Our Bread + Ingredients:

We believe that good bread is good for you.

Flour is Important:

We have a commitment to using 100% organic flour (never sprayed with glyphosate) and never add any sugar, conditioners, or preservatives to our loaves.

We are proud to source all of our whole grain wheat and rye flours from Camas Country Mill and our organic bread + pastry flours from Central milling.

All of our sourdough “levains” contain only organic flour, water, kosher salt and sourdough culture, and any additions such as olives, soaked seeds, etc. They are all naturally vegan, unless otherwise noted (Brioche and challah contain eggs and/or dairy)

The fermentation process:

All of our sourdough “levains” are long-fermented, meaning they undergo a cold fermentation of at least 24 hours before being baked. This extended fermentation process acidifies the bread, adds dimensions of flavor, and renders it more digestible.

We emphasize the use to stone ground whole grains in our bakes rather than reconstituted flours which are traditionally roller milled, separated into all of their parts, and then pieced back together to reach a desired protein level and aged for consistency. Rather than relying on these sifted or reconstituted blends, we create our own “blend” and utilize as much whole grain flour in all of our breads as possible, using the freshest stone-milled whole grain to retain oils, nutrients + flavor.

While the majority of our products are not 100% whole grain unsifted flour, we work whole grains into just about every product we make from our sourdoughs to our brioche + croissant pastries.

Some of our products do contain commercial yeast and we generally preferment these before incorporating them to add flavor. Our baguettes, croissant pastries, and brioche all contain a small amount of pre-fermented commercial yeast, this is our preference. Our brioche and croissants all contain some amount of whole grain flour.

Our Farmers:

We believe in supporting local whenever possible and enjoy partnering with local farms and businesses, most of whom we met at the farmers markets we participate in.

All of our produce at the bakery is sourced from local farms + partners, varying season to season. We have no produce suppliers, and we order and pick up directly from the market. Our favorites include Mt. Moriah Farms, Murray family farms, Weiser family Farms, black sheep farms, tenerelli orchards, tamai family farms, mcgrath family farms, and schaner family farms, among others. most of our farmers are certified organic or responsibly farmed. while we are passionate about health and organic food we also understand the expense and complexities of getting certified, and have established relationships with farmers we trust.

We proudly use Isigny St. Mere butter for all of out croissant production. It is the best quality butter we have ever worked with and we truly believe you can taste the difference.

On Gluten:

if you have a serious allergy to gluten specifically, we would not recommend you eat anything made in our bakery as it will contain at a minimum, trace gluten.

If you have had issues eating commercially made or quick yeasted breads in the past but do not have a serious allergy, we would urge you to try our long fermented sourdoughs. The fermentation process, elimination of pesticide-sprayed flour, and larger % of whole grains may work well for you, as it has for a few of our customers who previously thought themselves gluten-intolerant.

We do make a couple “naturally” gluten-free baked goods at the bakery including amaretti cookies and financiers; however, it is not something we specialize in, and selection may vary.

We truly believe in the health of long fermented whole grains and that is what we focus on at colossus.

Here are some of our favorite articles on gluten, wheat varietals, growing practices, and health, supplied by WSU and The Sourdough School in the UK:

The Nutrition of Grains WSU- A study of grain nutrition

Redefining Bread WSU

Bread is Broken NYT- How “Industrial production destroyed both the taste and the nutritional value of wheat”

Sourdough Nutrition and Digestibility articles and blog posts from the Sourdough School

History of Sourdough, Bread, Yeast, and Wheat an impressive compilation from the from the Sourdough School