Earthback Coffee
South Burlington-based coffee connoisseur , Tony Basiliere , founded Earthback Coffee in 2010 after a neck injury prevented him from continuing in his previous line of work as a bus driver . Tony said that he knew that he needed to find something to do where he could manage his own time . “ It became obvious that I had to start my own business . My wife and I sat down and we talked about what my interests were . It occurred to me that one of the things I was most passionate about was coffee . When I first started , I had already been doing some home roasting with a little ‘ hot-top ’ roaster . I was in constant pursuit of roasting and brewing perfection . Always searching for that perfect cup of coffee .”
As Tony continued to moved forward in his journey as an independent coffee roaster , he became increasingly aware of the importance of each step in the coffee manufacturing process . According to Tony , “ it all starts with the grower . It ’ s important that the grower takes particular measures on plant and soil science . They have to be incredibly attentive during the whole growing stage and the harvest . Then it moves onto the processing period . You have to take the pulp off of the coffee cherry to expose the two seeds . There ’ s a number of ways that happens in the coffee world . It really varies region to region .”
Tony explains that , “ In places where there ’ s a lot of water , the coffee farmers will use water to remove the pulp in mills that use large drums to shave and mill the pulp off . Then they dry the seeds in drying drums that take the moisture content down significantly . In Africa , they lay the seeds out in beds and the pulp dries and naturally decomposes . After it decomposes , they peel the pulp off and they rake the seeds out and let the sun dry them out . There ’ s also a hybrid processing method called ‘ pulp-natural ’, which is generally done in Central America or South America . They ’ ll use the water washed method , but they won ’ t completely mill all of the pulp off – they ’ ll leave a thin film on the coffee seeds called ‘ mucilage ’ and then they ’ ll lay those beans out on patios and dry them in the sun . They then finish the drying process in drying drums – that ’ s what makes it a hybrid method . They don ’ t do the entire drying process on the patio beds .”
Tony believes that “ the way that the coffee beans are processed provides different
flavor profiles . You become aware of that as a roaster . I like pulp-natural coffees .
Different coffees from various regions have different characteristics due to the climate and terroir , but regardless of whether it was processed using the pulp-natural , or a natural , or a washed method , they ’ re all good in their own way . It ’ s all subjective to the taste of the roaster and drinker . They just have different characteristics that get expressed in the final product . That ’ s why each stage is so important , from the growing to the packaging and shipping – you have to preserve those unique flavors . If anything happens along the way , the integrity of the coffee beans can become jeopardized .”
As an outspoken proponent of environmental sustainability , Tony is proud to use as many sustainable methods as possible in his work . “ Whenever I deliver my coffee to stores and coffeeshops , I drop it off twenty bags at a time inside of used banana boxes that I source from local grocery stores . I don ’ t purchase any of the boxes new . The way I see it , the whole economy has been based around wasteful packaging practices . There ’ s a lot that needs to change , but I ’ m starting to see a lot of positive developments as well
20 VERMONT MAGAZINE