in 1992 in Denver, Colorado. The coffee shop has since closed down, and now they just focus on quality small-batch roasting. They strive to cut out the middle-man as much as possible so that the famers they buy from get as much as possible for their work.

How long have you been in business and how did you learn your craft?

Maniac Roasting was formed in 2006. I learned my craft in Denver after being asked to end my college studies there (all F's). I got a job as a barista at a local company that was following the early Starbucks model of offering coffee, snacks, home coffee goods and such. They added the frill of having a 12 kilo roaster in each location and offering roasting on site. I learned at that time that I am a super-taster, and because of that I became an assistant roaster and then head roaster for my shop. Soon, I became a roaster trainer and would travel around to the other shops (12 of them) and train new roasters. Eventually, I became the assistant roast master for the company before I moved up to the Pacific Northwest where I started my own coffee shop with my partner Teri Bryant.

What is the guiding principle/mission of your business?

Our mission is to buy and roast the best quality coffee we can while striving to pay farmers a good wage.

Raven’s Eye Blend

Maniac Roaster’s best-selling blend delivers a full body of deep rich chocolate notes and low acidity with soft fruit sweetness. Derived from Indonesian, Central American and South American coffees. $1 from each pound sold is donated to the Whatcom Humane Society, specifically to benefit their Wildlife Rehabilitation Services Department.

Describe your bestselling product. Why is it such a favorite?

Our best selling product is the Raven's Eye blend. It's our darkest roast but not as dark as many other roasters’ darkest. I roast it just far enough to have that big body yet still light enough to not burn off any of the individual origin beans' notes.

(Raven’s Eye is one of the blends that Madrona Gifts sources. It can be found in our Java Jive gift box as well as our Build-a-Box store.)

In what ways, big or small, do you apply sustainability in your business practices?

We keep as small a carbon footprint as possible while also using as many compostable products as we can.

(Besides their amazing coffee, one of the reasons we chose to source coffee beans from Maniac is because they use compostable coffee bags.)

What is your favorite place to spend time in the region? Why is it special to you?

My favorite place in the region would be the Olympic Peninsula here in Washington. It's just a magical place where nature feels to be at her full force be it by the powerfully wild oceans of the native peoples or in the deep emerald forests with Roosevelt elk watching over you.

Where can customers find you, and what are some ways they can show their support?

They can usually find me standing over my roaster - which is named Crow! Seriously though, we are most easily found on our website maniaccoffeeroasting.com where folks who appreciate what we make can order coffee by the pound for local delivery or shipment. You can also follow us on Instagram at @maniaccoffeeroasting

Alex making deliveries in Bellingham.

Many thanks to Alex for sharing his time and talents with us, and for being so incredibly flexible and generous in meeting the unpredictable demands of our business. We appreciate you and your great coffee!