Q&A with Rick and Randy Evans

Get to know the Evans Brothers!

GCG: The idea to open Evans Brothers Coffee came to you on a chairlift. If that “What do you want to do with your life?” moment on Schweitzer’s Chair 6 never happened, where do you think you’d both be today?

Rick: My first instinct is to say I found a way to make money, and retire early, surfing somewhere in the tropics haha…. But the reality is that we started this business at a challenging, pinnacle moment in my life, in both our lives. Randy and I had recently relocated to Sandpoint to plant roots and grow our families together (as Air Force brats we didn’t really have a hometown). Shortly after moving here, the Great Recession happened. I was in real estate and the bottom dropped out. I lost everything I had, foreclosing on homes, draining my retirement, starting over. Randy was also out of work in the coffee business. When we decided to pursue this business, we went ALL-IN, failing didn’t feel like an option. But if it didn’t work out, I probably would have got a sales job in a boring industry simply to provide for my family. Chances are we both would not have been able to stick around Sandpoint. Randy may have taken a job selling medical equipment or something else he would absolutely hate. So … we sure are grateful we stuck to it when it was tough!

Randy: I honestly have no idea. All I know is that I had a strong passion for coffee and decided early on that I wanted to pursue that passion, learn as much as I can and hopefully make a career out of it. If we hadn’t started our own business, I like to think I would still be working in the coffee industry somewhere, likely for another company. However, the reality at the time was that we were both starting our families (had young kids) at the same time that we were starting our business. We had to make it work.

GCG: What was the scariest moment in the early days: signing the lease, firing up the used Probat for the first time, or realizing you actually had to sell coffee? And if you could go back to 2009, what advice would you give yourselves?

Rick: Two things come to mind….. Trying to figure out how we could pay our bills in the early years with young kids at home and an economic recession. And…. realizing that being in business with your brother is a heck of a lot different than partying and skiing together. We both had totally different ways of looking at literally everything. The amount of time it took us to settle on a logo was crazy… and then Randy would change his mind and we would start back over. We painted our roastery and then re-painted the dang thing another color. For my part, I made so many mistakes in my haste to get shit done… it drove Randy crazy!

Randy: The scariest moment for me was when we actually got approved for a small business loan, there was no going back. LOL. I had lots of sleepless nights in the beginning, was nervous that we were starting this business in a down economy. If I could give myself advice in the beginning, it would be that it’s ok to make mistakes. There was so much we didn’t know about starting or running a business, and that was frustrating at times. It still is. But we have learned so much through the years, and we are still learning. That’s part of the enjoyment. We are always trying to get better at what we do.

GCG: You became the exclusive coffee roaster for Schweitzer Mountain in 2013. Did serving coffee where the dream started feel like a full-circle moment or a “we made it” milestone?

Rick: Securing this account was definitely one of the peak moments in our history! Schweitzer was such an integral part of our family’s lives, and of the Evans Brothers origin story. We invented our business on the original Chair 6, we taught our kids to ski, my initial job here was managing the real estate office at Schweitzer, and we had already named all our original blends after these ski runs and lifts. We went up against some big name roasters in the region. We brought our very best foot forward and I think management could really feel our passion. So absolutely it felt like a ‘full-circle’ moment. It sort of launched us into another level as a roaster. We had to secure a new bank loan to finance all the brewing equipment on the mountain. This account forced us to up-level in order to provide the service we promised. It still feels like such an honor to see our signage all over the mountain and people enjoying our coffee in all the outlets.

Randy: It was a huge early “win” for us for sure. It definitely makes me proud to see our coffee being served at one of our favorite places to be. The weird thing about running a business is that I still don’t really feel like “we made it." I feel like we are always working hard to be better, to grow, and to compete in an industry that has become even more competitive since we started over 16 years ago.

GCG: As brothers and founders, how do you divide roles today, and who wins more arguments about roast profiles?

Rick: My brother was definitely the coffee expert of the team from the beginning. In fact I was inspired by his knowledge and passion for the craft. So the coffee decisions have largely been led by Randy from the beginning. He definitely wins the roast profile arguments. Luckily for Randy, as head of sourcing he gets to do most of the origin travel. I jump in on a trip every 2 or 3 years which is always so meaningful. I look at myself as the CEO and Randy the CCO (Chief Coffee Officer). My role has always been driving the growth of the business, overseeing our wholesale program, new account acquisition, along with finding ways to be more efficient. We both put a lot of energy into improving all aspects of the business, working with our management team, trying to get a little better every day.

Randy: When we started our business, I already had nearly 8 years of coffee experience having managed cafes and roasting for other companies. But Rick brought a ton of hospitality and sales experience to our business. I don’t know if I ever would have done this without Rick’s encouragement and confidence in me.

GCG: Be honest, who’s the better skier, and who’s the better roaster?

Rick: The roasting question is easy. I’m a pretty crappy barista as well. As for skiing…. We are both pretty solid by now, as we’ve certainly put our time in on the hill. I remember putting a ‘Powder Clause’ sign on our door in the early days so we could both ski, then we’d be roasting and bagging coffee til 1am to deliver it the next day. So we better be good. Randy can probably beat me in a Downhill race, but I’ll take him any day on a skintrack to the top.

