Veteran brings Fresh Pressed Coffee to Copperas Cove

By LYNETTE SOWELL
Cove Leader-Press 

Covites who love coffee now have a local option to purchase coffee that’s as fresh as one week from a coffee farm in El Salvador.
Nick Haffter Von Heide, father of three boys and veteran of the First Cavalry, began offering the directly-imported coffee earlier this year. He designed the packaging for the coffee, and the coffee is roasted and packaged directly at Finca Argentina in El Salvador. 
“They have eight 24-hour roasters with 12 master roasters at all times,” said Haffter Von Heide. “They’ve been doing it for many, many years. They know how to get the flavor profiles to come out.”
Haffter Von Heide said he really wants the coffee bean to “shine” figuratively and yet not have shiny beans. 
“That’s the biggest thing for me. Shiny beans show signs of flavor dilapidation…There’s an art to roasting coffee.”
Haffter Von Heide estimates it’s about a week process from the coffee beans being harvested, roasted, packaged and shipped to him in Texas. 
For him, going into business for coffee is fueled by his passion for the drink itself.
“I love (coffee). Back in high school, I did projects, started my own coffee business for a GT project, and I never diverted from that,” Haffter Von Heide said.
Then an unlikely connection brought the source of his coffee to him after his time in the military. 
“I was working with the Houston Symphony Orchestra, and my manager married into the coffee family from El Salvador,” Haffter Von Heide said. 
Initially, several years ago, he had opened his business as Point-Blank Coffee but then he went through a rough patch, dealing with PTSD and getting help. 
Then, last year as a single dad with a move back to the Copperas Cove to be closer to his family, Haffter Von Heide began planning a reboot to sell the coffee he loves.
The idea of building a business and selling directly from the coffee farm took some time to develop, Haffter Von Heide said. 
Now remarried and going forward steam ahead with his business, Haffter Von Heide is back again with Fresh Pressed Coffee, which has the tagline “Fueling Lives, Fueling Dreams.”
Haffter Von Heide sells three types of coffee, in several forms to include green – a bulk form for roasters/businesses and roasted in bulk or customer orders for businesses. 
One of the roasts is Sunrise Serenade, a medium roasted SHG bourbon Arabica, grown at an elevation of 1,500 to 1,700 meters, Haffter Von Heide said. 
There’s also Moonlight Serenade, a medium roast Castillo Arabica coffee with notes of honey, and Midnight Express, an espresso roast bourbon Arabica. 
Since the opening of the Copperas Cove Farmer’s Market earlier this month, Haffter Von Heide has been offering customers a sample taste of the coffee and also sells it by the cup, or by the bag, whole bean or ground, in two-ounce, 12-ounce bean or ground, and five-pound whole bean. He also offered a tip for coffee storage – in a dark, airtight container. 
In addition to the Copperas Cove Farmer’s Market, he also has held coffee “tastings” at area businesses, such as KJ’S Po-Boy Express in Killeen, along with Underground Games in Cove Terrace Shopping Center. He is also on the lookout for a storefront of his own. If all goes well, he hopes that his wife will join him in the business in the future. More information about Fresh Pressed Coffee can be found at Haffter Von Heide’s website, freshpressedcoffeecompany.com.