FORT MYERS, Fla. (Jan. 30, 2014) – Bennett’s Fresh Roast has a lot to celebrate in 2014. Not only is it the sixth anniversary of its flagship shop in downtown Fort Myers, Bennett’s also recently opened its first shop on Sanibel Island located at 1020 Periwinkle Way.

To celebrate, Bennett’s is planning a five-day coffee festival, featuring a different ultra premium award-winning coffee from across the globe each day, and an anniversary doughnut.

“We are so thankful that our little dream of a niche coffee and doughnut shop has garnered so many loyal patrons,” said Bennett’s owner Bob Grissinger, former local morning disc jockey C. David Bennett.

Grissinger opened Bennett’s in 2008 with partners Roger Munro, Frank Albano and Anne Munro at the start of the area’s worst economic downturn.

“We opened in downtown Fort Myers at the worst possible time economically, but thanks to this supportive community, we made it through and are still thriving,” said Grissinger

From Saturday, Feb. 8 through Wednesday, Feb. 12, both Bennett’s locations will offer five incredible varieties of coffees from around the world. Its limited-edition anniversary doughnut, the Honey Berry Mascarpone, made famous on Grissinger’s appearance on the Cooking Channel and Food Network’s Donut Showdown, will also be available while they last. The Honey Berry Mascarpone is a fluffy Bennett’s doughnut covered in mascarpone icing, topped with three types of berries and then drizzled in honey.

The special coffee offerings will kick-off with a Puna Moon Hawaiian Rainforest on Saturday. This full-bodied coffee has nutty, earthy overtones and is reminiscent of some finer Moccas when roasted into the second crack as Bennett’s plans to do.

“The Puna Moon is better and more complex than Hawaiian Kona,” said Grissinger.

On Sunday, Bennett’s will feature a Haitian Dondon. This is a classic Caribbean coffee in every sense according to Grissinger – chocolately sweet with mellow citrus-highlights.

“It’s a perfect cup for those who like to ease into the day or relax with a good coffee after work,” he said. “This coffee comes to us from a small importer who is closely working with the farmers in Haiti to improve their farms and families by improving their coffees.”

Monday will bring one of the world’s oldest coffees, the Yemen Mocca Zamarrud Bani Isma’el. This is a highly complex system of flavors that is well balanced and aromatic with hints of chocolate, nuttiness and buttery fruitiness.

On Tuesday, Bennett’s will feature one of the most expensive coffees they have ever offered and an international-award winner. Panama La Berlina Estate Gesha is grown in the Horqueta region in the Boquete District of the Chiriqui Province of Panama.

“It is light and incredibly strong at the same time, almost like a strong honeysuckle coffee dry,” said Grissinger. “The mouth feel of this coffee is unlike anything we have ever had. It is light, buttery, and rich all at one time. That buttery mouth holds notes that are like brown butter and copper with floral notes and a hint of that bright citrus acidity like lemon lime.”

Wednesday will conclude the coffee tour with a Sumatra Iskandar Premium.

“This is the best and brightest Sumatran we have ever tried,” added Grissinger. “It’s dark and brooding, sultry, unique, bold, complex and woodsy with butterscotch flavors.”

Due to their rarity and high price, these special coffee offerings will not be available for bean or ground coffee sale.

Bennett’s is offering these rare and costly coffees at regular brewed prices while they last at both shops. Both Bennett’s locations are open Monday through Sunday from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Bennett’s Fresh Roast has prided itself on its fresh-from-scratch doughnuts made daily and being the only Fort Myers’ shop to serve fresh roasted coffee from the finest beans resulting in the most flavorful and freshest cup of coffee around. For the past six years, the Bennett’s team has been known for unveiling delicious new doughnut concoctions from flavors including maple bacon, pumpkin spice, maple toffee crunch, s’mores and more. The shop has also become known for surprising offerings like its limited sale (which sold out) of Kopi Luwak coffee, often called “cat-poo coffee” after the prized bean from Indonesia that’s eaten by wild civets, passed through the animal’s digestive tract, and then collected and processed for brewing.

In addition to fresh roasted coffee and hand-cut-from-scratch doughnuts, Bennett’s also offers fresh desserts from Grissinger’s own recipe book including praline bread pudding, lemon bars and pies, giving area residents an alternative for afternoon treats. Bennett’s also features packaged whole bean or ground coffees, breakfast muffins, oatmeal and breakfast sandwiches. On the weekends, Bennett’s Strata (a layered baked breakfast dish) is a regular sellout. Tea lovers can choose from a large variety of Harney & Sons Fine Teas. Lunch offerings including paninis, soups, sandwiches, three signature salads and Bennett’s ‘Chicken & Donut’ and ‘Donut Dog’ are available Monday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

For more information about Bennett’s, visit www.BennettsFreshRoast.com.