THERMOPOLIS — Jackrabbit Java of Thermopolis brought home the people’s choice award Saturday from the first Roasters Rendezvous at Central Wyoming College in Riverton.

Roaster and Jackrabbit Java co-owner Josh Thomas said the Roasters Rendezvous was similar to a brewfest where people can sample all of the coffees and then vote for their favorite. This was the first roasters competition and coffee festival in Wyoming, he said. There were roasters from Wyoming and Idaho participating.

He said there were 10 roasters competing on Saturday, with a variety of coffee. He and his wife Holly showcased eight flavors at the Rendezvous, with a new flavor each hour.

He said three of the coffees had the most votes of the eight they offered — Samatra, Kenya and Costa Rican Red Honey. He said coffees are judged like wine. Anything rated above an 80 is “specialty” coffee and anything above 90 is “exceptional.” The Samatra and Kenya roasts were independently reviewed in Berkley, California, and have both received 92 points.

“I was pretty excited people liked our coffee,” Thomas said.

He added that the entire festival was a “neat” experience and organizers hope to make it bigger and better next year.

JACKRABBIT JAVA

The Thomases, along with Josh’s aunt, Ellen Reed, started Jackrabbit Java four years ago in the basement of the Storyteller, Reed’s business.

“We wanted better coffee at Storyteller and we thought we could control the freshness of it,” Josh Thomas said.

He said Reed attended the Kona Coffee Festival in Hawaii and was so excited that she called Thomas back in Thermopolis and said they needed to start roasting their own coffee. “I ordered a roaster and had it here before she got back,” he said.

Jackrabbit Java offers beans from 18 different countries (single origins) and four blends. He said when they first started they had just one or two origins but continue to add as the demand increased.

“When we find coffees that taste well we purchase them and start roasting them,” he said.

In finding the best coffees, he said they don’t have to go far as they receive samples from farmers all over the world.

“Coffee beans are an agriculture product much like sugar beets or barley. You never get the same type every year. It can be close but just from the climate effect the same farm can’t produce the same taste every year,” Thomas said. “You do a lot of sampling to find coffees you want to purchase. When we find a good coffee, we buy it and when it’s gone we buy a new one.”

For each single origin coffee brought in, Thomas tests it with the roaster to determine if it should be a light, medium or dark roast. “Once we get a bean in we like I sample roast it until I get a taste I like. Some beans I do dark, some light, it just depends on what flavor profile I want to offer that we can get best out of that bean,” Thomas said.

The name Jackrabbit Java comes from wanting something Wyoming, West and wildlife as Josh, who was born and raised in Thermopolis, said both he and Holly were “wildlife biologists in our former lives.”

He said he got hooked on “really good coffees” in graduate school and started exploring more about coffee. Eventually he was introduced to a man who home roasted his beans and “it was really interesting, like a science experiment. So I started doing that and it’s just evolved from there.”

Jackrabbit Java sells coffee at the Storyteller, open Monday through Saturday in Thermopolis. They also have a website. Thomas said most of his sales come from online.

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Online: http://www.jackrabbitjava.com