coffee philosophy

Skill in roasting is critical for the resulting beverage to please. It is a process controlled by scientific laws, but the outcome is strictly in the hands of man.

Gillies is a "Perfect Point" roaster. We believe that every coffee has its own special degree of roast that brings out just the qualities that we want to find in the cup. Our roasting credo has been likened to Goldilocks; Not too dark, not too light, just right. If you think its kid's play you are mistaken. It has taken us countless hours of small batch craft roasting and cupping to find the perfect roast point for each coffee in the Gillies collection.

There are many terms used to describe degree-of-roast. We have simplified things. Gillies production roasts are one of four color groups. Gillies Standard, Dark II, Dark III, Rich Dark IV. All but one of our products are in the first three groups. As for taste, even our boldest selections are civilized. They are presented to you tamed for the discerning palate. Some of our selection is correctly "rare" even "exotic," but they are never "wild". DNS, Coffeeman

Gillies Coffee Company operates a unique specialty coffee facility. The heart of the operation is an environmentally friendly Lilla Model CG-20 S natural gas fired smokeless roasting system with self cleaning and integral chaff elimination. At Gillies, our old fashioned hand-tended roasting technique is enhanced by computerization, not replaced by it. We produce batch yields from 165Kg-235 Kg. Roasting cycles are approximately 12-minutes.

The plant design permits optimum flexibility by incorporating the use of 19th Century style hands-on craftsmanship throughout. "My friend, Mr. Schoenholt, who is known to be a stickler for detail in the preparation of his coffees, has spared nothing in bringing the force of good minds and the best of roasting and handling technology to bear in this project," said Ciro Lilla, the man many consider one of the most knowledgeable in the world's coffee roaster manufacturing business.

Skill in roasting is critical for the resulting beverage to please. It is a process controlled by scientific laws, but the outcome is strictly in the hands of man. Gillies is a Perfect Point roaster. A phrase invented by us to describe our philosophy that every coffee has its own special degree of roast that brings out just the qualities that we want to find in the cup. Our roasting credo has been likened to Goldilocks; not too dark, not too light, just right. if you think its kid's play you are mistaken. it has taken us countless hours of small batch craft roasting and cupping to find the perfect roast point for each coffee in the Gillies collection. -DNS, coffeeman

Sustainability is more than making sure kids in coffee countries have what it takes to grow-up strait and strong, though that is important surely. It is a concerted effort to do the right thing when the opportunity presents itself.

at origin

Sustainability is supporting programs that protect the environment and people. Sometimes the world coffee economy and common production practice works against nature and man. Where this happens people of good will must take a stand to protect the endangered.

First Licensed New York City Roaster of Fair Trade® Certified Coffee (2002) www.transfairusa.org
First to Introduce Swiss Water® Chemical Free Decaffeinated to USA (1980) www.swisswater.com
Participant Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center (SMBC) "Bird Friendly Shade Grown Coffee Program" www.si.edu/smbc
Original Supporter Coffee Kids® www.coffeekids.org
Original Supporter Grounds For Health Inc. www.groundsforhealth.org
Wildlife Conservation Society one time $5,000 gift supporting Papua New Guinea Shade Grown Coffee Program to preserve the PNG Rain Forest.

at home

Sustainability is not just a word for far away places. It is a quality beyond a good bean, and a good roast. It is supporting our New York community and our crew too.

First pollution control devices on processing 1953.
Provided free coffee to workers at Ground Zero for six months after 9/11.
Supporting local charitable organizations with in-kind contributions of coffee.
Supported NYC Council Resolution 762 in support of Fair Trade Coffee. Read Mr. Schoenholt’s Testimony before the NY City Council, View Now
Gillies Facility NOP Organic Certified.
Gillies Employees-Group Medical Coverage since 1970's.

for our wholesale customers

We only succeed in sustaining our own fortunes if we are helping sustain yours as well. For this reason we make every effort to present you with the results of our best efforts.

