The sun barely scraps the horizon before the "Open" sign blinks on at the Leopard Forest Coffee Company. A soothing aroma soon fills the chilly morning air, luring still-sleepy customers into the café for a steaming, eye-opening mug of freshly-brewed coffee.

The morning brightens as staffers tackle piles of burlap bags, plump with coffee beans, which line the cafe walls and crowd the counters. When the last 100-pound bag thumps into place beside the humming drum roaster, Ildi Revi Brown turns to her assistants and says, "Let's get roasting."

A World of Coffees
Twice a year trucks come to Travelers Rest until the narrow building on South Main Street holds nearly 20 tons of coffee beans. "We roast almost every day," says Ildi, who owns Leopard Forest.

Most of the beans come from a 1,000-acre farm owned by husband Robert Boswell Brown's family in eastern Zimbabwe. Another 2 tons or so arrive from Kenya, Nicaragua, Ethiopia, Sumatra, and Colombia. "Much of the coffee from our farm is shade-grown," Ildi explains. "That means the plants grow in the shade of indigenous trees, which results in wonderful coffee and also provides habitats for native birds and animals."

After the bags are stacked and sorted, the roasting begins. "A coffee's taste depends on the type of bean, where it's grown, and how long it's roasted," Ildi says. "The moisture content in each bean is different, so we adjust the roasting time. We grow six different types on our farm. Some beans produce better light coffee, while others make a better espresso."

Ildi and her staff process up to 600 pounds a day, filling the back room that houses the roaster with the sound of cracking beans and the scents of an early-morning kitchen. This yields 23 kinds of coffee ranging from Colombia Supremo Huila to Zimbabwean Peaberry. Add 1 of 20 flavorings--such as maple walnut or white chocolate--to those basic beans, and the cafe baristas can whip up more kinds of specialty drinks than a leopard has spots.

From West to East
Ildi and Robert's java journey started in 1989 when a mutual friend introduced the girl from Chicago to a guy from Zimbabwe. "I was teaching in Mozambique when we met. We dated for a while, and then he asked me to marry him," Ildi says. "I called my supervisor back in the States and asked what I should do. She told me I'd be useless if I came back wondering 'What might have happened if. . ..' "

The couple stayed in Zimbabwe and had two daughters. They planned to remain in Africa, but local political concerns brought Ildi and the girls back to America. "We had friends in Montana, so we originally thought about moving out West," Ildi says. "But Seattle had such a glut of coffeehouses in that region, we decided to come East. I'd always been fascinated by the Carolinas, so I visited Travelers Rest and fell in love with it. Rob was happy with the location as well, despite having to bear the brunt of the 9,000-mile commute three times a year."