Annette Dance and Robert B. Smith III have a passion for good, fresh coffee. This past April, they decided to share their passion with the rest of Mint Hill.
“We started roasting it at home for ourselves,” says Dance. “Soon, family and friends wanted in on the coffee we roasted, so we said, ‘Why not give it a go?’”
Thus the Mint Hill Roasting Company was born. Mint Hill Roasting Company primarily offers roasted whole coffee beans from different origins such as Colombia, Costa Rica, Ethiopia and Guatemala. Because coffee crops are seasonal, their offerings change based on what’s available. Currently they only offer “single origin” beans, but they are working on blends to offer soon. They also roast a specialty coffee bean that is infused with locally distilled whiskey.
Dance and Smith’s Mint-Hill based coffee business is a micro-roasting operation. “What that means is that we roast coffee beans in small batches to individual specifications,” says Dance. You pick your origin and your roast type (light, medium or dark), and they roast it for you on the spot.
Customizability and immediacy are two things that make Mint Hill Roasting Company’s coffee different than anything you’ll find on the shelves at Harris Teeter or Publix or even the specialty latte or mocha you’ll find at Starbucks. “When you buy coffee off the shelf of a grocery store or a chain coffee house, that coffee has been roasted more than six months prior,” says Dance. “We also custom roast our coffee exactly how you want it.”
After living in the area for fourteen years, it was important to Dance and Smith that they pursued their dream in the community they love. “We like to support local business and wanted to bring something unique to our town,” says Dance.
Although they both work full time in other professions, Dance and Smith have big plans to expand their roasting business. They are in the process of obtaining a warehouse space to house their large roaster in order to facilitate the expansion of their business. They also hope to offer a cold brew coffee made from their beans at The Barking Duck Brewing Company, where you’ll also find bags of their coffee on the shelves.
If you’d like to order fresh coffee from Mint Hill Roasting Company, visit www.minthillroastingcompany.com or call 888-611-9311. You can also find them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. In the “real world” you can find Dance and Smith at the Mint Hill Farmer’s Market.
“We’re just an average family who loves coffee and has a dream,” says Dance. “We are a small, locally owned, family company and love providing quality roasted coffee beans to our community and surrounding neighbors.”