Coffees & Teas of certified pedigree.
Among the largest portfolios of coffees in the specialty coffee industry.
Best quality blends money can buy at the best possible price.
Monthly Specials (always "Best Selling" blends).
Unadvertised Promotional Items: Some extra special specialty coffee values available to callers each month.
Ultimate coffee expertise at your fingertips.
Orders shipped at the peak of freshness often same-day.
Unopened standard items accepted for Full-Return value within 30-days of invoice.
Resealable evacuated and "flushed" zipper-lock valve bags keep your beans protected in a nitrogen atmosphere.
Primary shipper FedEx computerized service tracks your order to your door.
$100 Minimum Order, and always Free-Freight shipping in continental 48-United States.
Gillies handsome wall poster.
Gillies accepts MasterCard, Visa, American Express, PayPal.

Your privacy is important to us. Please click on "Privacy" at the bottom of any page on this website to find our complete policy statement.

Should you have any additional questions or concerns about our privacy policy, please send us an email at info@gilliescoffee.com, or use the contact form on the website.

KOSHER COFFEE CERTIFICATION

Gillies Coffees Are Certified Kosher Throughout The Year*

Orthodox Jewish Council Vaad Hakashrus Pikesville, MD 21208 USA www.star-K.org

* Passover Certification is obtained each year for Regular and Decaffeinated Coffee only. Please contact us prior to Passover if you require copies of our special Passover certification.

Donald N. Schoenholt

President –Gillies Coffee Company

TESTIMONY BEFORE NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL

Re: Resolution 762

June 10, 2005

The life of coffee in New York is as old as the city itself, with roots in the Old Dutch trading post of Neuw Amsterdam. Coffee and coffeehouses are tied to our city’s maritime past and the roots of our banking heritage. They continue as our morning jump-start and social gathering places of today.

Gillies Coffee Company, established a stone’s throw from this New York City building in 1840, is the city’s oldest coffee merchant, and New York City’s first Fair Trade® Certified roaster. As the firm’s chief executive I am here this morning to add a local coffeeman’s perspective to your level of understanding of Fair Trade® coffee.

Millions of coffee farm families have been brought to below-poverty subsistence by five years of historically low coffee prices. This has contributed to political and social unrest in origin countries in Latin America, Asia and Africa. It has contributed to the increasing illegal immigration through the US border with Mexico.

Organically grown Fair Trade® Certified coffee supports farm families, many of whom are from countries strongly represented within the population of New York City.

Fair Trade® is a program, on the ground and running in coffee farm communities. It supports grass-roots democratic organizations. It helps to protect tropical rain-forests that offset global warming and provides refuge to millions of migratory song-birds. It also provides a sense of comfort and security to farm families that otherwise are at the mercy of economic and social conditions over which they have no control.

For New Yorkers Fair Trade® coffee provides a more direct link between consumers, roasters and farmers. Fair Trade® is a way to acknowledge those who work to provide us with the produce that becomes one of life’s little luxuries. Fair Trade® is a sustainable system, competing and succeeding in the free market.

Passing Resolution 762 would be a statement of solidarity by the City Council with farm families, in countries including the Dominican Republic, Colombia, El Salvador and Nicaragua from which many in New York’s immigrant community originate and where many of their family members still reside.

Fair Trade Certified® coffee is readily available competitively from local New York City-based roasters, including Gillies Coffee Company (all members of the Specialty Coffee Association of America) who contribute to the New York City tax base and retain blue collar jobs within the city limits, goals that the City Council has pledged to support.

My message is that Fair Trade Certified® coffee tastes great, and supports good things at home and abroad. Supporting and Drinking Fair Trade Certified® coffee is a small thing, adding about 1 1/2¢ to the cost of a $3.50 latte. It is a painless way for New Yorkers to help save the world one cup at a time.

Thank you.

Donald N. Schoenholt

President

Gillies Coffee Company

P.O. Box 320206

150 19th Street

Brooklyn, NY 11232

Voice: 718.499.7766

Fax: 718-499-7771

e-mail: coffeeman@gilliescoffee.com

Recent Searches

coffee philosophy

at origin

at home

for our wholesale customers

Donald N. Schoenholt

President –Gillies Coffee Company

TESTIMONY BEFORE NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL

Re: Resolution 762