AndrewZimmern.com: What or who inspired you to start Café Imports and what has been the hardest part of running a small business?   

AndrewMiller: In 1993 I was working at D'amico Cucina in downtown Mpls. A friend /co-worker Jose Vido, was from a coffee farming community in Brazil and his dad was a coffee farmer. Caribou was just opening up and Specialty coffee was coming to the Midwest. Vido was getting samples of his fathers coffee to show to roasters in town and I started helping him. The coffee was good and roasters liked it so we launched ourselves in to this business.  The hardest part of running a small coffee business is probably the people. This industry, like the restaurant business is full of passionate and eccentric people that don't fit in to the normal business world so balancing passion with practical realities of business is tough. 

AZ.com: Climate change has really put a damper on the coffee industry in the last year. How is Café Imports dealing with the rising price of coffee beans?

AM: Climate change has had a major impact on coffee producers in this last year having rain when there shouldn't be and no rain where there should be. There is a shortness of good coffees right now and the price is up substantially. At Cafe Imports, we have to hedge our inventory like other commodities so we can lower the price when the market drops but have to raise it when the market rises. For us, the biggest challenge is to explain the price increases to roasters and the general public.

AZ.com: Owning a small business, having a family and running a farm must be pretty crazy.  How do you balance your time? 

AM: Balance is the answer but fortunately for us we have longer days in the summer. Ours is really a hobby farm of fifteen acres, so not too much work. My wife manages the bees and the kids help out with the chickens, cows and garden.  I am fascinated by food and the production and history of it so coffee and farming all fit in that realm; just doing the things I love I guess.

AZ.com: Café Imports finds the most sought after coffee beans from countries all around the world such as Jamaica and Colombia.  In your experience, where do the best coffee beans come from and does this change each year depending on harvest season? 

AM: We have been bringing in some of the world's best coffees for the last few years. There has been an evolution of coffee production, selection and preservation where consumers are willing to pay more for a remarkable cup of coffee and that has helped the producers get a fair wage. Coffee, like wine is dependant upon the micro climate so each year is different. There are some general standards though with an annual variation on the theme. Once again, like wine or ice cream, there are personal preferences and I tend towards the bigger, richer coffees like, Kenya, Sumatra, Guatemala and Colombia. These are the Cabernets, Zins and Syrahs of the coffee world. 

AZ.com: Whether it’s a shot of espresso, a cappuccino, or just a simple cup of jo, how do you like to drink your coffee?  

AM: I have a roaster in my garage and five or six brewing methods at home but unfortunately every morning, I use the pour over brewer because it is quick and easy. We have a Clover in our lab here which is a state of the art single cup brewer which I sometimes use and usually an espresso in the late afternoon. We cup coffee every day at eleven which is an hour of slurping and spitting but you still get caffeinated so I have to manage my intake in the morning or my head might pop off.

AZ.com: Name four places in the Twin Cities you go for coffee.   

AM: Dunn Bros, Kopplins, Black Sheep and Rustica uptown has a nice shop. It kind of depends on where I am.

AZ.com: What’s in your fridge?

AM: The things you would notice when you open the door are the deviled eggs(pew) my daughter Luca made yesterday or the pesto (also ripe) from Sunday night but most of the good food at my house is outside right now, beet greens, Kale, Onions, new potatoes and herbs and raspberries.