Passion governs most of what I do

It was a lesson I learned from a dear friend, who was a ferocious fencer. She kept fencing all the way through her final bout with cancer, and used her battle to deliver lessons to all of her friends about how to live your life as best you could.

Passion. Giving yourself over to what you are doing, embracing the moment of it.

For us, that meant the joy of swordplay, of blades slashing and flickering through the air with that special ring when they clashed. It also meant relaxing after a training session by hitting the pub or chilling in a campsite, cold drink in hand, burgers or some other tasty food on the way.

On the way to every tournament, every practice? We stopped for coffee

Coffee fueled our fights, and hours of conversations. At the time, I was just learning to brew my own coffee at home, and Yvonne was vicious in her criticism of my nascent skills. And fairly so. I was trying to get espresso taste out of a drip coffee maker, by loading it to the gills with the darkest roasts I could find.

I got better.

Courtney, my wife and partner in most all things, has been an engine that directs my passion and pushes it into a productive gear

Her support isn't just inspiration, but active engagement, sometimes learning more about my interests than I am able to. She uses that knowledge to help me get to the next stage I'm aiming for, to be a critique partner, and to keep me on track when I get distracted...I can keep no secrets from her. Not that I would want to.

Her quiet and constant support has behind every novel I've written, and it's been her quiet nudges that have pushed me forward from curiosity about roasting my own beans, to her refining our roasting process, to figuring out what we need to do to actually go from home roasting to nano scale specialty roasting. Together, we're building the roast profiles and processes for where we want to go next.

The name of the shop?

That's us...or at least, our other passions.

Courtney is an artist. Primarily a fiber artist, but she reaches far beyond that, and her artistic touches can be found all around our home, from the garden to the kitchen. And the looms that sit in her studio, just next to the roastery.

When I'm not writing novels, I'm muddling about with my forge. Our front yard has a lean-to shelter that covers up the anvils, and the workshop is cluttered with failed blades and bits of armour. Smithing is my hobby, and one of the things I let myself be terrible at. Smithing is one of things that keeps you honest. A blade breaking in a quench is an absolute truth that can't be explained away.

Coffee has a truth as well

The roaster chooses the beans, manages every step of the roast, responding to the slightest changes in the process and tweaking the roaster to aim for that perfect flavour result. When you drink our coffee, you can taste every step of the process. Nothing is hidden when those beans go into the bag to be shipped out. All my passion resides in those bags, and it's my hope that it comes out in your morning cup of coffee, or mid-morning espresso shot or latte.

May it ignite your passions, and give you a few precious moments of a fuller life with every sip.