Interview with Carsen Oglend, Greenbuyer at Drumroaster Coffee Co.
Based out of the small community of Cobble Hill, British Columbia on Vancouver Island, Drumroaster Coffee is somewhat of a hidden-gem coffee roaster and café in Canada. We’re exceptionally happy to share their beans with you in Issue #5 as they’re sourcing incredible coffees and roasting them impeccably well.
What’s the origin story of Drumroaster Coffee?
We started off with my Dad, Geir Oglend; he’s been in the coffee scene here on Vancouver Island since the late 70s. We had started and sold a couple of different cafes and local coffee roasters that are still going, but our ultimate goal was to include myself and my sister, Courtney, and start something that was more focused on quality. In 2007, we started this up on a little 3-kilo Turkish roaster with a minimal investment, just growing on cash flow and not really advertising. Our only advertising was through word of mouth—we still haven’t done any actual advertising. Your product will always speak more about your brand than anything else will.
What was the specialty coffee scene in Cobble Hill like when you first started Drumroaster, and how has it changed?
We started Drumroaster Coffee in 2007, when lightly roasted coffee wasn’t yet a trend, especially in a rural community 45 minutes north of Victoria, B.C. At the time, there were just two other coffee shops on Vancouver Island serving coffee the way we did. Today, there are at least twenty. The industry has grown, and consumers are more aware of specialty coffee, which is wonderful.
Have your focuses and goals shifted since you first started? If so, what’s changed?
Over the past 18 years, we’ve learned a lot about the industry and what our priorities are. Early on, cup quality was the most important factor. Now, I’d place cup quality at maybe third or fourth position. My biggest priority now is to empower smallholder producers to gain access to the market and to make sure we are placing the most value on washed coffee. As process experiments and boutique varieties have gained notoriety, we want to ensure producers focus on clean washed coffee, as that is what the largest percentage of our coffee drinkers still want.
As coffee nerds, it seems taboo to drink anything other than black coffee. But, what would you say is your “guilty pleasure” beverage?
I love affogatos; espresso on ice cream is such a great combination. We had an idea to do soft serve affogatos this year, but we just couldn’t make the logistics work in our cafe. Maybe one day. They taste like an iced vanilla latte, but better!
What are you most proud of in your journey thus far?
Our project in Mataquescuintla, Guatemala makes me proud. Despite ongoing challenges in the group, I feel like we put our buying focus into a cause that has helped improve lives, and has empowered a group of people to enjoy their right of self-determination, to stop a power from ruining their natural environment that poisons their water and takes their right to enjoy their lives on their land. It hasn’t been perfect, but our relationship with the group is strong and they’re able to resist the mine and those who are pushing for it because they’re receiving consistent high prices for their coffees.
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