Zingerman's adds coffee to portfolio

ANN ARBOR, Mich.-Zingerman's Company of Businesses welcomed the latest member to its family in June. Zingerman's Coffee Co. is the brainchild of longtime home roaster and coffee aficionado Alien Leibowitz.

The computer whiz-turnedcoffee roaster is roasting primarily single-origin and estategrown green beans from distant lands on two Ambex roasters.

"In the Zingerman's tradition, we like to know the source of where these coffees come from," he said.

In a 1,000-square-foot space adjacent to Zingerman's mail-order business here, the coffee is roasted in small 30pound batches at a lower temperature than conventional roasting. Each batch takes 16 to 18 minutes per batch vs. the typical seven-minute roasting time.

"We roast by site, sound and taste," said Leibowitz.

The 12 SKUs are packaged in nitrogenflushed, valve bags and are stamped with the roast date .

"We recommend consumption no more than two weeks past roasting," he said.

The inaugural roasts include a Grand Cru from the Gerais estate in Brazil, Jamaica Blue Mountain, Kona and Zingerman's house blend.

ZCoB features eight independent foodrelated businesses. ZCoB generated more than $21 million in sales in 2003. Zingerman's was Gourmet News' Retail Leadership award winner for 2003.

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