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SPRING GROVE – Sandra Knight reached into a big burlap sack, made a bowl with her hands and pulled out a small mound of raw beans.
Her personal favorite is Kenyan, but all of the coffee processed and distributed through Coffee Masters in Spring Grove is excellent, said Knight, an enormous drum roaster to her back.
After nearly 30 years in the high-end coffee business, Knight knows a thing or two about what makes for an exceptional cup. The onetime Coffee Masters employee is, as of last summer, its new owner. And Knight – who also founded and owns Huntley-based Chicago Coffee Roastery – can’t wait to take the business to the next level.
“My idea for growth is to do more trade shows. We’re going to do more promotions,” said Knight, 52. “I’d imagine within two years I’ll have 40 to 50 employees.”
Coffee Masters presently employs 16, plus sales representatives. The employees roast about 28,000 pounds of raw coffee a month, and Coffee Masters sells about 300,000 pounds a year.
By January, Knight plans to bring her Huntley operation into the 46,000-square-foot facility on Industrial Drive in Spring Grove, where she then will be able to both drum- and air-roast her beans.
“We get coffee from all over the world, then roast it and sell it to specialty stores,” Knight said, adding that about 3,000 outlets carry Coffee Masters’ distinctive products.
The November 2014 catalog included 42 specialty roasted coffees from across the globe, including Ethiopian, Hawaiian, Rwandan and more. Add to that dozens of varieties of loose leaf tea, almost 200 flavored coffees, gift boxes, powdered David Rio chais, cocoas, Torani flavoring syrups and Big Train smoothie mixes, and the yum-in-a-mug spectrum is well-covered.
Those hankering for a taste, however, won’t find Coffee Masters brew on most grocery store shelves.
“I want you to find my coffee in a specialty shop where they have the time to educate you about the coffee and they usually have a passion for it, as well,” Knight said, adding that gift packs are sold in places like Macy’s and Dillard’s, and she has her sights set on Nordstrom’s, Neiman Marcus, Lord & Taylor and Saks Fifth Avenue.
Locally, Coffee Masters coffees are available at Seasons by Peg in Woodstock and Awesome Creations in Carpentersville. The premium coffees are not inexpensive, with retail prices about $13 to $16 a pound for many varieties.
“It can go as high as $48 a pound for Hawaiian and Jamaican,” Knight added.
Those who love the premium coffee blends are devoted. Wendy Burnette, owner of Trax Depot Cafés in Crystal Lake and Barrington, said she’s been a Chicago Coffee Roastery customer for nearly 10 years and will continue to do business with Knight’s company.
“They’re phenomenal to work with. The coffee is phenomenal,” Burnette said. “I always hear that I have the best coffee in town.”
At Richardson Adventure Farm in Spring Grove, fall and winter customers traditionally are treated to a Coffee Masters warm-up.
“We’re giving people a cup of coffee and we want it to have an excellent taste,” co-owner Wendy Richardson said. “On top of that, my husband loves their coffee.”
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Coffee Masters by the numbers
200: Varieties of flavored coffees
152: Pounds of raw coffee in a burlap sack
18 to 25: Number of minutes beans spend in drum roaster
425 to 500: Degrees at which beans are roasted