Last modified: Sunday, April 4, 2004 1:47 AM PST Tami Hart | Argus Observer Heinz checks to see how his roast is progressing. Coffee shop's new roaster cooks up Š Cool beans Christen McCurdy Argus Observer Ontario What weighs 900 pounds and comes with its own fire hydrant? The answer is situated at Southeast Third and South Oregon streets at the Jolts and Juice Company in Ontario. Jolts and Juice owners Dennis Hart and Todd Heinz purchased a coffee roaster Dec. 1, enabling them to roast coffee for the store in-house. The duo decided to house it on the second floor of the business. A floor, a dolly and several fingers were casualties of the moving process, Hart and Heinz said. Previously, Heinz and Hart had been using a roaster in Eugene to roast coffee beans for the shop. With the new roaster in place, the store has expanded to include the upstairs space - which Heinz said should provide a break from the hustle and bustle of the downstairs shop. The space had served as storage for the coffee shop, a church, an archery center and aerobics center. Heinz said some groups, such as yoga classes and book clubs, are looking into renting the space. "People say it reminds them of something they would see in Portland," Heinz said. Additionally, the pair have plans to open a store at the Ontario Marketplace within 90 days, and are looking at selling coffee through the Internet, with home delivery. Heinz and Hart receive shipments of green coffee beans through an importer in Seattle. The beans come in muslin sacks - several hundred pounds at a time - and Heinz and Hart are left with the duty of carrying them upstairs. "We're trying to see if we can put them on a bike and ride it upstairs," Heinz, who also owns Making Tracks Cyclery and Fitness, joked. "If Juan Valdez can put them on a donkey Š " It takes 15 to 18 minutes to roast a dark-roast coffee, at temperatures up to 450 degrees Fahrenheit, Heinz and Hart said. Lighter roasts take a little less time and a lower temperature. The high temperatures may be the reason Ontario Fire and Rescue required the installation of a fire hydrant a few feet away from the roaster, Hart said. The roaster will take on loads as light as 1/4 pound and as heavy as 150 pounds. "Every area in the country is different in what flavor they like," Heinz said. Hart said people in the Pacific Northwest tend to like dark roasted coffees, where medium roast is popular on the East Coast - but customers in Ontario seem to appreciate both. Heinz compared the idea of home-delivered coffee to that of home-delivered milk. They said they hope to make a product available that is fresher than many coffees sold over the Internet. Hart said coffee is comparable to wine in terms of the labor that goes into creating it - and is the cheapest product available that requires that amount of labor. "I've always enjoyed coffee. It's the product of the masses," Heinz said. Christen McCurdy is the US editor of the Argus Observer. She can be reached at (541) 889-5387 or by e-mail, ChristenM@argusobserver.com.