LaSalle’s Starved Rock Coffee Co. Visits Millstone Bakery

About 20 LaSalle Rotary Club members listened to Matt McLaughlin’s journey in the coffee business with his company, Starved Rock Coffee, hosted by the Millstone Bakery. They learned about the process of sourcing exceptional beans from around the world, how to roast, about the latest seasonal coffee flavors, and had the opportunity to ask him questions.

Matt McLaughlin is a career fireman in Peru. He wanted to start drinking better coffee, but he could not find good coffee around. So he started Starved Rock Coffee Co. in 2017. It started when a chemical engineer connected him with what became his Wisconsin-based coffee roasting mentor.

“There’s a lot of chemical engineering in the coffee industry,” McLaughlin noted.

He then purchased his first roaster and installed it next to his home in Dimmick. Through the roasting process, he can manipulate the coffee – how it swallows like milk or coffee, changing its body to punch through milk, and so on.

Matt started small, his first bags were sold at That Guy’s Secret, in LaSalle. Now he roasts about 4,000 lbs of beans each week and sells all over the US, Australia, Germany, and elsewhere. His coffee can be purchased at the Millstone Bakery and at regional grocery stores such as HyVee.

“We have to be consistent,” McLaughlin explained to the club. “Some grocery stores will check against samples from prior weeks and if it varies, they’ll not carry your product. Likewise I have pulled our coffee from cafes that do not serve it the way we want it served. At Millstone here, we’re grateful they have made the investment to make it right. It is frightening how much they paid for that coffee grinder. But good equipment is needed to bring out the full flavor of our high-grade coffee.”

The Rotary Club learned a lot about coffee. “We work with small farmers all over the world – Brazil, Mexico, Peru, Columbia, Indonesia...” said McLaughlin. “Our Fall special roast, ‘Turning Leaves’ comes from the Alma Co-op in the highlands of Huehuetenango, Guatemala. We purchase from them each year. They only produce about 20 bags of Grade 1 coffee and we buy them all. For each bag sold, we donate 5 cents to Habitat for Humanity Guatemala for the Smokeless Stove Program.”

Selecting the right bean involves a lot. There is the elevation it is grown at, its density, sugar content and

many other variables. And then timing different growing seasons around the world. “Grade 1 is the best. Other coffee grades have their place. Starbucks coffee is dark and oily and they add cream and sugar to hide its imperfections. Lower grades over-roast for this reason. Most people think they like a dark roast until they try a quality light roast side by side.”

Like everything, the price of coffee is going up. All the coffee in the United States is imported through two ports in California and New Jersey. A pallet of coffee’s costs have jumped nearly 5 times during Matt’s entry into the business.

The roasting community is very small, McLaughlin says you can pick up the phone and call just about anybody in the scene. They also host competitions every few years, which McLaughlin has perviously made into the top 10. In the spirit of his mentor, Matt has now given back and trained 3 now major roasters in Chicago.

What’s next for Matt? When he retires from the fire house, he may revisit expanding the size of his operations. But the big dream? He hopes to roast coffee for the pope. There’s only one roaster who gets the honor each time he visits the United States and he would like the honor.

Afterward the talk, many Rotarians sampled some Starved Rock Coffee brewed by the Millstone Bakery, which has been using Starved Rock Coffee since their inception.

“Our motto has always been to use the best ingredients. We also wanted to use a local coffee roaster. After trying roasters across Illinois, Starved Rock Coffee was exceptional and really shone out as the best – and they roast right here in LaSalle,” said Millstone Co-Owner Kent Maze, the coffee drinker of the two owners. “Now Erin, who never drank coffee, steals sips from time to time because the coffee is just so extraordinary.”

Millstone Bakery is located in downtown LaSalle and specializes in made-from-scratch breads and pastries. They opened June 2022 and have now served the community for over 2 years.

“Partnering with Starved Rock Coffee has been an incredible experience—Matt has helped us with picking out the very best espresso machine and high-end coffee grinders to bring out all of the nuanced flavors that come with using his high-quality coffee beans—it’s such a different, elevated coffee experience than anywhere else thanks to Starved Rock Coffee’s beans,” said Maze.

Check out Millstone Bakery at 821 First Street in LaSalle, open Th-Sat 7-2 and Sunday 8-2, to test a cup of locally roasted and brewed Starved Rock Coffee, or try a specialty coffee drink created by the bakery’s baristas using its beans. Starved Rock Coffee bags can be purchased there as well. The bakery also has crowd favorites, such as croissants, sourdough, and cinnamon rolls or try the weekly rotating gourmet flavors.

The LaSalle Rotary is a service organization that meets weekly, typically at Uptown at Noon on Wednesdays. The club is known for its rotation of weekly programs, educating its members about the interests of its members and different aspects of the area.

“In our daily lives, we rarely get the chance to meet the faces behind local businesses, nonprofits, projects, and events.” said LaSalle Rotary Club President, Dan Eiten. “Yet at Rotary, there is something new each week. You realize how much there is going on in our area and feel like you are part of the community.”