18/07/2023

1. Tell us how Independence Coffee Company (ICC) began:

It all started over 20 years ago in an old barn on our family homestead, with our 1948 delivery truck, five 152 pound bags of high grown Arabica coffee beans, a much prized Turkish-made roaster and a passion to create THE best coffee experience possible.

During the days, I took care of the kids promoting Independence Coffee, and Ragan had a full-time job in Houston. Then, after a full day of work & family, we roasted coffee late into the night. A few evenings a week, when the kids got out of school, we’d pile into the van and take ‘field trips’ – delivering coffee and running household errands.

Over the course of a year, we built our fledgling coffee company on the road, together. Not a lot has changed in the process since then. No fancy computer-aided roasting equipment to tell us when each batch has met its peak profile. We let our eyes, nose, ears, and our taste buds tell us “when”. This is ‘old school roasting’ at its best!

The business grew and continues to grow today, but we’ll always move forward as a tightly packed, tightly bonded family.

2. How do you source beans for ICC’s coffees?

We source only 100% Arabica beans from the current year’s crop. We bring coffee in from 13 growing regions around the globe. Our mission is to provide high quality coffee to coffee enthusiasts around the world.

3. What products do you offer for hoteliers?

There are many products to choose from! We have single serve disc pods for in room service that are 100% compostable, as well as single serve for k-cup style brewers that are also 100% compostable. Our compostable format is our way to give back to our environment while not contributing to the plastic single serve coffee waste that circles the earth over 13 times a year.

ICC also offers fresh roasted whole bean and ground options for lobby and food service use.

4. What are your favorite ICC products?

My two favorite roasts are Madalyn’s Backyard Pecan and Liga Privada. Of course, I love Madalyn’s because it’s named for our daughter, Madalyn, but I also love its smoothness. We created this roast in 2003 and all these years later, I still love it.

I used to drink a lot of Jet Fuel, but when we created Liga Privada, I started drinking that more. It’s a true medium roast and really an enjoyable cup of coffee!

If I want something out of the ordinary, I’ll brew our Guatemalan Antigua or Ethiopian Yirgacheffe.

5. What excites you most about where ICC is heading?  

Independence Coffee is experiencing growth in the sustainable packaging world as well as stepping into high volume liquid coffee and cold brew concentrate. These categories are very exciting as we bring new products to the board.