Artistic Bean: the creative process of coffee

When Stan Ramsey and his wife, Bev, opened The Artistic Bean in Fort Smith six years ago, they didn’t know that much about the coffee business. Sure, they enjoyed coffee, but they already owned two other small businesses, and thought the coffeehouse would just be a good way to teach their son how to run a business.

What happened next took Stan by surprise.

“What I would discover is the hidden passion I had for roasting coffee.”

Stan knew that some coffeehouses roasted their own beans onsite, but wasn’t that familiar with the process.

“I was taught to roast coffee by putting the beans in and dropping them out at a certain temperature,” Stan admitted. “However, I would find that to produce true gourmet coffee would involve so very much more.”

Stan believes that his engineering background and understanding of equipment in general makes him a better roaster.

“In the beginning our coffee was good, but after the first year I realized that coffee was an organic substance that was always changing based on many, many factors.”

After a lot of research and frustration, Stan had a sort of coffee-roasting epiphany.

“Many roasters get it right a lot of times, but to extract from the bean maximum flavor with just the right acidity is truly an art. But when you get it right, you can really taste the difference.”

Stan didn’t stop there. He also found the best way of getting that perfectly roasted bean into the cup.

“We are one of the only shops around, maybe the only one, that uses a manual pull espresso machine. This allows the barista to infuse and extract the most flavor out of the espresso shot,” Stan explained. “This in turn makes all the difference in the signature drinks.”

Stan waxes poetic about his espresso machine.

“This isn’t just any hand pull machine, but it’s handmade in Italy. It’s named Victoria Arduina Athena Leva. It’s a gorgeous piece of equipment.”

The friendly and talented baristas are definitely part of the art of coffee at The Artistic Bean. They use only specialty-grade, organic coffee sourced from Mexico, Guatemala, Columbia and Sumatra, to create unique lattes and frappes. They can even make diabetic friendly creations using a natural sugar substitute called Whey Low.

“Our baristas are trained to be creative. We like to think we don’t just make drinks, we create something special each time.”

In addition to coffee masterpieces, the walls of the coffeehouse are adorned with paintings from local artists.

“We are a major supporter of the arts,” Stan said. “We supply coffee for the Art on the Border event each year and invite artists to display their pieces on our walls for the public to enjoy and purchase.”

Stop in at The Artistic Bean and enjoy the best cup of coffee you’ve ever had, made from small-batch roasted, fairtrade, organic beans. You can also order their freshly roasted coffee online.

Experience for yourself what happens when a business venture becomes a labor of love.

Monday - Saturday 7:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. Closed Sunday

ONLINE: www.artisticbean.net Facebook @TheArtisticBeanFS