Palm and Daily Grind owner traveled to purchase 100 pounds of coffee beans

Keister and boyfriend Tim Palm recently spent a week in Jamaica to purchase 100 pounds of pure, hand-roasted blue mountain coffee beans, widely considered one of the premier types of coffee bean in the world. The couple spent time with a family in Sheffield, Jamaica, and learned the process of roasting the highly sought-after coffee bean. They returned home April 4.

"We are really trying to get a product that's unbelievable and bring it back to Stillwater, and we finally have an outlet," Keister said.

The Daily Grind is the second coffee shop in the world to buy beans directly from "Big Roy" Stephens, Keister said, as many coffee corporations forsake the high travel expenses and order the product over the phone from different retailers.

The weeklong adventure is one reason why Palm said he doesn't feel pressure from the Starbucks across the street, or from any of the bigger coffee brands.

"Starbucks is the McDonald's of coffee, we're like the specialty restaurant," he said.

Keister doesn't expect her journey to bring in a slew of new customers or a surplus of cash, though. After travel, boarding and expenses, selling the $30 pound of blue mountain coffee, bought in Jamaica for $16 a pound, leaves little in the form of profit.

The face-to-face interaction with "Big Roy," his wife Selina and their two children was the most valuable aspect of the trip, Keister said.

"If you factor our travel expenses ... we don't make a dime, but it's OK," Keister said. "The relationships that we made down there are unbelievable. They're such beautiful people. You know that you're giving back to the community that really needs it."

Palm agreed, saying business over the telephone isn't apart of Jamaican culture.

"(Big Roy) wants me to come down, meet face-to-face," Palm said. "That's the Jamaican way. Everything's done over a spoken word, a handshake and a face-to-face meeting. And that's neat in itself."

Palm originally met Big Roy - as he is affectionately known around the small town - while working for a spring break vacation company 10 years ago. A self-described coffee junkie, Palm said he was attracted in 1995 to the rich coffee blends at Selina's Coffee Bar and Eatery, the restaurant Big Roy and his wife own.

In December 2005, Keister purchased the Daily Grind and they eventually decided to make the trek to Jamaica. Learning about the hand-roasting process was a major reason for Keister's interest in the excursion.

When roasting, Roy and two workers fill a metal canister with the harvested beans. The canister, which has many tiny holes, is placed rotisserie style over an open flame and turned for about an hour. The beans are removed from the canister once a blue smoke emerges from the holes. The beans are then placed on what looks like a large screen door in order to cool, finishing in the procedure. The rich smell coming off the beans is incredible, Palm and Keister agreed.

"It's far different than any commercial process, (which) aren't working fire, (which) aren't working with a handmade steel drum," Keister said.

Back on Main Street in Stillwater, Keister said the regulars at the coffee shop more than appreciate the hard work that goes into the cup of Jamaican brew. She's dubbed the pack of dedicated weekend blue mountain coffee drinkers as "The Blue Crew."

"We want it to be special, not an everyday thing," she said. "It doesn't help my business. It's just bringing my regulars a phenomenal product."

stillwatergazette.com