I’m a coffee drinker; love it! It’s a daily treat for me – in the morning before my workout, for breakfast, sometimes after lunch and then for an afternoon perk at work. My friends know I am a Starbucks fan; who isn’t really? But my love for it is not because of the hype behind the name – a simple dark roast coffee, plain without all the cream, sugar and spices will do for me. But most recently I got to sample some Caye Coffee and now I am hooked on something closer to home, as delicious and more conveniently accessible.
After getting a taste of the local Caye Coffee’s ‘Back Street’ dark roast, I now know what will be a staple at my house. It’s fresh, it’s bold and it’s delicious.
“I will convert you from Starbucks to our Caye Coffee,” commented Paul Duville, new owner of Caye Coffee Roasting Co. Ltd., when I showed up at his roasting facility located about two miles south of San Pedro Town, Ambergris Caye.
Enough said, with one little sip I was converted. Back Street is the name of Caye Coffee’s dark roasted bean. San Pedro Town has three main downtown streets, something that Paul noticed being common with various destinations in the Caribbean. So when it came for him and his wife Marci to give the coffee roasting business an overhaul, they decided to keep things local and name their three types of bean roast with the local lingo. Even the company logo and product presentation was given a more professional and clean look.
Front Street Breakfast Blend
They got the inspiration from downtown Front Street where there are several great breakfast spots. This is the light roast that is very smooth, aromatic and packed with coffee flavor.
Middle Street Medium Blend
“Middle Street in San Pedro is the hustle and bustle core business area of town,” comments Paul. “Our Medium blend is a combination of our Front Street and Backstreet roasts, blended to capture that full coffee taste with a slightly bold bite at the end.” This blend has more body than the lighter Front Street roast. Paul suggests that this blend is great over ice.
Back Street Bold Blend
Not for the faint of heart! This dark roast delivers the kick that the bold coffee lover is looking for while retaining that deep flavor that bold drinkers require. Paul explains that they grind this roast a little finer which gives it an ‘espresso’ style consistency. It is deep, dark, rich-flavored coffee that will keep you coming back for more!
It’s great coffee and islanders are starting to notice the difference Paul and Marci have made after taking over the roasting company just over a year ago. Caye Coffee was established in 2004 and became known for roasting great tasting coffee. The couple has kept the original roasting profiles established by the company, but Paul has managed to perfect each roast and keep the flavors very consistent with every batch.
Marci Price packaging Caye Coffee’s Back Street Dark Roast coffee
Caye Coffee roasts come in one pound (16oz) packages and in both ground and whole bean format. But they also have smaller half pound packages and individual servings packs (pictured above) that they provide to condos and hotels on the island
The Arabic coffee beans are imported but Paul stands his ground in calling the coffee a Belizean product because he says that roasting, cooling, grinding and even packaging the coffee at different, temperatures, elevations and humidity all play a very important factor on how the end produce will taste like. The island environment definitely plays a roll on the final produce; and by just overlooking the entire process I could tell that Paul has taken extensive measures to make sure that his product is very consistent with every batch of coffee that he roasts.
The coffee is roasted in small batches to capture the best flavor possible and Paul logs times and temperatures of each batch so that he can have control over the consistency of the final product; the beans are also inspected during the roast.
Paul and Marci have a small operation on the island of Ambergris Caye, but their love for the island and their Caye Coffee is BIG! They are very dedicated to roasting and providing a high quality product that is fresh, rich and consistent every time you brew their product. You cannot beat the taste of a fresh cup of coffee. Caye Coffee Roasting Company is the maker of one of the finest tasting coffees in Belize. Have a sip, just one; I know you will like it.
Paul DuVille releases the coffee beans from the roaster into the cooling bin
Coffee Beans in the cooling process
Paul places the coffee beans in the grinder
Marci weighs the ground coffee for the 1/2 pound packages
Paul heat seals the coffee packages
Caye Coffee’s three different blends
