Fieldheads Coffee makes world-class espresso

Walk into Fieldheads Coffee Company in Creston and you can see the whole operation.

A shiny roaster against the wall, pallets of unroasted coffee beans, an espresso machine in the corner, an industrial sized coffee grinder, racks of fresh coffee available for purchase and a stainless steel workbench covered in bags, labels and a logbook.

Owner Ben Storest moves quickly and nimbly through the space, engaging in several activities at once. Grinding, bagging, applying labels — an eye always on the roaster as it works to bring out the flavors of the beans.

Storest purchased Fieldheads two years ago from Peggy Ennenga. As a construction worker he was searching for a new line of work that might be less demanding physically. He and his wife looked into a variety of options, but as soon as he tasted the coffee from Fieldheads, he was sold.

“I tried the coffee and it just blew me away,” he said.

Storest works roasting and delivering coffee two days a week. But he hopes to grow the business enough for it to become his full time job. Storest has a hand in every aspect of the business. In addition to roasting, he designs and prints all of the labels and personally delivers his product to his clients.

It’s this personal approach and the small operation that drew Jeremiah and Ashley Jennings to Fieldheads. The Jennings own Glacier Perks Coffeehouse in Lakeside where they strive to serve as much local product as possible.

Though there are two other well-known roasters in the valley, Montana Coffee Traders and Colter Coffee, the Jennings felt Fieldheads was the best fit for them.

“What we were shooting for was a unique coffee from the Flathead Valley,” Jeremiah Jennings said.

The Jennings had specific ideas about what they wanted for their signature blend, and liked how Storest worked with them to make sure it was exactly what they wanted.

With coffee from 20 different origins, Fieldheads offers a variety of options and blends.

Fieldheads is a small-batch roaster, which produces better coffee, as it allows for more attention to detail. Storest roasts in 20- to 30-pound batches, each batch taking approximately 15 minutes, which is considered slow roasting.

The art of roasting is tricky, Storest said. It requires finesse. It’s all hand done, and different roasters can produce very different results. The former Fieldheads owner taught Storest how to roast and he now feels confident enough in his roasting abilities that he’s begun experimenting with his own blends. But he says he’s not done learning. “There’s always something new to try and learn,” he said.

When roasting, Storest has to keep an eye on heat and airflow. He watches the roasts develop through a small peek hole on the roaster. Once the coffee hits the right color, he drops it, and cools it as quickly as possible.

Once the beans have cooled, they are immediately packaged to ensure freshness.

Fieldheads’ most popular product is the espresso, of which there are six different blends. A good espresso blend is complex, Storest said.

Glacier Perks serves Fieldheads signature espresso.

“We couldn’t have asked for any better,” Jennings said, “Their espresso is world class. We’ve had people come in from other countries and say it’s the best espresso in the United States.”