One Year Anniversary

One Year In

How in the heck did that happen. We are one year and two days past our first delivery to Eastside Food Coop on January 4th, 2018. It has been an absolutely whirlwind year. We've been able to accomplish a lot of what we set out to do, both from a small business side, and coffee roasting goals. