Carpe Diem belongs to the Specialty Coffee Association of America, and buys a lot of fair-trade coffee. This means that their coffee broker, who travels to the fields and makes deals with farmers, is also trying to make the life of a coffee farmer more sustainable and encourage them to continue growing. The roaster must then roast the beans for the proper length of time, an extremely important factor in the art of roasting. After roasting, the beans are released into a tray and stirred with a metal arm so they cool evenly. The roaster accommodates 25 pounds of beans, said McLaughlin, which is a small amount, but it allows greater control over the roasting process.
Roasts can range from full city roasts, which are light, to French roast, which is the darkest.
Carpe Diem does a range of medium roasts, said von Wellsheim, to get more flavor from the bean without bitterness. Carpe Diem uses about 10 different types of raw beans, that can be roasted and blended in a number of ways. For flavored coffee, the beans are soaked in oils. A bucket is placed in a drum that turns for a few hours, and the beans absorb flavors like vanilla, chocolate or maple. Most of their business, said von Wellsheim, is between Portsmouth and Bar Harbor, Maine, but they accept mail order from anywhere.