Brown Coffee: The Interview

Back in early December, after a coffee tasting at his house, I had an e-mail interview with Aaron Blanco, the owner of Brown Coffee Co. At the time I was only planning on using excerpts of the interview for the piece I wrote about him last week but found his answers so entertaining I decided to run the entire interview in a separate post. Enjoy.

JW: Do you remember the first time you drank coffee?

AB: I can remember Sunday nights after church as a young boy stealing sips
of the dregs from the cups of my parents and other adults who came
over our house for coffee and donuts. It was no doubt terrible,
rather forgettable coffee and was always laden with lots of "creamer"
and sugar. (Did you know that non-dairy creamer is flammable??? Just
a thought...) Those were my earliest rememberable experiences with
it. If you're wondering when the first time I ever really "used"
coffee then it was during college. My roommate and I would go to
Denny's to study (read:hang out with girls) and what can I say?
Everyone was doing it. So I piled tons of cream and sugar into mine
and sucked it down. Yummy.

JW: Coffee, like beer and cigarretes, is not something you immediately like your first time, what kept you drinking it in the beginning?

AB: Huh? Wha? I loved beer and cigarettes as a kid! I mean, er... That
question reminds me of a Calvin and Hobbes comic strip I once saw.
Calvin had somehow gotten ahold of some cigarettes and he and his
tiger buddy decided to try it out. As they both turned green and
began to choke on smoke, Hobbes says to Calvin, "You think this'd be
an easy habit to break."

Peer pressure kept me refueling. Plain and simple.

JW: How did you go from being a coffee drinker to someone interested in the entire process behind the cup?

AB: I'm not really sure what took me from just barely being able to
tolerate the stuff to trying to drink it for something besides just
fuel. I've always kind of been a purist in all the things I pursue in
life: music, spirituality, food (particularly,tasting the authentic
cuisines of the world the way they were meant to be tasted) and
what not. I suppose maybe one day I kind of realized that coffee was
something that was occupying lots of my semi-conscious time--meaning,
I was drinking lots of coffee without giving it much thought. Why not
try to figure out the story behind the story on coffee. There was
always so much romance behind the concept of nursing a cup of coffee
for hours among friends, discussing the issues of the day. I was
enthralled by the great concept of the coffeehouse in all its
revolutionary glory--whatever that meant!

Then I moved to California to finish college and that's where it
really kicked into high gear. The year was 1994 and the coffee house
as social hangout place was a refined art in counter cultural enclaves
like Santa Cruz. My and my buddies really got into the whole espresso
and coffee scene which was really starting to blossom there...well
before much of the rest of the country was getting into it. I would
go into a bookstore and start looking for coffee books while I drank
my coffee. I guess it all kinda went downhill from there.

JW: How long did you work at Starbucks, and overall how was the experience?

AB: It's funny--I actually begged my first manager at Starbucks to give me
a job for like two or three months before he finally caved. I walked
into the Starbucks in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania in December 2001, no
pro coffee experience, having just a love for coffee and the belief
that I could maybe figure it all out quickly enough before they
learned I didn't actually have any marketable coffee skills. He kept
telling me to come back: after the Holidays; in a couple weeks; next
Thursday, etc. Finally he gave me an interview and I can remember
being so excited when my phone rang and the Caller I.D. read:
"Starbucks Coffee." I think I saved that Caller I.D. record for a few
months after that.

I can say that my time with Starbucks was very good. I started at
that store as a lowly barista, making something like $7.25 and hour
with a wife, a child and another one on the way. I knew I had to do
something with myself and quick. I had heard Starbucks was a pretty
good place to work and I can tell you that I am living proof that they
put their trust in people who worked hard to make a name for
themselves and who took care of the coffee and the customers well.
Less than one year later I was opening the doors to a brand new
Starbucks in Lionville, Pennsylvania, only this time I was the
Manager.

