Name: Black River

Cupping Notes: Smokey, Cedar, Tobacco

Temperature of Roast: 455˚F

Process: Wet Hulled

Varietal: Abysinnia, Ateng

Altitude: 4,500 ft

Origin: Aceh, Indonesia

The Black River flows from the Western Adirondacks to Lake Ontario. While it’s well known for its rapids in the Watertown area, the part stretching from Lyons Falls to Carthage only has a drop of a few feet and is navigable. The Black River Canal was completed in 1855 and for half a century it served the Erie Canal as the main arm reaching to Jefferson and Lewis Counties. 

Many of the dams and corresponding reservoirs in the Western Adirondacks were originally built to supply the Black River Canal with water. This was always problematic as the Western Adirondacks always struggled to supply enough water during the canal’s busy fall harvest shipping schedule. Still, the historical impact of the canal is remarkable and felt in the area through the conversion of old water control dams to hydro power generating dams. 

The Black River is called the black river because of the tannins from the pine needles that fall at its head waters. Our black river is called such in honor of the black river and because it’s coffee. This coffee is a dark / french roast coffee. It’s one of the few coffees that we roast where you’ll find the beans to be oily. It’s reminiscent of a different time of cowboy coffee and barges laden with produce being pulled by donkeys through old locks. Enjoy your journey.