About Us
The people of Known Roasters
Who are we
Welcome to Known. We are a family-run business in the heart of Central Washington, Grand Coulee. The “Coulee” is a small community with exceptional people who live, work, and play closely together. We want Known to reflect that. There is something beautiful about being known as a human. In fact, we believe it is paramount to the human experience. All of us desire at some level to be knitted closely together with others, to be seen for who we are and to be accepted and nurtured by those around us. Conveniently, coffee is an avenue that helps make that happen. We believe that happens better with a great cup of coffee. Doing things well fosters other things being done well. With this in mind, we at Known are committed to carefully roasting coffee from farmers we know and providing it to people we know and want to know, in the hopes that people will find a deeper, more satisfying, more life-giving, connection with one another.
We hope as you brew our coffee it won’t always be a simple morning routine or an afternoon pick-me-up. Rather it will often be an experience where the coffee can be enjoyed better with another person.
Know People Known Coffee
Partnerships
With relationships being of primary importance to our mission here at Known, partnering with people in and out of coffee is exciting for us. Here are a few of the people we know and are working with.
SuNica – Sacred Forest Coffee Farm
I met Alan from SuNica through a mutual friend who is a missionary down in Nicaragua. Alan is part of a team of people working to bring God’s story of redemption through physical and spiritual restoration to the people of Nicaragua. What I love about their mission is that at its core, it’s relational.
SuNica’s mission is to create disciples of Jesus through clean water, education, and
mentorship. One way they do this is through Sacred Forest retreats. The Sacred Forest is the first nature reserve in Nicaragua created specifically for discipleship.
How would one describe the Sacred Forest? Think wilderness retreat, nature reserve, and coffee farm… all in one! The Sacred Forest enhances SuNica’s mission in boundless ways. The goal of discipleship retreats is to provide kids, leaders, and families with a space to reflect, pray and experience the wonder of God’s creation.
Coffee from their Sacred Forest supports Sunica’s youth discipleship retreats at the Sacred Forest coffee farm and forest preserve in Matagalpa, Nicaragua. When you purchase our single-origin offerings from Nicaragua or one of our blends with their beans you are supporting Alan and the team at Sunica as they love well the people of Nicaragua, in their mission to make disciples of Jesus.
Water and Light International
I’ve known Dustin and Angie Herring, founders of Water and Light, for over 20 years. Their friendship has been vital to me and our family. Life with them has always exemplified for me what it means to be known.
As my family and I were processing a difficult life change, the Herrings were dreaming of and planning for a change of their own. They decided to leave a comfortable, idyllic Western lifestyle to serve God where they believed he was calling them, Nicaragua. Although what Water and Light looks like now is different from what much of their plans foresaw it has become a thriving and connecting part of the community of Salinas Grande, Nicaragua.
What has shaped the story of Water and Light isn’t the dreams and plans of the two who started it. That isn’t to say they don’t know how to develop a vision and see it through, rather, after getting to personally know the people and culture of Nicaragua they could better see how to love them as God has called them to. The Herrings know the value of being known and being loved. It is the heart of what they do. For Water and Light, this looks like providing education, water, and saving a few turtles.
In the summer of 23, I was able to connect with Dustin (I wish I could say it was over coffee, but it was the next best thing, a beer), we discussed Known Roasters and how what we do can connect to the work they are doing in Nicaragua. His suggestion was turtles. We then decided that with every 5 coffee subscriptions processed at Known, we will sponsor a turtle nest.
If you are interested in Water and Light International and want to know more about what they are doing, and even better, how you can be a part of it, click the button below.