In all I worked for Big Green for just over three and a half years.
Starbucks, for all its ubiquity, is still, in my opinion, a world
class organization. Even though they get disrespected in "indie
coffee" circles a lot, the fact is you can't argue with success.
Starbucks has probably forgotten more about coffee than many other
coffee companies will ever know. I'm proud of my time there and what
I was able to accomplish.

JW: Do you have a favorite or memorable story from your time as a barista?

AB: Way, way too many good times to recount here and now. One funny story
is the story of Aaron the newbie barista at Chadds Ford Starbucks.
This is the story of me in the shower, in the bed, driving to the
grocery store, etc., physically reviewing the motions it would take to
make a Frappuccino, trying to recall the steps and recipes so that I
didn't screw up. I can remember being thankful that it was a cold,
blustery Saturday morning because that meant less people would be
coming in and ordering Frappuccinos. I felt that way for about a
month. Then I realized, it's just liquid, syrup, ice, blend and pour.
Not rocket science, dude.

JW: What made you take the plunge and start your own coffee company?

AB: Revenge, mostly. When I got sued by Starbucks for embezz...er, I
mean, wait a second. Just kidding. Seriously, I kinda realized
pretty early on in my Starbucks life that coffee was a worthy subject
for me to want to explore and grow into professionally for a long
time, if not for the rest of my working life. When my time with Big
Green came to an end I knew I still wanted to be around coffee. I
knew I had learned some skills and a little knowledge and figured it
made clear sense to keep pushing forward with coffee. I secured (what
seemed like a) HUGE loan from my in-laws (not that much in real
business terms, though) and went down to the county courhouse and
bought the name, The Brown Coffee Company. (That name's a whole
'nuther story in itself...) I guess I figured coffee just wasn't
through with me yet, so I stuck with it. I haven't had a single
second of regret so far.


JW: With thousands of coffee companies in America, what sets Brown Coffee Co. apart from the others?

AB: It's funny you ask that. I was just brainstorming that very question
with a friend this morning. We asked that exact question and listed
several strength areas as well as some that were "gaps" that needed
attention. Some of the gaps came from folks just plain not knowing
we're even out there.

That said, we kinda came to a place this morning where we realized
that if you decide to try Brown, you'll actually be taking the first
steps of a great culinary adventure. I know that sounds way over the
top but that's really and truly how I feel about the coffees I have
the honor of representing to my customers. Great coffee IS a culinary
experience, just like experiencing a great wine or a fabulous single
malt scotch. It's kind of like your own little coffee passport and
you get to try exotic and crazy good coffees you never knew even
existed before you stumbled upon my little website. Now all of a
sudden here's this wild-eyed mad scientist kind of guy talking about
blueberries in this coffee and stewed tomatoes presenting themselves
in that. And you read all these descriptions--I know how it must come
across to people!--and you're like, "This guy is off his rocker a
little bit with the coffee thing."

...and then they take the chance and order a bag of coffee from Brown
and they realize that it is indeed different from the commodity grade
stuff being peddled in diners and donut shops across the land. People
who are willing to just crack open the door to the concept of coffee
as a beautiful adventure will recognize that we're not building Brown
on hype or smoke and mirrors. They'll see that we're dead red serious
about sourcing killer coffees that will rock your face off and have
you thinking about them long after you've downed your last sip.

We're not a cheap coffee company, that's for sure. Our coffees aren't
cheap in either sense of the word. But I kind of adopted a saying for
Brown that my sister once told me: Anything that costs you little is
probably worth little. There's a whole lecture from me about why the
great coffees of the world are way, way undervalued, even at $20--25 a
pound. We'll save that one for another time. Suffice it to say that
I believe Brown exists in part to help change those conversations
people are having around coffee from, "Why would anyone pay so much
for COFFEE?" to, "Why aren't more people interested in drinking
amazing coffee like this?" If you drink it just as an economic
factor, you might as well just be drinking tap water. Brown aims to
help people get the whole super premium coffee thing in a way that is
accessible and not really as intimidating as you might think.

