Coffee Talk With Local Supplier Supreme Bean

Coffee is the most popular drink in the world. The U.S. is one of the world’s largest coffee consuming countries, importing about 2.5 million pounds of the beverage. The average coffee consumer drinks about 3 cups a day.

For many, coffee is a morning drink consumed to wake you up and prepare you for the daily grind. I, unlike most of the people I know, don’t drink coffee. I do consume at least one cappuccino a day but for some reason can’t drink a regular cup of Joe. When I found out there was a local artisan coffee roaster just a few blocks from my house, I headed to Supreme Bean Coffee Roasters to learn more about my favorite brew.

Co-owner Jeff Cheam gave me a brief tour before brewing me a perfect cappuccino and some sample shots of coffee. The company grew out of Joe to Go, Cheam’s successful catering company providing coffee, muffins, pastries and bagels to movie and TV studios across Los Angeles. “I was doing 2,000 pounds a month of coffee through the catering business,” said Cheam. He wanted to upgrade the quality of his product and decided to open Supreme Bean Coffee Roasters. Now, Cheam produces about 40,000 pounds of coffee per month and delivers roasted beans and ground coffee to restaurants, cafes, hotels, studios and offices. The company buys 40 different origins of beans from all over the world. 

Cheam deals with several countries directly, including Brazil and Costa Rica, and utilizes brokers for beans from other countries. When asked about his favorite coffee, Cheam replies that everyone is different and has his or her own favorite based on taste. He likes a cup of East African coffee with its intense blue and red notes, often providing a strong blueberry undertone. The taste of coffee depends on the soil and the genetics and processing of the beans.

Buyers receive coffee from Supreme Bean a few days after its roasted. “You don’t want to drink coffee the day it’s roasted,” said Cheam. “Ideally, you want it the day after.” For cappuccino and espresso lovers like myself, Cheam recommends waiting 3 to 4 days after roasting to begin a brew.

After drinking an exceptionally good cappuccino and tasting several samples of coffee that I surprisingly liked, I had to ask the burning question on many coffee lovers’ minds, why do coffee drinks purchased from large chain coffeehouses, often taste burnt? Cheam said it could be a number of reasons including the volume. Big chains roast thousands of pounds of coffee at a time, often with large roasting machines, making it difficult to adjust airflow and temperature.

Additionally, unlike the large roasters who store pallets of pre-packaged roasted beans that sit until they are shipped, smaller roasters like Supreme Bean have very little already roasted coffee stored.

Once they receive samples, they roast small batches of beans. If the samples pass Cheam’s approval, he makes purchases based on taste, inventory and harvesting schedules. I also learned that espresso usually tastes better if made from a blend of three to five different beans to round out the flavor.

In addition to their dozens of varieties of coffees, Supreme Bean also produces eight varieties of espresso as well as tonics and teas. I was surprised to find that their prices were about the same as my local Starbucks - around $12 to $15 per pound.  Although their main clients are large corporations, any coffee aficionado can drop by for a freshly roasted bag of beans. They’ll even grind them for you.

With prices about the same as mass produced roasted coffee, a large variety of java to choose from, and exceptionally roasted fresh beans, it’s worth a visit to Supreme Bean Coffee Roasters to stock up on your favorite brew.