Even when its cold outside, things are roasting at the Schaus residence.
If you’re a coffee drinker and patron of the Downtown Salmon Arm Farmers’ Market, chances are you’ve picked up a fresh-brewed cup of joe from David and Jordan Schaus, the owners of 6 Beans Roasting. Furthermore, it’s likely one of their “6 Beans” – children Alan, Ayden, Hannah, Andrew, Adam, Henny, helped serve you.
A staple at the farmers’ market, 6 Beans Roasting specializes in coffee that is freshly roasted at their home-based business in Salmon Arm.
Asked about the business’ name, David explained it reflects a desire to create something of a legacy for his kids.
“I don’t want my kids to leave the Shuswap – In a perfect world, if they want to stay around here, I’d love to have a business that is such that they can take it over at some point, or maybe take different parts in it,” said David. “I don’t know exactly where it’s going to go – it’s still growing. But my idea would be that the kids, if they’re interested in learning about coffee… I could build something with lasting power. I don’t want it to be here today, gone tomorrow. I want it to be around for generations, for my kids and grandkids.”
The initial building blocks to this goal began taking shape in 2018, when David’s desire for fresh-roasted coffee led him to purchase a counter-top coffee roaster.
Explaining his love for fresh-roasted coffee, David likened it to one’s love for fresh baked bread.
“If you went and bought six-months worth of bread at Costco and you threw it all into the freezer, it’s not going to taste as good on month five and six after it comes out of the freezer… it’s going to taste better fresh,” said David. “My goal all along was to get fresh-roasted coffee.”
David explained how he was able to hone his home-roasting skills through his senses.
“I wasn’t roasting with computerized graphs and graphics, I wasn’t learning from reading on forums on how to do it, I was actually just learning by, this is at this stage of the roast, it sounds like this and it smells like this and it looks like this,” said David, who also established a list of preferred locations and importers through which to buy his green coffee beans.
In little time, David found himself providing roasted coffee for friends and family. It was in the spring of 2022 that he and Jordan made the decision to go all in on 6 Beans.
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“I started roasting with a commercial roaster in the spring of 2022, and I upgraded that roaster in spring 2023 to one that has three times the capacity,” said David, who is grateful to City of Salmon Arm staff for the support they provided throughout the process of setting up 6 Beans Roasting as a home-based business.
“They’ve been very accommodating and very positive about the business…,” said David. “The city was working with me the whole time…”
The Schaus’ business is centred around their electric fluid bed roaster, which David said uses hot air to roast 10-lbs (5 kilograms) of beans at a time, and produces very little smell compared to more common commercial roasting methods.
“Less smell, cleaner tasting coffee in our opinion,” said David, explaining the resulting product. “People ask me why my coffee tastes different from other coffee, and I think it has a lot to do with the type of roaster.”
The Schaus’ coffee can be purchased online, from select retailers/vendors and, of course, at the farmers’ market. David said they actually started with the Sorrento Village Farmers’ Market, but were convinced to give the Salmon Arm one a go – a move that proved successful. This summer, the Schaus’ plan to be at both.
6 Beans Roasting offers a variety of coffees to appeal to different tastes. Ultimately, David wants to show people “you can have coffee that tastes like coffee but tastes way better…”
For more information, visit 6 Beans Roasting online at 6beansroasting.com and on Facebook.