JW: Most people probably equate high quality coffee with Starbucks. How is your coffee different than Starbucks coffee?

AB: I sorta struggle to think of how it might be considered similar except
maybe on price and on the principle that Starbucks tries to source the
best coffee their size will allow them to.

Basically, the main difference in Brown versus Starbucks might be
roast styles and philosophies. Starbucks is from (what is now
considered) the old school: the classic Pacific Northwest mentality
of dark roasted and robust cups to stand up to those drizzly, dreary
PNW winters. It's not better or worse; it's just different than
Brown. I tend to use a much lighter touch with my roasting to
empasize not the roast I put to it, but the characteristics that
particular coffee from that particular place may want to present to
me. I guess most people don't realize that coffee is a fruit and as
such it has stages of ripeness and "bestness" if you will. My goal is
to find coffees that are at their peak of ripeness, when they are
actually sweetest, and to roast them delicately enough to allow that
natural sweetness to work its way into your cup. The more "invisible"
I as a roaster can be, the better chance the consumer has of
experiencing great coffee that was roasted a few days ago just for
them, versus [enter any big coffee chain name here], where the coffee
was roasted weeks, sometimes even months ago and has sat in some store
or on some grocery shelf or, worse, in some dank grocery warehouse
waiting to be shoved onto a shelf by some overnight stock boy who
couldn't care less about the coffee aside from just making the bags
stand up straight.

How's that for differences? Mainly, it's just that my tiny size
allows me a greater sense of being nimble and being "artisinal" and
geeky about quirky coffees, whereas a big chain might be more stuck in
having to please the oceans of customers with "consistency."

JW: My favorite coffee of yours is the Finca Vista Hermosa from Guatemala. It was the first coffee from Brown that I had and it's also a sentimental favorite as I recently had the pleasure of meeting the man who grows it. How did you meet Edwin and describe your business relationship with him.

AB: Edwin Martinez is the next in line to operate Finca Vista Hermosa, a
coffee plantation in Guatemala. He grew up there and still spends
about half the year there--the other half being in Bellingham,Washington.
He's a swell guy whose coffee is something of what I would consider a cult
favorite among coffee nerds like myself. He and I found ourselves frequenting
a certain uber geeky online coffee forum and I think I might have actually
tricked him into thinking Brown was a real company, a legitimate business! :)
I forget the exact circumstances but we began to collaborate online on some certain
coffee discussions and one day he left me his phone number and I just
called him up. Before long I was asking him if I could buy his coffee
and that was probably one of the best purchases I have ever made (and
probably one of the smallest for him!). He also represents a small
farm in Honduras with exceptionally sweet and very cool coffee and I
will be buying some of that coffee soon as well.

Every year Edwin, his wife Nina and their Guatemala family host
travelers on their plantation in the form of missions trips. Last
year they hosted a small group of coffee roasters and had such a good
time that this year not only are they hosting a roaster's trip but
also a trip of coffee baristas, which I will be going on.

JW: What are you most looking forward to on your upcoming trip to Guatemala?

AB: This will be my first trip to a coffee plantation. I've read about
them and have seen pictures and videos of them. But I think to
actually be there, to meet the people who are growing, picking,
processing and preparing the coffee to be sent off around the
world...that will be special. Mostly those folks have no clue how
their coffee is being prepared and served in cafes. It will be really
something to get to thank them personally for all their hard work.

I'm also getting pretty excited about a little project Edwin has asked
me to consider staying an extra week to help him with. Something
about a GPS mapping project and he wants me to help with the writing
of the reports and whatnot. It's all really technical and not worth
me boring everyone with here and now. But I'm excited about it in my
own coffeegeek way.

JW: What is the most interesting thing about coffee that most people don't know?

