You've heard of micro-breweries, right?

They're small scale efforts to make beer. They tend to be labors of love, done by beer enthusiasts who get deeply interested in the process of making beer.

Apply that same spirit to coffee, and you get Tim Gardner.

Gardner, of Baker Road in Lisbon, has turned his garage into a 'micro-roaster' business, making small runs of coffees with names like 'Jazzy Java' and 'Jamaican Me Crazy,' and marketed under his brand, 'St. Lawrence Valley Roasters.'

Gardner started about as humbly as you can imagine: he used a popcorn popper to roast his coffee. He graduated to a small, but 'real' coffee roaster, and with a small loan from St. Lawrence County's local develoment corporation, he now has a larger roaster.

It goes with his larger business.

Gardner told 7 News reporter John Friot the business is making money, though he wouldn't talk specifics.

Bags of unprocessed coffee beans line Gardner's small garage. The beans are then placed in the roaster and heated to a specific temperature. Once the roasting process is complete the beans are either ground, flavored or left as is and then vacuum packaged for delivery.

He's selling wholesale to grocery stores in Jefferson, St. Lawrence and Franklin counties, and under his brand to several north country stores, including Nature's Storehouse in Canton, the Potsdam Food Co-op, the Wanakena General store and the Mustard Seed store in Watertown.

Gardner is also doing business on line at www.stlawrencevalleyroasters.com.