Edgar coffee company explores world of flavors

PETER WEINSCHENCK

THE RECORD-REVIEW Looking for cardamom-and-maple- infused Nitro cold-brewed coffee? Then head straight to Redwood Street Roasters in Edgar.

The seven-year-old, locally owned coffee roasting company not only sells 19 types of coffee using beans from around the globe but, exploring the far frontiers of flavor, has developed spiced, chilled coffees, sparkling teas and coffee-flavored beers.

Francisco Guerrero, co-owner and product developer, said he is happy to take adventures into the world of flavors to keep his consumers surprised and delighted.

“It’s all about play,” he said while roasting beans in a 25-pound Diedrich coffee roaster. “It’s about keeping the customer entertained.”

Guerrero said he taps coffee brokers in Oakland, Calif., New York and Minneapolis to purchase fair trade, organic coffees from countries around the world. They include Nicaragua, Columbia, Panama, Guatemala, Honduras, Brazil and Ethiopia.

The roasted beans are bagged in Edgar and then sold across central Wisconsin. His buyers include six restaurants, 10 coffee shops, six grocery stores and five offices.

Guerrero said his company’s ambitions, however, don’t stop with selling mere coffee to consumers.

The company’s mission is to create new, exciting drinks that thrill the palette.

The laboratory for this mission is in the Edgar store’s basement. Here, a computerized stainless steel machine is able to infuse a coffee and spice mixture with nitrogen gas. The gas not only carbonates the drink, but gives it a thick foaminess.

“It’s Guinness, but it’s coffee,” Guerrero said, referring to the worldfamous Irish beer. The company is able to can these amazing drinks. Six-packs of Nitro coffees are stacked inside a walk-in cooler, staying chill.

Guerrero, a native of Chile who worked in that country’s wine industry, said he uses machines and processes not just used in coffee roasting shops, but also by wine and beer makers.

“We are getting closer to what we have ambition for,” he said. “We use this from the wine industry, that from the beer manufacturers. It’s all tied together in a way.”

Guerrero said he often will hand out samples of new drinks at the Wausau Farmers Market to gauge public reaction. He said he is trying to give consumers an experience, not just something to drink.

“You might have a drink of our coffee and it would trigger a memory,” he said.”That memory might make you smile. That is what I have to pursue.”

Guerrero said he regularly takes classes in food science and production, including filtration, to expand his know-how.

He said it is fun to pack all of the flavors of the world into a can that consumers can enjoy.

“It’s really fun to do this,” Guerrero said. “I enjoy doing this more than anything. It feels natural. We can put the whole world inside a 12 ounce can.”