It was probably the excitement, both from the guests and from their trip leader Ian, that created the buzz around the campfire that evening. The flames were reaching higher and higher as guests took turns chopping firewood and stoking the fire; the sparks and snaps and pops lit up the faces of those who sat close enough to feel the heat on their shins. It was early July, and mosquito season was just starting. Guests slapped at their calves and thighs, some scratched at the tops of their feet.
Over the fire sat an old cast-iron pan, full of green coffee beans. As a German passenger shook the pan and tossed the beans around, they turned a dark brown colour and they cracked gently overtop the voices of everyone; excitement about tomorrow morning’s coffee graced the conversation before they went to sleep. It was the Canadian-ness of it all, a bunch of international travellers sat close around a campfire chatting about lives at home and swatting away mosquitos, that really struck Ian.
Those first conversations with strangers around the fire grew into Mosquito Bean, the only home delivery coffee service in the Niagara region of Ontario. “It was sort of a combination between great conversations with people and the lack of easily accessible organic coffee” says Ian. Inspired from the rustic nature of camping in northern Canada, Mosquito Bean aims to be as environmentally friendly as possible; it’s number one priority is providing customers with tasty coffee with an ethically sound background.
Originally from Ontario, Ian ran camping tours for RunAway Tours from 1984 to 1986. Travelling primarily up the coast of British Columbia into the Yukon and then down through the interior of BC and Alberta, RunAway Tours hosted international travellers from the US and Europe. After returning home to Toronto permanently, Ian recognized that that the single-cup servings that were apart of many of his friends’ morning routines were wasteful and costly. “Honestly my friends like coffee, they just struggle to find decent coffee near their homes” he says.
He began roasting coffee in his garage with his “janky” coffee roaster he purchased second-hand, and was giving his friends and family 1lb bags as gifts. It wasn’t until he was speaking with his brother about monthly budgeting that he realized many of his friends and family had over $100 in monthly coffee costs. His fresh-roasted coffee service delivers a 1lb bag of roasted beans (either whole or ground), right to your door on a bi-weekly basis.
“It was the rustic nature of sleeping in tents under the Northern Lights alongside people you had just met” said Ian, “You don’t have a lot in common at this point, except for the fact that you all hate mosquitos, and you’re all going to want good coffee early the next morning”. He gives credit to his ability to chat with passengers as well as educate them on the origins of the coffee bean and says that it made him love it so much more.
Mosquito Bean started through a love for the outdoors and spending time with those you care for, and has continued that tradition on for the last thirty years. “It came from good people sharing good coffee”, says Ian, who stands by that mentality as he spends time camping and travelling with his wife and kids. “The humbleness of roasting coffee over an open fire makes it feel like the most simple thing in the world, and it’s something that breaks geographical boundaries – everyone loves a good cup of coffee no matter where you’re from”.
*Unfortunately, Mosquito Bean does not really exist. Ian does have a huge love for good coffee, and he did run camping tours up the west coast of Canada and met some awesome people. He did roast raw beans in a cast iron pan over the fire, and definitely got eaten alive by mosquitos. We were on a walk some 8 years ago and he told me that would be his dream - to start an organic-coffee-roasting-home-delivery called Mosquito Bean. Life happens but unfortunately Mosquito Bean did not!
Comments