Maple Leaf Coffee Roasters Invites You to Explore Locally Roasted Coffee in Roselle, Illinois

Maple Leaf Coffee Roasters Invites You To Explore Coffee Roasting and Locally Roasted Coffee in the Chicago Suburbs

**Disclosure: I did receive complimentary coffee in order to bring you an accurate review. No other compensation was received. All opinions are 100% my own.

Maple Leaf Coffee Roasters in Roselle, Illinois affords a grand opportunity to explore the world of locally roasted coffee. The owners of Maple Leaf Coffee Roasters, Alex and Lynn, welcomed us on a lovely Sunday morning to introduce us to their experiential small business and the world of coffee roasting. During our visit, we would not only taste a fresh Maple Leaf brew but would also learn about the process of roasting coffee and see the roaster in action! Join me on a little exploration of Maple Leaf Coffee Roasters:

Meeting Lynn and Alex owners of Maple Leaf Coffee Roasters

Maple Leaf Coffee Roasters LOVES Community:

Alex and Lynn want to keep Maple Leaf Coffee Roasters local. They love being part of the Roselle community and working with other businesses in Roselle as well as throughout the Chicago suburbs. Currently, Maple Leaf Coffee Roasters coffee is being served up at the Roselle Metra Station Monday-Friday mornings. Additionally, Maple Leaf Coffee Roasters has worked with Chocolate Inspirations on a special chocolate treat, Pollyanna Brewing, Wolf Den Brewing, Flesk Brewing, Lynfred Winery and Orange Theory. Maple Leaf Coffee Roasters coffee can be found at Little Red Ribbon Boutique in Roselle. Right away I felt at home at Maple Leaf and felt that community feel.

A look at the coffee beans for a variety of roasts comparing before and after roasting.

Welcome to the World of Coffee:

Alex provided me with a pretty thorough introduction to the world of coffee. I had no idea there were so many flavor profiles for coffee! Elevations, temperatures, amount of rain, processing methods and more all factor into flavor profiles. I can tell that Alex really knows his coffee because he was able to point to map and describe different flavor profiles found in that area even to a microlevel. When choosing beans, Alex has to keep tabs on crop cycles in order to purchase at the correct times. He also considers flavor, consistency of taste and cost. There seem to be a lot of pieces to the puzzle, but he is able to fit it together to have a great selection of roasts throughout the year.

Learning about coffee roasting.

Alex started roasting coffee on a small scale at home. Accessible equipment such as air roasters makes roasting at home doable.  To roast, you need heat, agitation, air and time. Alex developed quite a passion for roasting coffee eventually wanting to branch out to roast coffee for the public. Lynn's passion for coffee expanded as Alex introduce her to world of coffee. To expand, they purchased a Mill City Roasters coffee roaster which is made in Minnesota!

Alex explaining how coffee is roasted.

During our visit, we witnessed the coffee roaster in action. Alex explained each part of the roasting process and let us observe the beans throughout to see changes. With the mission of making coffee and the roasting process more accessible to the public, Maple Leaf Coffee Roasters welcomes tours of the roastery. If you would like a tour, all you need to do is contact Lynn and Alex to set up a time.

Taking a peek at how the coffee roaster works.

Watching the roasting process was pretty interesting! Each batch takes about 11-15 minutes and will heat up to about 410℉-440℉. The size of bean, type of roast, age of bean and weather can effect the time and temperature for roasting. Throughout the demonstration, we learned how the beans change and were even able to see some at various steps. I really had no idea about the process and reactions that take place until my visit. I found it pretty interesting that they have to cool the beans quickly to stop the reaction to have a good roast. The entire process is interesting so I totally recommend setting up a roastery tour yourself!

Relaxing with Some Coffee and Taking a Peek at the Shop:

Relaxing with some Maple Leaf Coffee Roasters Coffee.

During our visit we tried a Costa Rican coffee which I loved. I perused the shop and Maple Leaf has all sorts of great items for coffee lovers and those just getting started on coffee. Of course, they do have a variety fresh roasts! If you do need to have your coffee ground, they are able to that for your as well. We brought home some Hartford Blend Espresso and I can tell you it has been a delight to sip while relaxing! The Hartford Blend Espresso definitely comes through as smooth and comforting. Lovely!

Cold brew coffee for summer!

For the summer, Maple Leaf Coffee Roasters has cold brew coffee. They also have chocolate breaks made in collaboration with Chocolate Inspirations. Of course, they have quite a few fresh roasts to choose from. Varieties may vary based on season and availability -- which is part of the exploration!

Nice notes help distinguish coffees.

A Little More About Maple Leaf Coffee Roasters:

So why Maple Leaf Coffee Roasters? The name originates from Alex and Lynn's fondness for Canada and hockey including Alex's adopted home in Winnipeg. Additionally, Alex and Lynn wanted to come up with something unique for the area. I think the name is very warm and welcoming working hand-in-hand with Maple Leaf's approach of making coffee roasting accessible.

Sitting down with some delicious Hartford Blend Espresso.

Lynn and Alex have some exciting plans for Maple Leaf Coffee Roasters including creating a cafe where diners can experience seeing roasting in action while enjoying a meal. Maple Leaf Coffee Roasters is all about community from educating the public about how small batch coffee is roasted to introducing fantastic flavors to working with other community businesses and organizations. I loved the coffee at Maple Leaf Coffee Roasters, truly appreciated their ability to educate about coffee roasting and admired their work with community. I can't wait to see Maple Leaf Coffee Roasters grow and can't wait to visit again to try more roasts!