Starved Rock Coffee Co. brings global flavors to Illinois Valley

The world of specialty coffee roasting is a close-knit one. Beyond the big corporate roasters, the industry is primarily made up of small mom and pop operations sourcing high-quality beans from far-flung locales.

These independent operations often focus on roasting unconventional blends, experimenting and taking bigger swings, all in the pursuit of crafting a great cup of coffee.

One such roaster among the estimated 3,000 dotted across the U.S. is located in the heart of Starved Rock Country.

“I never did any home roasting, which is probably the complete opposite of how you should do it,” said Starved Rock Coffee Company’s co-owner Matt McLaughlin, with a laugh.

“Jill and I have always been really into coffee, ordering specialty stuff from roasters all over the U.S. We just couldn’t find quite what we wanted in our area, so we figured there was a market. We just dove right into the commercial end and figured out how to do it.”

Matt and Jill McLaughlin’s passion of quality coffee and interest in the industry prompted them to jump into the deep end and start roasting commercially in 2017. Over the past eight years, they’ve used beans sourced from all over the globe to build a line of coffee named after local natural wonders. Now they have a dozen varieties available, ship all over the country, have their products stocked on store shelves and a devoted customer base that wakes up with their premium blends each morning.

The McLaughlins started this journey by reaching out to an industry expert - the late Victor Mondry, a former president of the Specialty Coffee Association of the United States and owner of the iconic Victor Allen’s Coffee in Madison, Wisconsin.

“We met with Victor and got some extensive training on both how to roast and source coffee,” Matt McLaughlin said.

The couple started by buying a smaller 3-kilo roaster before upgrading to an industry-standard 12-kilo roaster manufactured by Probat in Germany. Every origin (a geographic location where the bean is sourced, each with its own unique properties) roasts differently, so each new addition to the Starved Rock Coffee product line required careful experimentation. Starting out, McLaughlin sourced beans primarily from Brazil and Colombia, where the crop has low density and sugar content, before venturing into more exotic origins.

Starved Rock Coffee Company features four staple blends: The Rock, Trailblazer, Wildcat and French Canyon. Single origins rotate regularly, with five or six being available at one time - including Sumatra, Colombian and Ethiopian.

The aptly named The Rock blend is Starved Rock Coffee’s signature product. This house bled is a fan-favorite fusion of beans sourced from Colombia, Sumatra and Brazil, resulting in a medium/dark roast with a heavy body and notes of dark cocoa, candied walnuts and molasses. Like most of their coffees, The Rock is available in whole bean, French press or ground. The Rock is also Starved Rock Coffee’s first blend to be offered in single-serving coffee pods, which are sold 12 to a carton.

Trailblazer is a breakfast blend, a light/medium roast, with a medium body and notes of chocolate, honey and citrus. Wildcat is a signature blend with a medium/dark roast, a heavy body and notes of dark chocolate, caramelized sugar and plum. French Canyon is an espresso blend, a dark roast with a heavy body, intense flavor and smoky notes of dark chocolate and toffee.

Coffee connoisseurs should try Starved Rock Coffee Company’s Ethiopia Natural Yirgacheffe. This natural coffee is processed by the Halo Beriti washing station in southern Ethiopia. This processing organization specializes in the yirgacheffe varietal, which is widely known for floral and fruity flavors. Coffee drinkers will notice notes of citrus, graham cracker and red grape – perfect for a pour-over or AeroPress.

“You have to be a little adventurous to get into an Ethiopian,” McLaughlin said. “It’s not what everyone expects, especially from a small town coffee company. We ship that all across the U.S.”

All of their coffee scores higher than 84 on the Specialty Coffee Association rubric, and one variety has earned them a medal at the largest coffee roasting competition in the country. Starved Rock Coffee’s French Canyon medaled in the 2024 milk-based espresso category - not only a mark of quality and careful curation, but evidence of the blend’s growing popularity outside of the region.

Their fall special roast, Turning Leaves, comes from the Alma Co-op in the highlands of Huehuetenango, Guatemala. They only produce about 20 bags of Grade 1 coffee, and Starved Rock Coffee buys them all. For each bag sold, they donate 5 cents to Habitat for Humanity Guatemala for the Smokeless Stove Program.

“Grade 1 is the best. Other coffee grades have their place. Starbucks coffee is dark and oily and they add cream and sugar to hide the imperfections. Lower grades over-roast for this reason. Most people think they like a dark roast until they try a quality light roast side by side,” McLaughlin said.

Starved Rock Coffee’s full line of products can be found on their website, but they can also be purchased in select stores and by the cup at several popular local spots. Hyvee in Peru stocks their product line, while it’s the exclusive coffee at Utica’s Bruce and Ollie’s, La Salle’s Millstone Bakery, Peru’s Thyme Craft Kitchen and Morris’ AppleJax Creations Coffee & Cafe.

“Partnering with Starved Rock Coffee has been an incredible experience — Matt has helped us with picking out the very best espresso machine and high-end coffee grinders to bring out all of the nuanced flavors that come with using his high-quality coffee beans. It’s such a different, elevated coffee experience thanks to Starved Rock Coffee’s beans,” said Millstone Bakery co-owner Kent Maze.

While their beans may be arriving from thousands of miles away, Starved Rock Coffee Company is committed to working locally. Their boxes are made at Illinois Valley Container; Impact Networking handles their label designs; and Double D Express is trusted with their shipping. Bags of their coffee can frequently be found in nonprofit fundraiser baskets and in coffee machines at local PADS shelters. McLaughlin also trains other would-be roasters from Chicago.

“The roaster community is pretty small, so we try to network as much as possible. The guys up at Ten Drops Coffee in Plainfield had a roaster break down recently, so I let them come out and use our machine for a week,” he said. “Having that sort of community was really helpful early on in COVID. We could help each other source beans, split a pallet or use each other’s machines, if anything broke down.”

That sense of community and collaboration is also what makes Starved Rock Coffee stand out, not just as a business but as a cornerstone of local pride.

“Our motto has always been to use the best ingredients. We also wanted to use a local coffee roaster. After trying roasters across Illinois, Starved Rock Coffee was exceptional and really shone out as the best – and they roast right here in Starved Rock Country,” Maze said.

Whether you’re looking for a delicious locally made souvenir or just a more suitable and flavorful alternative to chain coffee and conventional blends, Starved Rock Coffee Company is great way to bring a local touch to your morning routine. To order whole bean, French press, ground or single-serve pod coffee, visit starvedrockcoffeecompany.com.