Local coffee

Kevin and Marta Sprague. Photo by Can Türkyilmaz

Marta Sprague bought her husband, Kevin, a countertop coffee roaster about 10 years ago because of his growing interest in the craft of roasting coffee beans. Soon, every vacation they took together revolved around coffee — tasting it, meeting roasters and seeing coffee farms. As gifts to their wedding guests, they gave home-roasted coffee beans. “It became an obsession,” Kevin says. This passion for coffee and roasting beans has become a business venture for the couple. They started their business, Noble Coyote Coffee Roasters, about a year and a half ago, after the company they both worked for closed and they lost their jobs. Kevin, a Lake Highlands High School graduate, used his life savings to open the business in a small manufacturing space off Garland Road. All of Noble Coyote’s coffee beans are certified organic or from farms that use fair-trade and shade-grown farming practices. “We’re very dedicated to fair and direct trade,” Marta says. “It’s important for us to strive to keep the moral and ethical high ground. There are a lot of people being taken advantage of.” Marta, who has a part-time job with an event-planning firm, runs the business side, and Kevin is the roaster. He keeps logs on every batch of beans he roasts, detailing airflow, temperature and other aspects of the process. “It’s not just putting cookies in an oven,” he says. “There is a lot more to it.” He taught himself to roast beans by reading about it, meeting other roasters and trial-and-error. He’s also a musician, and he considers roasting coffee beans just another means of creative expression. Sometimes, he loses track of time while working. “I can leave the house in a bad mood, and by the time I finish up here, I feel great,” he says. Noble Coffee Roasters offers limited delivery in the White Rock Lake area. Their products are available at White Rock Local Market, St. Michael’s Farmers Market and Dallas Eco-Op Pop-Up Market, to name a few.