Roasting in-house has been on our roadmap since the inception of The Black Coffee Company. There are many variables, and nuances to roasting coffee. Coffee roasters take their craft very seriously. Appreciating the beautiful complexity of coffee roasting and the learning curve to consistently roast delicious specialty coffee, we decided to partner with an up and coming coffee roaster, Namesake Coffee, to be our supplier.
Let me peck out a few keyboard strokes to share the story of how we met our coffee supplier and partner, Namesake Coffee.
It was January 2018, I was scrolling through social media and an advertisement about a coffee symposium 10 minutes from my house popped up. At the time, all of the founders were not 100% on board with starting a coffee company. However, if we were serious about starting a coffee company, the least I could do is attend this symposium a few minutes from my house.
So I pull-up to this coffee symposium with my co-worker who was an avid coffee drinker. At the symposium there were about 10 different coffee vendors (roasters, espresso carts, third wave water, cafes) set up. Not sure what to do and with no pre-defined expectations of the symposium, I walked over to a vendor (Namesake Coffee, Michael & Jessica). They were making coffee with this cool looking glass fixture (it was a Chemex, but at the time I didn’t know what it was). At their table they had a scale (i'm wondering why they have a scale), coffee grinder, coffee beans, coffee filters, electric kettle, and the Chemex. As Michael made pour over coffee with the Chemex, Jessica shared their story and how the coffee industry is all about community! After Michael finished making the coffee, he handed me a cup to try, and let me tell you, that first sip was memorable. It was at that moment, I knew our community was missing out on this flavorful specialty coffee.
Long story short, after numerous shots of espresso and coffee samples from the other vendors, I walked back to Namesake's table and told them:
"My partners and I are thinking about starting a coffee company. We reached out to numerous roasters about being our supplier, but they either required high minimum orders or simply did not return our calls/emails. We are new to the coffee industry, but are you willing to work with us and be our coffee bean supplier." Michael said "Absolutely! Let me know how little or how much you need! Let's grow together!"
As I am leaving from the symposium, I received a DM from Namesake, the rest is history!
Now 4 years later, we begin our journey to roast coffee in-house and Namesake is super supportive. To get the ball rolling, we purchased the Aillio Bullet R1 V2 to learn the craft of roasting specialty coffee. Being the engineer that I am, I was super excited to roast coffee and build a coffee roasting cart. To date, I have roasted about 5 batches of coffee. We invite you to follow us on our journey to roasting and delivering high quality specialty coffee! Be on the lookout for a sample in your future purchase.... #coffeeEngineer