A couple who currently resides in Regina has begun selling their own freshly-roasted coffee beans in the area, and someday hope to be able to call this area home.
Deanna and Rod Ratcliffe own and operate the Duck Mountain Coffee Roasting Company, and have their product for sale at different outlets in the area.
During the summer months, their coffee beans were stocked and sold at the Friends of Madge Lake (FOML) cottage store known as Treats and Treasures, located in the Duck Mountain Provincial Park. The couple also had their beans at the Waves Ice Cream & Mini Golf store and Pickerel Point Concessions in the Park, and at Natural Reflexions Market located east of Kamsack on Hwy No. 57.
“We now have Lorne’s Butcher Block as a place for people to purchase the coffee in Kamsack,” said Deanna recently.
The Ratcliffes have friends living at Duck Mountain, and when they first came out for a visit over 10 years ago, they “fell in love with the area,” and purchased property just outside of the Park boundary.
Currently, they are both self-employed in Regina.
Deanna owns and operates the Regina Equestrian Centre Ltd., located on Pinkie Road, and has for the past 25 years.
“I started the business along with my family at age 19, and services include riding lessons, summer day camps, therapeutic programs and clinics.”
Rod is the main artisan roaster at the couple’s roastery located in Regina.
“After travelling to Banff, Alta., to learn the technique from a coffee roasting company located there, the idea of starting our own roastery came to life,” said Deanna.
“We sold our very first roasted coffee in the beginning of May this year,” she said. “All of our beans are 100 per cent Arabica Brazilian. Beans from different regions roast differently, giving off different aromas and flavours.
“Coffee made from freshly roasted beans is truly a flavour experience that is hard to describe,” she continued. “Suffice it to say, the flavour is completely different from beans that are purchased at the store. And the smell of the beans while they are being roasted is amazing. Our product is hand roasted and packaged, making it fresh as you can get.
“We had a very successful summer, and the response from the community exceeded our expectations,” she said. “We are very excited about continuing to market our product in the area, and continue to promote this area of the province.”
The couple believe the old-fashioned fresh roasted system will be what will keep their customers coming back repeatedly for the flavour experience that can only come from fresh roasted beans.
