Red Roaster Coffee Co. is owned and operated by Tim and Kim Knutson of Minot, ND. Tim was born in Thief River Falls MN and grew up in Carpio, ND and Kim grew up in Billings, MT.
They started Kaffee Kiosks in January of 1998 in Minot, later starting Red Roaster in 2005.
1998 – Tim and Kim Start Kaffee Kiosk
Kaffee Kiosk (pronounced Coffee Kiosk), 'The Little Coffee Place, with the Big Coffee Taste!' becomes Minot’s first drive-thru espresso stand. Little did they know that this little business would grow to monopolize the espresso drive-thru market in Minot, ND. After the opening of Oak Park kiosk in '98 they opened a kiosk on the skywalk in Trinity Hospital to be closely followed by a location in ING Customer Service Center. With the purchase of shortly lived 'Java Jive' they moved it to the Conlins Furniture location on broadway. Then they were asked to open a drive thru outside the doors of MLT on north hill in Minot, and four months later on the Minot Air Force Base. Phew!
2005 –The Beginning of a New Creation
After being in the coffee industry for 7 years Red Roaster Coffee Co. is created from scratch and a new vision is in place. With the intention of roasting their own coffee to provide for the Kiosks, they set out to Florida to be trained at one of the nations leading Roaster Manufacturers, Ambex Roasters. Upon the arrival of the Red Roaster in the newly remodeled warehouse, soon to be the Roasterie, anticipation started to grow among Tim, Kim, and others of the business to get that thing “Fired-Up” and see what it can do. The Ambex 15 Kilo Roaster is a beautiful shade of fire-engine red and it was soon plumbed into the building and ready to be used. This began the journey of roasting that would forever change the little business that started in ‘98.
2006 – It’s Time to say “Good-bye” to an
Old Friend
In November of 2006, after being in business for nearly 9 years, Tim and Kim decide to sell the Kaffee Kiosk business to a young couple in Minot. With the new focus on roasting and wholesaling, there just wasn’t enough time to manage everything. The future has many promises in store for it though with the Red Roaster Coffee Co. and we have just tapped into the first-fruits of the harvest. Amen.
