Evans Brothers Coffee Roasters wins second Good Food Award

For the second time, a boutique coffee roaster in Sandpoint has been nationally recognized for supporting sustainability and social good – as well as being “exceptionally delicious.”

Evans Brothers Coffee Roasters won a 2016 Good Food Award.

“We’re really excited,” said 41-year-old Randy Evans, who owns the business with his brother, Rick Evans, 43. “It is validation for a lot of passion and hard work.”

In their sixth year, the awards honor food producers who make “the kind of food we all want to eat: tasty, authentic and responsibly produced,” according to the awards’ website. “We grant awards to outstanding American food producers and the farmers who provide their ingredients.”

The awards are sponsored by Seedling Projects of San Francisco, a California public benefit corporation dedicated to supporting the sustainable food movement. They were presented in San Francisco on Friday night.

Finalists were named in 13 categories: beer, cider, charcuterie, cheese, chocolate, coffee, confections, honey, pickles, preserves, spirits and oil as well as the newest category: pantry.

There were 176 winners from 33 states in all. That’s out of nearly 2,000 entries representing 263 companies.

“The competition gets tougher every year, so it feels really great to be recognized again,” Randy Evans said. “The whole coffee industry has been moving forward at a fervent pace. There are more and more great roasters popping up across the country, including Spokane, offering exciting coffees sourced with integrity and transparency. We want to stay at the forefront of that.”

Evans Brothers, opened in 2009, was a winner in the coffee category for its Kenya Gatundu Karinga AB. Randy Evans described its flavor as “super juicy, floral, citrus and chocolate,” noting also, “It’s just a delicious coffee, one of our favorite Kenyans we tried all year.”

Evans Brothers also won a 2013 Good Food Award for its Yirgacheffe Birhanu from Ethiopia.

“It was just a super floral, really elegant Ethiopian coffee. It was also a farm-direct purchase,” Randy Evans said. “It was a fully traceable, organic lot.”

Evans Brothers was the region’s first Good Food Award winner. Now it’s also the first area winner to have won two Good Food Awards.

“The other roasters – the other winners and finalists – are some of the best roasters that we know of, roasters that we look up to,” Randy Evans said. “So it’s really cool to be mentioned alongside of some really excellent roasters that we admire. Particularly in this region, we have some really cool roasters doing great things. We love Roast House. We love DOMA.”

Roast House was a 2014 Good Good Award winner, Spokane’s first. DOMA Coffee Roasting Co. in Post Falls was a finalist in 2014 and 2015.

Santé Restaurant and charcuterie in Spokane was a finalist in 2014 and 2016. This year, the bistro was a finalist in the charcuterie category for its five-spice duck prosciutto and tasso ham.

“It’s an honor to be recognized among so many contributors for our second time now,” said Kate Hansen, who owns Santé with her husband, chef Jeremy Hansen. “We see this as a nod to not only our butchery practices but also to the high standards of the farmers that we are lucky to partner with. We are lucky to have an organization such as the Good Food Awards to reward honest, ethical food and drink practices throughout the nation.”

Santé – along with its sister business, Common Crumb Artisan Bakery – carries Evans Brothers coffee. Look for it also at Yoke’s and Super-1 stores as well as in Spokane at Boots Bakery and Lounge, Main Market and Little Garden Café.

Evans Brothers started as a wholesale coffee roaster, adding its café about three years later. Today, it has eight employees.

The brothers want to expand their business. “We’re hoping to grow sustainably in the region. We just want to do a great job and expand in a way that’s as healthy as possible,” Randy Evans said.

Meanwhile, “Our goal is to find and represent the best coffee we can get our hands on, and we go to great lengths in these efforts. We are incredibly passionate about what we do.”