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At Loxley Coffee in Fairmont: Brothers brew up business

If you love a good brew, you will enjoy the heavenly aroma inside the Loxley Coffee building in Fairmont.

Located at 428 E. Blue Earth Ave., Loxley is a small batch specialty coffee roasting business that will target its sales to private consumers and commercial businesses alike, whether local or online.

Loxley Coffee is a venture into entrepreneurship for James McAdams, who does all the roasting, and his brothers, Will and Joe, who supply assistance and support as needed. All three have other full-time jobs so the coffee outlet will only be open limited hours.

“We were hoping to be open on Sept. 1, but we’re waiting on a couple of things. Hopefully we’ll be open by the end of the month,” said James McAdams, adding that they have started taking pre-orders in anticipation of opening.

Initially, the business will sell only artisan beans, but McAdams would like to see the site expand to a small tasting site at which people could sample flites of the different flavors, similar to a craft brewery.

A conversation between McAdams and his brother, Joe, brewed the idea for the coffee business.

“We would sit and talk about business ideas. One day I told him how I really like a good cup of coffee so maybe we should sell coffee equipment. He said the money was probably in roasting,” McAdams said.

He deferred to Joe’s idea, citing his brother’s master’s degree from Carlson School of Management.

When they informed brother Will, an IT specialist at Fairmont Area Schools, he wanted in on the endeavor too.

“So I started roasting coffee. That was about three years ago,” McAdams said. “I’ve been steadily roasting ever since using home roasters. They’re similar to rotisserie ovens with cages in them.”

He shared his coffee beans with family and friends, and the demand grew.

“I’ve had lots of friends who say they only drank coffee with cream or sugar. Now they tell me they would drink my coffee black on any given day. That’s always fun to hear,” he said.

“It got to the point where I was roasting 30 to 40 pounds a month. That’s a lot when you’re using a roaster that can only do about one pound an hour,” he said.

McAdams has upgraded to a small commercial roaster in the new shop, one that can roast up to 5 pounds in just 15 minutes.

In addition to his work as a graphic designer, McAdams has taken the time to educate himself on all things coffee, from its growth, to the expanse of flavors, to roasting, grinding and brewing.

Coffee is a seed that comes from a cherry. It starts out green in color. Depending on how long you roast it, it goes from light brown to black,” he said.

“All beans have an original flavor. This bean naturally will have a berry flavor, a little bit of chocolate in it, but that’s natural without padding with artificial flavor.

“The tricky thing about coffee is that it’s given a point value when it’s green so you have to be a good roaster to make sure that you’re holding true to the coffee’s flavor.”

Coffee is given a point value of 50 to 100, with anything labeled as “specialty” needing a rating of 81 or higher.

“None of our coffee is below 84,” McAdams said.

“Our coffee is going to be a little more expensive per bag than people are used to, but if you break it down per cup, it’s nothing compared to going to Starbuck’s every day. We plan to sell a 12-bag of coffee for $14 to $16, but that breaks down to just 20 cents a cup. If you buy $35 worth or more, shipping is free.”

Loxley will grind the beans, if requested, but McAdams said the ground product will hold its optimal flavor for only about 15 minutes before it starts to degrade.

He advises using quality grinding and brewing equipment in the home. Although there are very inexpensive home grinders on the market, he suggests buying at least a mid-range machine which runs about $100.

Likewise, he recommends a good coffee maker.

“Brew it in a good quality pot. Putting fresh ground specialty coffee in a $20 coffeemaker defeats the purpose,” he said.

More information about Loxley Coffee, including the source of the company name, is available on its website, www.loxleycoffee.com and on its Facebook page. McAdams can be contacted by phone at (507) 230-0224 or by email at james@loxleycoffee.com

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