The love of a hot cup of coffee unites many people every morning. The distinct aroma, the way the cup warms your hands, and the way the right blend can invigorate your whole day. Whether its bold, blonde, dark or medium, everyone has their favourite blend and here in Harrison, our favourite blends come from The Back Porch. The Back Porch is a local organic coffee roaster and pottery studio, run by Dan, Lynda and their daughter Jasmine. At The Back Porch Dan and Lynda do everything by hand, from roasting aromatic coffee, weaving beautiful baskets, and crafting artisan pottery. Even the studio, family home, and greenhouse were hand-built by Dan and Lynda. 

Dan and Lynda hadn’t always thought of roasting coffee for their living, previously, Dan was working in the logging industry. At the time he was roasting his coffee at home for himself but had been thinking about switching career paths. That’s when he found the 1919 fire roaster and started to sell batches of his freshly roasted coffee to others. They now offer a variety of blends including Country Coyote, Mellow Moose, Rustic Rooster, and many more. Perfectly paired, Lynda has mastered the art of pottery and basket weaving; creating beautiful coffee mugs, serving bowls, woven coasters, and baskets. Together, Dan and Lynda have created a truly unique experience at the Back Porch. Visitors are welcome to peruse the store, visit with the goats and chickens, and admire Dan and Lynda’s extensive antique collection and vegetable garden.

On Thursday mornings at the Back Porch you will smell the invigorating aroma of coffee, freshly roasting: Dan loads up his 1919 coffee roaster with the lime green coloured coffee beans and begins his roasting process. At Back Porch they use a shade-matching technique; this requires patience and a keen eye. When roasting, the first crack in the beans happens at about the eleven-minute mark into the roasting process, releasing the moisture from the beans. The second crack occurs at about 15 minutes, releasing the sugars and oils.

Soon after Dan will check the beans for their colour with a small scoop shovel that dips into the roaster. He matches the beans in the scoop to his toolkit of previously roasted beans. Once the beans are the perfect shade of roasted espresso, the beans are then poured into a cooling tray and sprayed with a mister to stop the roasting process. Dan always inspects the beans for any impurities and each batch at the Back Porch is individually examined for perfection. Once the roast has been thoroughly examined, Dan starts the roasting process over again with a fresh batch of the green coffee beans. This old school way of roasting creates some of the best tasting coffee we’ve ever had! 

The Back Porch is open Thursdays through Sundays 10:00AM -5:00 PM; closing from Christmas to mid-February. 

You can find Back Porch products at their Harrison location: 6116 Golf Road, open Thursday-Sunday 10-5, or at various markets including Lepp Farm Market in Abbotsford, Produce Gone Wild, Garrison Greens, and Hofstedes Country Market in Chilliwack, and more!