A Mount Rainier resident runs a small-batch coffee roastery from his home.

Christopher Lowe named his small business Quality Hill Coffee after the name of the area in Mount Rainier where he moved in 2006.

A wine seller at Balducci’s, Lowe got into coffee when his wife bought him a small roaster and began experimenting with different beans and methods.

“The same qualities that I appreciate that go into wine are not that different from the way we assess coffee — things like the quality of the land, soil, humidity, the seasons,” he told the Hyattsville Wire.

Lowe works with an importer in Baltimore to get the green coffee beans, then roasts them in a rotisserie in a shed in his backyard, listening for the cracks that mean they are done. Although not as efficient as a commercial roaster, Lowe said it allows him to make custom batches and stay closer to the roasting process.

He sells his beans by mail order, on his website and on Etsy and to local customers who pick them up at his house or, if they live nearby, get via delivery. You can also purchase his coffee at the nearby neighborhood Era Wine Bar, which carries it.

Lowe sometimes packs the beans in jars to cut down on packaging and likes to include details about the farmers with the order.

While small-batch roasters like Vigilante Coffee have opened cafes, Lowe expect he’ll continue to sell beans as a side hustle, although he says he’d love to partner with a local business such as a bookstore to sell his coffee.

Route 1 residents interested in buying coffee from Quality Hill can email Lowe at QualityHillCoffee@mail.com or text him at 202-460-5260 to learn more.

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