His love for java didn’t begin until he started working as a courier for FedEx Ground in Oshawa, where he started drinking coffee on the long drives.

One of his routes brought him to a fair trade coffee company in Kingston where he learned about the different flavours of coffee grown in various regions of the world and how to roast beans to perfection.

Combined with a desire to return to Hamilton, where he met his wife, Rachel, while studying theatre at Redeemer University College, he opened Red Hill Coffee Trade last fall, roasting beans in a commercial-industrial area of the southeast Mountain. He opened to the public in June.

“Some people think it comes roasted,” says Mr. Hofing. “No, somebody has to do the roasting.”

How close — and how recent — the coffee was roasted makes a big difference, he notes.

“The fresher the coffee, the more flavour you’ll get out of it.”

Red Hill coffee is fair trade and organic certified, notes Mr. Hofing, two issues which are very important to he and his wife.

Red Hill Coffee Trade ( redhillcoffee.com ) is located in the rear unit at 85 Hempstead Dr.