What to do when you get here — An insider’s guide to interests and attractions in the area surrounding The Cliff House Resort & Spa.

Carpe Diem

Even though there are coffee machines in The Cliff House guestrooms, I like to seize the day with a cup of coffee in Ocean Terrace. I have two reasons: the delicious coffee is from Carpe Diem Coffee Roasting Company and Ocean Terrace is one of my favorite rooms.

 

I was curious about this brand of coffee so I asked a few questions and learned that the coffee beans are roasted in nearby North Berwick. I called and asked if I could over and check out the operation for Cliff House guests. And one of the owners, named Gussie, said, “Sure.”

I drove to the center of Ogunquit that clear spring morning and took a left on Berwick Road, bearing right past Arrows, left on Rt. 9, left on Route 4 and there it was, just beyond the railroad tracks — Carpe Diem Coffee Roasting Company.

I stepped inside and the aroma of coffee was heavenly, heavy of the air. A sign invited me to enjoy a cup of the Coffee of the Day, which I promptly did. A banner proclaimed: Coffee should be black as hell, strong as death, and sweet as love. — Turkish proverb. Oh! Those Turks had a way with words — and coffee! Then I heard a soft voice say, “Hi, I’m Gussie.”

We talked a bit about how two women from Maine got in to the coffee business ten years ago and how they have grown their company. Through the glass sliding windows I could see the other partner and I hurried in to meet Jane. To my surprise the entire operation is in a big, open warehouse space with low, low tech “work stations.” When they rented the space a display company left behind miles of “black stuff,” a kind of particle board painted black. They have used it every time they needed a new surface.

Jane showed me the big burlap bags of raw coffee beans. Their colors change through the roasting process from raw green to rich brown. “We roast darker than Green Mountain and lighter than Starbucks. We really roast to our personal taste and our customers like it,” said Jane.

Gussie asked, “Now, Jane?” And Jane hurried across the wide room to the roasting machine and pushed a chrome lever to the side, releasing the steaming coffee beans into a pan below. They test for color during the roasting but doneness is based on aroma. An arm-like device slowly stirs the beans to cool them. And the aroma was so intense I had to rush to get another cup of the Coffee of the Day. Seize the caffeine!

I was curious how the roasted beans get into the various size bags and Gussie showed me their Seize the Day machine that regulates the flow of beans and the nearby tiny table top machine that seals the bags. How do they get the pounds and pounds of beans up into the hopper?

They used black stuff to build stairs! And a platform!

Now the coffee I was drinking was Hazelnut and so I wanted to see how flavor was added. Jane said, “We used to stand here and shake the daylights out of ourselves while jiggling the plastic bin of beans. It was not without problems! We often bruised the beans, the flavor could be inconsistent and we exhausted ourselves taking turns, gyrating the bin.” Gussie folded her arms, like a schoolgirl, and continued. One day a friend was here helping me build production tables with the ‘black stuff.’ Jane was shaking herself and the beans. Our friend said he had a better idea.

“He came back a few days later with this remarkable invention.” It works like a clothes dryer and s-l-o-w-l-y tumbles the beans to flavored perfection! Low tech? Yes, and quite ingenious.

The women have great senses of humor and we spent much of the time laughing together. They have fun as they work. “What’s this?” I asked, pointing to a statue near the loading dock. Gussie said, “That’s the Knight Supervisor.”

We walked back across the big cement floored room to where the beans were still cooling. I asked if they encourage tours. “Not if we are busy and with mostly just the two of us, we are mostly busy,” said Jane. “We are wholesalers and have to meet our customers’ schedules. When my mother is here putting labels on the bags she enjoys talking with customers and they love looking through the sliding glass windows at the two Maine women who roast coffee beans.”

This was a fun visit. I drove back like a Turk on horseback, rushing headlong toward the Ottoman Empire. At The Cliff House I discovered that I could buy Carpe Diem coffee beans right in the Spa Boutique! Now I can seize the day when I return home. And you can, too, or at carpediemcoffee.com. Check out their Monthly Maintenance Program for the Caffeine Dependent.