CHENEY – For Andy LaBolle, coffee isn’t just something you drink to get started in the morning, or to top off a special dinner with friends.
To the long-time area barista, coffee is relational. It’s about community.
With that in mind, LaBolle and his wife Hannah started West Plains Roasters this past November, Cheney’s latest addition to the java bean industry. The Deary, Idaho native and Hannah — a 2008 Cheney High School graduate whose family has been in the area over 30 years — were involved in running the former coffee stand Bahama Joes on Betz Road, with Hannah managing and Andy helping out.
Andy LaBolle said he’s been roasting coffee for years, teaching himself the art via YouTube videos, and together with Hannah the couple has over 20 years in the coffee business. When Bahama Joes closed, the pair began exploring Andy’s dream of managing his own coffee establishment.
LaBolle said they looked into running a stand, which would have made them more money but wouldn’t have achieved the “level of excellence” he wanted to get with a business.
“You can engage the community, slow down the pace and create community with a shop,” LaBolle said in a recent interview.
While looking for a location, the couple took part in the first Holiday Hoopla in downtown Cheney in December 2018, one of several vendors operating out of the former Sweet Pea Boutique location on College Avenue. Knowing the space was for lease, LaBolle said they worked with the building owners, the Masonic Temple, and by the time the second Holiday Hoopla rolled around in 2019, were set up for business.
There are two elements evident immediately that make West Plains Roasters different from other coffee shops. The first is that LaBolle roasts his own beans onsite with a roaster manufactured by Diedrich Roasters of Ponderay, Idaho; a small town of about 1,200 residents just northeast of Sandpoint.
LaBolle said he can roast about 40 pounds of coffee in an hour, and does so not just for the shop but also for other companies and for private parties. He works with 3-4 different wholesalers to purchase the beans from different countries, wholesalers who have scored the beans according to the different qualities they might have.
Contrary to what people might believe, LaBolle said coffee gets its different flavors not from any additives but by roasting processes that bring out the natural flavors of the various beans and how they are grown and dried. As an example he pointed to a recent roast that had an almond taste to it, created not by adding almonds but by the bean itself and how it was roasted.
“Coffee is a cherry, a fruit and you’re roasting the seed of a fruit,” LaBolle said.
Another batch of beans produced a peaches and caramel aftertaste while a recent espresso roast featured a strawberry taste that was derived from the way it was dried.
The other element unique to West Plains Roasters is it serves toast — and not just of the bread and butter variety. LaBolle said they worked with a local pastry chef to create a “toast profile” featuring bread with a host of different toppings to go with an assortment of other pastries.
LaBolle said it’s all part of his philosophy of serving the community as a whole, not just certain demographics. As such they have hosted several community events including dinners.
LaBolle admits that what West Plains Roasters offers might not be for everybody, and he’s unapologetic in that stance. What he does hope to achieve with the shop is evaluated through three questions he asks about doing business: are they loving people well, treating everyone with integrity and serving the community.
“If you open any business and you don’t know why you did it, you’ll fail,” he said. “People want truth, honesty and doing things with excellence.”
West Plains Roasters is located at 108 College Ave., and is open Monday – Friday from 7 a.m. – 4 p.m., Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. – 3 p.m.
John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.
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