Moto Roasters was officially established in October 2017 by friends Dan and Mike. The guys had the idea to expand from roasting their own coffee beans as a hobby and start a coffee roasting company. Initially, they roasted on their stove tops or over charcoal fire grills (literally, over a fire), eventually switched over to using a commercial grade 15kg barrel coffee roaster.
Global Impact:
Luck was on their side, and they quickly got plugged into an amazing source for raw, green coffee beans, which are literally green before they’re roasted. Endiro Growers Project supplies Moto Roasters with green coffee beans directly from their micro-lot farm group in Uganda, a network of over 2,000 farmers and their families. They provide higher returns to their farmers and help the families change their lifestyle from surviving to thriving.
Mike and Dan have a trip planned to Uganda during harvest time in 2019 to meet the farmers. They are excited to see the coffee bean trees and experience firsthand the fruits of their labor in Uganda.
Moto has donated equipment to the farming communities, and portions of the proceeds on every bag sold goes towards new agricultural projects in small villages in Uganda. ”Moto” means ”fire” in Swahili, which is one of the official languages spoken in Uganda.
Sample & buy locally roasted coffee from Moto Roasters at the Chicago Artisan Market at Morgan Manufacturing (401 N. Morgan St., Chicago) on Sunday, September 16, 2018 (10am-4pm) along with Chicago?s finest artisans in food, fashion, home goods + art.
What is barrel-aged coffee?
The original Moto Roast is a medium/dark roast with a smooth, floral finish, and they offer the original beans in a ”barrel aged series.” Moto partners with local Chicago breweries and distilleries to swap coffee for barrels that are used to create the limited release barrel-aged coffee.
Each barrel has its own unique flavor that gets absorbed into the Ugandan coffee beans. In order for the surface area of each bean to be consistently exposed to the inside of the barrel, the roasters diligently roll the beans and pay close attention to each barrel.
Some barrels add the bourbon flavor with oak, which is traditional barrel aging, while others add a sweetness like vanilla or chocolate. Each barrel has character and the coffee masters accentuate each one while unfolding the pedigree of the barrel into the beans. The first barrel aged coffee created was from a bourbon stout barrel that originated from a bourbon distillery in Kentucky. The barrels were handed to Hailstorm Brewery in Tinley Park for barrel aging their Russian Imperial Stout. Moto Roasters then come in with the third life of the barrel and the coffee beans picked up the essence that each usage left behind. In the end, a whole new cup of complexity was created and ever batch has it own unique composition.
Coffee with a mission:
The guys at Moto Roasters have a great passion for roasting high quality coffee and finding exciting ways to add complexity and layers to the coffee without adding additional ingredients to your cup. At the end of the day, Moto Roasters wants to leave the world a better place for others by giving back to those in need. Grab a cup of Moto, wrap your mind around the pedigree of the bean and the barrel and enjoy every sip of all the good it represents.
Moto Roasters
Aurora, IL
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Chicago Artisan Market at Morgan Manufacturing – 100+ Artisans