16 July 2022, 0330… I began my four-hour journey to a town that was unknown to me until roughly two weeks prior. As I grew closer to my destination, I started to see why so many tourists come here year-round.
Picture this: A place that feels like a cozy little nomad town, tucked back alongside the Susitna River, beautiful views of Denali and a cat for mayor. Yes, a cat! Now, imagine waking up in this location with a hot cup of coffee… Sounds quite nice, right? Well, Nate (owner of Dead Hopper Roastery) has the pleasure of calling this town Talkeetna, AK, home. Since 2019, Nate has worked within the company, initially with two other friends. Then in 2021, taking over as owner and operator of Dead Hopper Roastery with his lovely wife, Mary. Currently, Nate and Mary are operating the business in a small, designated building on their property. This was quite remarkable to me, considering how much they roast!
Being a specialty roastery, “Dead Hopper sources the highest quality of beans from a variety of traceable farms across the world” such as Honduras, Mexico, Ethiopia, and more! Nate roasts a couple times a week and tends to each batch carefully. Using a 2.5kilo roaster, he never fills it past 80 percent to maintain control of the batch. He also utilizes a program that puts out graphs to show different aspects, all to assist in finding the ideal roast profile.
“The bean dictates it’s happy place based on elevation, density, variety, and process”
Nate explains how the process a farmer uses, be it natural, anaerobic, etc. can change how the bean roasts. He also elaborated on his roasting procedures and the importance of observing the charts for rate of rise in temperature and listening for those first audible cracks (also known as quakers). The first crack, or chorus, is when you hear multiple beans cracking and occurs due to CO2 on the inside of the bean being expelled. This is what ultimately triggers the temperature to drop. Knowing when first crack happens allows him to get ahead of it to make proper adjustments. Once making the necessary adjustments, Nate holds those through first crack, then fades it out to attain the best roast profile for the bean.
Roasting a couple times a week, Nate sells to a few regular customers to include a House blend for Denali Brewing Company, a coffee shop in McCarthy, and a Centennial blend for the Dog Sled Kennel (a gift shop in Denali). He has also paired with Joe (founder of High Expedition) to create a CBD Nitro cold brew that is distributed statewide. These batches are done up in addition to their online customers and Talkeetna Gear Shop, where you can find a few of Dead Hopper Roastery’s usual roasts in store!
Overall, this was a splendid visit for me. Nate and Mary were both very welcoming and offered lots of knowledge; Nate even made each of us a fresh, home brewed latte to enjoy while we chatted! A lovely start to my weekend adventure, a roasting company I will continue to buy from, and a destination I will certainly be back to visit! So, if you ever find yourself in Alaska, make sure you check out one of the locations I mentioned, or hop online (see what I did there? 
) to order yourself some of their coffee right to your doorstep! Be sure to keep up with Dead Hopper Roastery too as they are currently in the works of building an expanded location just down the road. I hear it will be quite an experience!
This is an awesome review that makes me want to see Nate at work with his roaster. It sounds similar to watching a glass blower meticulously and creatively working their melting glass into a masterpiece 😁