Swift River Coffee Roasters

"I have just gotten into extracting my own Espresso to make lattes at home and the only thing I was missing was some high quality freshly ground beans. I found this place on the web and put in an order for a single bag of "River Rock Espresso" ground because my coffee grinder is still on its way. I was passing through Raymond today and thought maybe it would be quicker to just stop by and see what they had on the shelf. When I walked up to the building, through the window of the front door, from a distance I saw a shelf with a bunch of packaged coffee bags. I assumed that though this was the main roasting factory, maybe they had a sales counter and sold beans also. As I got closer to the door I noticed that there wasn't any counter, just two guys in there working away to make the product, so I figured I should leave them alone and head out. As I turned around to leave, the door swung open and a voice brightly said "Hi! Can I help you find something!". I turned around to meet Ian Ballingall, the head roaster for the company. I explained that I was looking for really fresh beans to compliment my brand new espresso machine and Ian replied "Are you Michael? I just was looking at your order a second ago! Come in!" I was a bit taken aback, but Ian led me into the roastery and then showed me some of his machinery and talked a little bit about the process while he freshly ground some brand spankin new beans for my order. He handed them over with a smile and told me that next time I could just go to the store across the street to pick up my orders when I needed. I left feeling pretty darn privileged to have been let into the roastery and treated so warmly by the very man himself. Guys, I proceeded to go home and make, legitimately, the best tasting coffee beverages I have ever had. The roast was super dark and had more rich and robust coffee flavor than I would think even possible. It was quite the thing, and it was EXACTLY what I was looking for in the very first experience of using my new expensive Espresso machine to validate that I didn't just blow a bunch of money. So Ian, if you read this, thank you very much. I have gone on to try several of Ian’s roast now. My favorite by far is his single origin Ethiopian Sidamo. Somehow, when made into espresso, that coffee has these rich bright notes of cranberries and raspberries with a strong acidic bite but smooth and sweet aftertaste. It remains, the best coffee I have ever tasted. When I travel back to California in the coming months I am sure to make Ian keep sending it to me in the mail. Friends and neighbors, I know us Mainers, we love our flavored “Green Mountain Coffee”. However I implore you all to stop sending your money to the "Green Mountain Coffee" roasters in Vermont, and start giving it to our neighbors at Swift River Roasters. This business was created by, is owned by, and is staffed by, Mainers. They represent every bit of the warm friendly people we Mainers pride ourselves on being, and they make one hell of a good product. I know that I won’t be giving my money to some place out in California when I can send it back to my home state of Maine and support Ian and his employees. I encourage you all to visit their website, find their nearest retailer, and buy a bag or two for yourselves."

"Not customer service forward. Sent me the wrong product as a first time customer. Emailed stating that and they told me to use it. No refund or discount for another purchase. Will be finding a local company that cares about service. Would not recommend."

"Great little place to pick up our Swift River coffees."

"Best coffees ever. The Jamaican me crazy brew is incredible. Now ordering in 5 pound bags, because I have coffee issue and afraid to run out."

"Swift River Coffee Roasters provide coffee for the Good Life Market next door. It's important to note, they do not brew, or serve brewed coffee, at this location. This is an actual coffee roasting facility, and not a cafe or eatery. It's pretty neat to see how the coffee roasting done, though! :)"