Sipp Coffee Company, a new business in the Picayune area, provides high-quality coffee.

Co-owner Paul Howayeck said he has always loved coffee and the culture associated with it. He said he got to know his wife over coffee and met some of his best friends over a cup of joe. He said that last year he asked his wife for a coffee bean roaster for Christmas. He began using the roaster soon after to start roasting beans for friends and family.

This is when he met co-owner Jake Buob. Howayeck said he served coffee at his church and when Buob tried it he became interested in the product. Buob said he is originally from Providence, Rhode Island, which is known for high-class, specialty coffee shops, so he was excited to find someone who prepared high quality coffee in Picayune.

Since everyone liked their coffee so much, they decided to turn the hobby into a business. Since Buob actually studied roasting techniques, the two began working together to perfect their craft.

“Our goal is to make good coffee available to Picayune. We want to help make the city a better place and connect people,” Howayeck said.

Howayeck imports the beans from Sweet Maria’s in California, who import the beans from farms around the world. Howayeck said Sweet Maria’s invests in smaller farms and helps pay a higher wage to farm workers in other countries. He said their ethics is why he likes the company so much.

Howayeck and Buob roast a variety of coffee beans from Colombia, Kenya, Guatemala, Rwanda and several other places.

Buob said Sweet Maria’s typically only sells coffee beans that rank 85 or higher on a 100-point scale. Most specialty beans rank around 80, so purchasing such high-ranking products helps them maintain a quality coffee.

“The product itself is half of it and half of it is the culture of specialty coffee and really celebrating that,” Buob said.

Currently, the business operates under the “cottage food” law, meaning that they can sell their product to individuals and places like farmers markets, but they can’t sell or advertise their product online. Howayeck said he would eventually like to move the business out of his home, but to do that he and Buob would have to begin roasting their beans at a location that complies with state food laws.

Buob pointed out that while they would like to grow the business, they don’t want to start selling or exporting their beans outside of the state. He said that their goal is to provide the experience of good coffee to people in Picayune, so that is where they focus their efforts.

Howayeck said for each bag of their coffee beans, about 15 or 16 12-ounce cups of coffee can be made. Each bag costs $15 to cover the cost of importing high quality beans, the time it takes to roast them, and costs associated with time and labor. For more information about the coffee or roasting process, Howayeck and Buob can be contacted at sipcoffeeco@gmail.com.