Centralia ‘Coffeepreneuer’ Describes His Journey Inside the Coffee Industry With New Book

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Unless someone works in the coffee industry, they probably aren’t thinking about the amount of work that goes into making their daily grande iced caramel macchiato. 

“A lot of people just think, ‘oh it’s coffee, it shouldn’t be that expensive,’ and they don’t understand why it’s that expensive,” said Anthony Harding, a coffee world traveler, roaster and importer.

Harding and his family moved to Centralia in 1978, where he attended Centralia High School. He studied business at Centralia College from 2010 to 2013 and also at the Evergreen State College. He currently resides in Centralia. 

Harding recently published his first book “Tales of a Traveling Coffeepreneuer: a Journey to Find the World’s Best Coffee.” In it he describes the struggles of starting his own company, his travels to find the world’s best coffee, awareness of animal rights and 45 different methods and recipes. 

After three years of traveling, Harding launched his own coffee company called Sassy’s Exquisite. He came up with the name from the Vietnamese word for luxury, “Xa Xi,” which is pronounced “Sassy” in English.

“There’s a difference between your can of Folgers and say a bag of Sassy’s Exquisite,” Harding said. “And the reason we end up paying $5 or $6 a cup of coffee is because the farmers go into the fields during the harvest season and they all pick it by hand.” 

According to Harding, it takes about 1,000 coffee beans that are in ripe condition to make a pound of coffee. 

“So it’s a very, very labor-intensive thing and they have to dry it and it takes a few days to dry it and where my coffee comes from they actually take the skins of the fruit off the coffee bean by hand,” Harding said. 

It can take a few hours to do just one cup of coffee by itself, he said. 

“If you think about how much coffee is in the world that really goes a long way,” Harding said. “That’s a lot of man hours that go into bringing you this cup of coffee.”

There is also the importing, roasting and brewing that all goes into making the perfect cup.

“Honestly, $6 for a cup of coffee is a ... good deal and that’s why when we do have it we should really enjoy it and savor it,” Harding said. 

Harding explains in his book how he grew up taking care of his dad, a paraplegic, who once worked at The Chronicle.



His coffee life began in 2014, at the Evergreen State College, when during his second quarter he didn’t get into the classes he wanted. From there he tried an independent learning contract and after facing almost complete rejection, found a class with a couple extra seats available.

Part of the class was a trip to Vietnam and China, where in Vietnam, Harding was presented with the famous kopi luwak, or “cat poop” coffee. After trying it, Harding fell in love and became interested in the industry. 

Kopi Luwak is made by feeding coffee beans to palm civets, which are ferret-like animals native to Southeast Asia, then farmers collect their droppings and roast them. 

Harding learned that at the coffee plantations the palm civets can be treated poorly and dedicated a whole chapter in his book to the animals. 

“These animals live in a cage that’s about 8-foot by 4-foot by 4-foot and they’re about the size of a large house cat,” Harding said. “And they’re really really rambunctious animals and they’re very smart and they love interacting with each other and it’s just one per cage.” 

Kopi Luwak is some of the most expensive coffee in the world at $1,000 for one kilogram. 

“That’s also part of the reason why I’m so passionate about it.  I know that the price that they’re getting for that coffee there’s no way they’re going to stop producing it,” Harding said. “Right now I’m just trying to bring awareness to it and as my company grows the plan is to start a nonprofit that would go to raising money to execute my plan.” 

Harding recently attended the Specialty Coffee Expo in Seattle, where he was interviewed by Kevin Sinnott, a well-known brewing expert in the coffee industry, about his book. 

“He’s a legend in the industry and there was a lot of stuff in there that he didn’t even know,” Harding said. 

Harding’s book is for sale on his website (as is his coffee) and at Book ‘n’ Brush and Amazon. 

For more information, go to sassysexquisite.com.  

“I think if you’re interested in coffee in general that’s a good reason to pick it up,” Harding said.  “If you’re into animal rights that’s a good reason. Also if you are interested in becoming an entrepreneur and you want kind of a road map of how to get from point A to point B that’s in there too.”