Edible Vancouver Island September/October 2023

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a difference. “It's interesting, because it's not always the same thing. Like a sunny day to a wet day, the moisture in the air is different. So you have to change up roasting a little bit, too.” Guy has been roasting coffee at Karma for 19 years, which he does not only because he loves coffee, but because he loves the business. “I love my job,” he says simply. “We’re all friends, we take care of each other.” And he takes pride in producing their high-quality coffee to both their new and long-time customers. And as for customers, the unique approach each roaster takes to preparing their coffee beans means customers have a wide range of choice to find their favourite bean or enjoy experimenting. “We all have different things that we give to the public,” Carradine says. “There’s so much variety when it comes to roasting not only with your bean of choice, but how you roast, the temperature you roast, how long and what your preferences are.” The various approaches each business takes to their coffee perfectly suits the needs of the community, allowing everyone to find their perfect cup.

tastes,” Carradine says. “So it's our tastes and our influence that brings different varieties in. So it's very fun for us, because we can pick things that we're like, ‘Oh, I definitely want to taste that.’ And it just benefits the customer that way.” And they make it easy for their customers to both try new things or stick with their favourites by offering a loyalty program. “You pay ahead for five bags at a discounted price, but you come and get them as you need them so that they're always freshly roasted,” Carradine explains. “And it's for any of our one-pound bags. So if you really like one, you can get five of the same one; you can come back and just keep refilling on your freshly roasted beans. Or you can try a new one every time. So you could try a medium this time from this region, you could try a dark roast, you could take the decaf home, you can switch it up as you need them.” There are a variety of roasts available at Karma Coffee as well, including decaf. They have beans from Mexico, Nicaragua, Honduras and elsewhere, and every roasting batch is carefully calculated. “It’s a science, really,” says Stephan Guy. “We have our blends that we've been doing forever, but sometimes you get a different batch number and then the moisture in there can be a little different. So you have to readjust from that,” he explains. And even the weather on the day of roasting makes