AB: Hmmmm....hard to say what most people might find interesting. One fun
tidbit is that ripe coffee cherries grow on tree branches to about the
size of a cherry and when you pick them off the tree they are sweet
and tart like a cranberry. Okay, so that's not very interesting. How
about the fact that as a fruit, it seems kind of interesting to me
that we actually are concerned with the seeds of the fruit, the pits
if you will, which are the coffee beans we roast, grind and brew.
This is wholly opposite of any other fruit I can think of, such as the
avocado, the apple, the cherry and so forth, where we actually eat the
fruit and discard the seeds/pits. Just par for the course in the
bizarro world of coffee, I guess.

JW: What is your favorite food to eat with coffee?

AB: Yes. ;) Different stuff pairs well with different coffees. I can
remember first sitting in on a coffee tasting where the presenter gave
us a cup of Sulawesi coffee and a wedge of brie cheese. Skeptical, we
all tried them together and were slackjawed at how well they paired.
So maybe my point with that is to be adventurous and try different
things and see what you might find.

JW: What region of the world consistently produces the greatest coffee?

AB: Well, I don't know. Which is your favorite child, Jeremy? I think
the answer to that depends on how one chooses to define "greatest."
Most consistently excellent? Highest prices paid for it? Most
exotic? Every major growing region produces something unique and
special...that is not meant to sound diplomatic, the way some would
describe their children when one is an honors student and another is,
well, "unique and special." I think the thing to consider is how much
more detailed and complex the process of tasting coffees and
identifying greatness in coffee is becoming as it relates to
geography. What I mean is this. Did you know for instance that in
Guatemala alone there are something like 300 distinct microclimates?
They are areas that have disinctly unique weather patterns that have a
direct effect on how the coffee grown in each microclimate will taste.
Add to that customs and processes of how the trees and the land
around them are cared for, how the beans are processed, fermented,
milled, stored, dried, bagged, shipped to market, exported,
warehoused, roasted, ground and brewed and you have an infinitely
complex matrix of how great or not so great a coffee can be when it
gets to its final destination.

But as I was saying about geography, there is a lot of work underway
to continue defining geographic denominations in smaller and smaller
ways as it pertains to coffee, even down to the farm, or a particular
slope of a hill, at a particular elevation and so forth, that will
produce a lot (a "lot" is a size designation, not slang for a whole
buncha) of coffee. Each micromini climate and set of circumstances
can produce strikingly different coffee. Do one thing differently and
one coffee might well present characteristics typcial of coffee grown
two continents away. And some coffee retailers are content to foist
upon their unsuspecting customers the arcane and simplistic
designations such as, "El Salvador," or, "Brazil" or "Kenya." Would
you buy wine that way? Hardly. So why do that to coffee?

Whoah. I hit a major tangent! I guess "greatness" in coffee can be
defined with such ever increasing minutiae of terms and processes and
in so many places that it's nearly impossible for me to say one place
is the best over and over again.

If, however, you're asking the question to give your readers a tip on
which of Brown's coffee to buy first, I'd simply say, "Costa Rica."
It's pleasant and non-threatening/non-intimidating enough and you can
work your way onward from there.

JW: How does it feel to watch people enjoy your coffee?

AB: Do they? Oh, I hadn't noticed. :)

Honestly, it's a little embarrassing. For them, mostly, probably,
because I think I stare at them so wildly as they're about to take
their first sip that it must be a little unnerving. And obviously
it's very gratifying to see someone appreciate your work. In that
sense, however, I think I'd almost prefer to NOT be around when people
try my stuff, especially for the first time, because of the sort of
unspoken pressure to smile, nod and say something like, "Wow, this is
really, really, really great, Aaron!" when in fact it may be the most
potently powerful and unexpectedly strong cup of coffee they've ever
had and that they're not at all used to or prepared to drink all of
without adding tons of milk and sugar or water. I'd almost rather
prefer you try it on your own, and then if you like it you can tell me
later. If not...there's a lot of other coffee out there. Something's
bound to tickle your fancy.