Randy: Skiing is the one sport where we don’t really get competitive. The best skier is the one who’s having the most fun, and that usually depends on the day.

GCG: About 70% of your coffees come from direct relationships with farmers. What’s a moment from an origin trip that changed how you think about coffee?

Rick: It has to be participating as a judge in Huila Best Cup in Colombia in 2017. This was a special program established by Café Imports’ founder Andrew Miller and Banexport’s Jairo Ruiz. The purpose is to find and reward the best producers in the area, incentivizing them with a significant increase in the cash they receive for their coffee. Best of Huila received green bean samples from over 600 producers in the region that year. Banexport and Café Imports had scored all of these coffees through a fair and detailed cupping process. In this manner, the submissions had been vetted and ultimately narrowed down to the top 30 finalists (all of which would receive double the price for their coffee). Our group consisted of 25 coffee professionals from around the world, whose task it was to narrow and rank the top 15 whose lots would be sold at a live auction at the end of the week. This auction was life changing....All of the winning producers were there, with their extended families it would seem. It was hyped- with loud music (often Rihanna), dancing, speeches, and lots of excitement. We ended up winning the bid for the 9th place coffee that year. We got to meet the producer and his family, and it was so moving to see how much this meant to them. The price they would receive for their coffee would be life changing for them, allowing them to reinvest in their small farm and elevate their coffee for years to come. There were tears of joy, laughter, high fives, and a dance party afterwards with all the producers. We have since participated in this program I believe 5 times, and have purchased lots for our Roaster Reserve line, along with more volume coffee for our blends from those that may have been just outside the top 15.

Randy: There’s been so many impactful moments for me on every origin trip I’ve ever been on. It’s always the people that I think about, the conversations and the relationships formed. Coffee is such an amazing connector. I’ve been so fortunate to go to some very remote parts of the world that would not be on a normal vacation itinerary. Ethiopia (the birthplace of coffee) was incredible, visiting small farms and washing stations in tiny villages around the Yirgacheffe region. The smiling faces of the kids will always stay with me. Experiencing the Ethiopia coffee ceremony is so amazing. Visiting the Ketiara Cooperative in Sumatra and staying with our gracious hosts, a wonderful Sunni Muslim family…getting to experience their culture and customs that are so different from ours. Not speaking the same language, yet through smiles, laughter (and lots of karaoke) they felt like family by the end of the trip. We were literally crying when we said goodbye. And I’ll never forget my first origin trip to El Salvador, where Miguel Menendez took us to their beautiful micro-mill to see coffee processing for the first time. Following Don Miguel around on steeped volcanic slopes of their beautiful Finca Las Delicias and seeing his pride in his beautiful coffee trees. The passion of our producer partners makes us proud to carry their coffee, and we want to represent them as best we can with a perfect roast profile and a perfectly brewed cup to serve our customers. Great coffee doesn’t happen by accident, it takes a lot of people who really care in the journey from seed to cup.

GCG: How does living in Sandpoint shape your pace and philosophy compared to running a coffee company in a big city?

Rick: Most people that have settled in this town are here for the lifestyle, and we are certainly no exception. I had moved here from Santa Barbara, where it always felt like a rat race to make money. We are here for the mountains and the lake and the amazing small town community. I think I’ve been able to slow down as a person, savor the moments, and find a balance in life. We have always worked hard, but found time to prioritize our family, friends and recreation. We probably could have pushed harder and grown faster in a larger market. But we’ve carved out a life here that we are so grateful for. Our roastery and cafe are a real hub of the community, people know us wherever we go in this town, which feels very special.

Randy: We both moved to Sandpoint because we wanted to be here. It was never about a job for either of us. Making that conscious decision with my wife to raise our family in a small community was such a great decision for us. There’s so much beauty and nature surrounding us, and it attracts a lot of like-minded people that prioritize recreation and slowing down. The one thing it lacked when we moved here was really good coffee. I’m so grateful that we were able to fill that void in a small town and I’m so appreciative of how our community has embraced what we’re about.

GCG: What’s one coffee myth you wish customers would stop believing?

Rick: That Mold is a real issue in Specialty Coffee.

Randy: That dark roasts are “stronger” or have more caffeine.

GCG: If someone has never tried Evans Brothers Coffee before, what single coffee would you hand them and say, “This is who we are”?

Rick: Ethiopia Wuri

Randy: Guatemala Maria Escobar

GCG: You received a 2024 Good Food Awards win and were named 3rd Place Best Independent Coffee Shop by USA Today in 2024. What do you think customers are really responding to?

Rick: I think there are a lot of coffee companies out there that say all the trendy things and have the polished looking shop, but don’t really have the heart and soul behind it. For some it’s just a business. For us it is a true passion. We care deeply about our team members, the quality of our coffee, our relationships with producers, importers, wholesale partners, and retail customers. We’ve never felt like "We made it” and can rest on our laurels. So we strive to get better in all the areas of our business. We make mistakes and try to use them as launchpads for improvement. We put our hearts into building a business that matters, that adds value, and we think this comes through in our product and service.