Photos: Chris Emeott
Local coffee roaster celebrates the culture behind its beans.
As a mom, Katherine Thovson knows the best coffee is whatever you have time to get in your mug during a sometimes chaotic morning routine.
And as the owner of Idioma Coffee Roastery, Thovson also knows that every step from seed to cup—where the beans were grown, harvesting practices, roasting technique and brewing setup—plays a key role in the flavor and experience of your morning caffeine fix.
But she’s not one to get too fussy about it. “The best way, I think, to make coffee is what works best for people at home,” Thovson says. “I always tell people, ‘If you have something that works at home, don’t change it. You can just change your beans.’”
Katherine Thovson
Thovson bought Idioma Coffee in July 2023 from its founder, Obed Santos. The roastery first opened in Farmington in 2018 and moved to a larger space in downtown Lakeville about a year ago. Santos, who was originally from Nicaragua, named the roastery after the Spanish word for language.
“No matter where you go in the world, you may speak different languages, culture might be different, but coffee is coffee,” Thovson says, explaining the inspiration behind Idioma. “[It’s] the language of coffee.”
As a Q Grader, or Quality Grader, Santos spoke the language of coffee. Becoming a Q Grader, which is a professional certification in the coffee industry, is similar to becoming a sommelier but more challenging and more rare. Santos brought that knowledge, along with a background in the culinary industry, to the founding of Idioma and to its roasting practices.
Thovson purchased the business from Santos and learned from him during a six-month transition period before he relocated out of state. Santos trained the new roaster at Idioma, and the dedication to creating perfect roasts that bring out ideal flavors and notes suited to each bean remains.
In addition to creating exceptional coffee, Thovson is dedicated to sourcing exceptional beans from small farmers around the world. The goal of sourcing from small farmers is two-fold. Working directly with farmers ensures that Thovson is confident in the growing practices and that farmers are being paid a fair, liveable wage for their hard work. The roastery collaborates on annual trips to coffee farms in Latin America, inviting coffee connoisseurs along for the experience of harvesting coffee. “We can confidently say there are no chemicals, there’s no pesticides [and] there’s no toxins there because we are seeing it,” Thovson says. “We work with small farmers that just pay incredible attention to detail.”
Idioma sells its beans to local restaurants and directly to consumers through its website and during limited hours at the roastery. Thovson says it will continue to collaborate with other local businesses and hopes to expand the hours and offerings.
Idioma Coffee Roastery sources beans from small farmers around the world.
Since moving into the new space in Lakeville, Thovson opens the roastery each Saturday, inviting the public to sample two or three of its current roasts and offering informal coffee education. There’s also often a small bite or two of something from Thovson, who is the executive director of the Grace Filled Table, a nonprofit dedicated to building relationships and community through food. The Grace Filled Table offers catering and cooking classes and free community meals on Wednesdays in Farmington. Thovson says she hopes to expand the Grace Filled Table into Lakeville and other communities.
“This [Lakeville roastery] space really is such a blessing because it’s the first time that people are able to actually come here to try our coffee, to talk about it, to learn about it,” Thovson says. “This space is all about education and experience. This is part of an overall mission to just utilize food to build relationships in community, which obviously coffee does really well.”
Idioma Coffee Roastery
20769 Holyoke Ave., Lakeville; 952.454.0319
Facebook: Idioma Coffee Roastery
Instagram: @idiomacoffeeroastery
