Katï Coffee roasts want to be part of community

In the industrial business park located on University Avenue, amidst much larger manufacturing and storage facilities, is the small Katï Coffee roastery. Marked by a sign advertising free coffee samples and a neon “open” sign, the roastery invites curious customers. 

Katï Coffee is an ethically sourced, roast-to-order coffee roastery. 

The business is owned and completely operated by Mirian Diop. Originally from Ghana, she holds a PhD in chemical engineering from Northwestern University. She started the business after retiring from working in the oil industry. 

One of her goals is to “weave everything back into education” by providing tours of the roastery to curious customers who drop by. She said she wants to teach about where the coffee comes from, how it's processed, and why it tastes the way it does. 

“When I set this up, I was very intentional to set it up solo because I wanted to experience all the different aspects of running a roastery— how to do my own roasting, my own packaging, all that stuff,” she said.  

She said she wants Katï Coffee to be integrated into the community by selling roasts that benefit community groups like the Georgetown Fire Department. The business is exploring co-branding a blend with Southwestern University in the future and is opening up an internship for students. 

“I’m passionate about science, about curiosity,” Ms. Diop said. “How you apply [curiosity] is what makes or breaks whether it’s an application of wisdom or if it’s a misuse of knowledge.” 

Katï means “curious” in Lelemi, the native language of Ms. Diop’s parents. The coffee roastery’s icon is an owl. 

“The owl [logo] for me, represents a responsible application of knowledge,” she said.  

“As an engineer, I tend to think more about the process engineering in the roaster,” Ms. Diop said. “The thing about roasting coffee is that it’s science and art. You can’t just do one or the other. You have to think about the science behind it— how you’re heating your equipment, how you’re doing it consistently. Then you also have to think about the art of it.” 

She said she’s constantly asking herself what it is that she’s trying to create with a blend, and  how to use science to influence the “art” of coffee. 

“It’s a really fun combination of the two spaces, I find,” she said.  

Katï Coffee Roastery has nine different roasts on the spectrum between light and dark roast. She sources beans from all over the world, including regions of Columia, Ethiopia, Indonesia and Nicaragua. Ms. Diop said she makes sure the beans come from ethical farms that fairly compensate the workers.

“It matters to us to partner with importers who treat their farmers and producers fairly,” Ms. Diop said.

The two most popular beans are the Nicaragua Jinotega and the 3991 Hook & Ladder, the business’s collaboration with the Georgetown Fire Department. 

Another one of her favorites is the Ethiopia Sidama, which she described as being “perfumey like jasmine.” 

“It has so much character, it ends up sort of knocking you off your feet.” Ms. Diop said. 

The most recent addition to the website is Papua New Guinea. Ms. Diop described it as having notes of “malt-barley and melon.” 

To ensure they are as fresh as possible, Ms. Diop sells the coffee beans in whole form. This requires the use of a coffee grinder before brewing. Ms. Diop said she is happy to grind the beans of customers who come in person to pick up their purchase. 

“I look at myself as being positioned very locally because it matters to me that I can engage on a small, local basis day-to-day as opposed to being big and impersonal,” Ms. Diop said. “Because the bigger it gets, the less personal it gets. That’s just the way things go.”