This Month’s Featured Article

Rebecca Grossman and Lucas Smith started Ilse Coffee in 2019 with the goal of showcasing the world’s best coffees and a “desire to open people’s eyes to what coffee can be.” The company is named after Lucas’ grandmother, Ilse, as a way of honoring the strong women who have shaped the lives of both Lucas and Rebecca. 

Rebecca and Lucas both have extensive experience working in the food and hospitality business. Lucas’ mother was a chef, so he recalls being in restaurants from a very young age. Just prior to opening Ilse, Lucas was working at The White Hart in Salisbury, CT, where he helped launch White Hart Provisions. 

“Rebecca and I fell in love with coffee, but we had never realized that coffee could taste like anything. It has so much more flavor potential than most people know about. We wanted to share that with more people,” he said.

Building relationships at the source

Now coming up on its sixth year, Ilse Coffee focuses on quality first and foremost. Rebecca and Lucas describe Ilse as an “ingredient-driven” company: “You can’t start with bad coffee and roast it into good coffee.” 

As such, one of the most vital parts of their business has been sourcing coffee and forging relationships with smallholder producers around the world. Ilse currently has three lines of coffee – the primary line, select line, and commitment line. The primary line is composed of single-producers microlots from around the globe, the select line features the rarest and highest quality coffees from the world, and the commitment line offers larger volume lots from Ilse’s growing partners’ farm, while still paying a premium above market price.

Ilse mainly sources from Central and South America and East Africa – including Ecuador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Colombia, and Ethiopia. The coffee menu rotates on a seasonal basis, given that different countries harvest their beans at different times. 

“We try to find special coffees that we can share. We’re always looking to connect with people in producing countries and forge relationships with them,” Lucas said. 

Indeed, Lucas and Rebecca spend a lot of time in the countries they source from, meeting and learning about each individual producer, observing the harvest process firsthand, and building relationships with their suppliers. 

“Being able to travel is one of the best parts of the job. When we first started, it was just the two of us, and we weren’t able to travel as much. Now, we’re able to go down to coffee-producing countries, be better partners, and build those incredibly important relationships with smallholder producers,” Rebecca explained. 

One of the most important things to Rebecca and Lucas was showcasing the producers in Ilse’s packaging, so that consumers know exactly where their coffee is coming from. As such, each box of coffee features an information card that has the name of the coffee producer, source country, notes, process, and variety. 

“That was really important to us. What we’re doing as roasters isn’t necessarily as special as what the producers are doing. The packaging is designed to showcase them and their amazing work,” Rebecca explained. “It’s a reflection of a time, place, and person.”

If you visit Ilse’s website to purchase coffee, there are also lengthy descriptions of each producer. For example, under Guillermo Tercero’s washed gesha coffee, Lucas and Rebecca share some information about Guillermo and his farm in Honduras: “Guillermo Tercero’s farm, El Tesoro, spans seven hectares within a lush forest along the Montecillos mountain range. This is our first season working with Guillermo, and we are thrilled to partner with him. Visiting Guillermo’s farm is a breathtaking experience,” they wrote. “Nestled within a forest, his coffee trees thrive in a healthy, shade-grown agroforestry system. Guillermo employs environmentally friendly practices, including soil conservation techniques, live barriers, balanced nutrition based on soil analysis, and manual weed control – avoiding the use of chemicals.”

Ilse doesn’t offer blends, they only do single-origin, which allows them to give focus to the distinct area or region where the coffee is grown. Lucas explained that there are many different varieties of coffee – similar to how there are many different kinds of apples. He then went on to share that each variety has its own inherent flavor characteristic and profile, which are determined by the different origins, microclimates, and processing methods that are employed when harvesting the coffee. Essentially, that’s what makes varieties different from one another.

As far as the roasting process goes, Lucas and Rebecca want to bring out the natural flavors that are already inherent in the coffee. “We don’t want it to taste burnt or bitter. The producers are doing most of the hard work, so we simply want to highlight what’s done at origin,” he said. 

Reflecting on growth and their position in the industry

Ilse celebrated five years in business this past June. Rebecca described the milestone as “a step into the adulthood of the business.” They rebranded some of their packaging in celebration, moving into cleaner, more minimalistic visuals. 

“Prior, we had a similar packaging that was very colorful and modern, but this box identity is new and has been a really beautiful step in this iteration of our company,” she said. 

When reflecting on the past five years, Lucas remarked that while growing a business has many nuances, he feels “incredibly grateful and lucky” to be able to do something that he loves every day. 

“Every single time we travel to origin and meet the people that we buy our coffee from, it’s an incredibly rewarding experience,” Lucas shared. “It’s very special. We’re buying mainly from smallholder producers who, up to a few years ago, didn’t have market access. Now, they know exactly where their coffee is going. It’s special, and it solidifies why we do this. Meeting with the producers is always an emotional experience.”

Rebecca echoed many of Lucas’ statements, but also noted that being a roaster allows Ilse to have a unique position in the coffee industry, as they have a connection to the whole chain, from the producers all the way to the consumers. 

“We’re involved in every step of the process, from when it’s grown to when it’s served. We love that aspect of the business too, it’s very exciting,” she said. “We’re also connected to many things going on in the world that I never expected to be involved in. Global logistics affects us in ways both good and bad, but I’m very happy that these things are in my purview. That’s a really special thing that coffee has done for us, too.”

The ability to be connected to so many different places throughout the world is also a big reward for Rebecca and Lucas. 

“We’re in a small, rural town in the Northwest Corner of Connecticut, but we sell our coffee to shops all over the world. A cafe in Paris ordered from us a few weeks ago – that was really exciting,” Lucas said. “We’re doing all of this from a very small pocket, but we’re shipping all over the world and sharing our coffee globally.” 

Connecting the community at Ilse Coffee Cafe

A little over a year ago, Rebecca and Lucas opened the Ilse Coffee Cafe in Canaan, CT, which in many ways, was a natural extension of the Ilse brand. When they first started their coffee company, they hoped to have a customer-facing component to the business. While the largest part of their business is wholesale, they both agreed that having the cafe in Canaan has been special for them and for the community. 

“It’s been a wonderful way for us not only to share our coffee, but also to engage in conversations with the community. Being behind the counter has also allowed us to work with the coffee day-to-day on a more intimate level,” Rebecca said.

She also noted that since the pandemic, many communities have had a need for places where people can gather. They want Ilse to be one of those places. 

“Coffee is a connector for people and for the community. We love hosting people, and we love having conversations with people about what we do.” 

“We want to be inclusive for everyone, and we’ll meet you where you are,” Lucas added. “If you want to go deep into the world of coffee and learn about the different varieties, we’re here for you. If you want a really good vanilla latte, we’re here for you, too.” 

In the future, Rebecca and Lucas hope to continue growing in an “intentional way.” They note that while they have a pretty solid global footprint, they’re hoping to collaborate with more coffee shops at a local level. Long term, they’re also hoping to open more coffee shop locations where they makes sense. All around, though, they’re pretty happy with what they’re doing. •

To learn more about Ilse Coffee, visit their website ilsecoffee.com or visit Ilse Coffee Cafe at 35 Railroad Street in North Canaan, CT, on Thursdays through Mondays from 8am to 2pm.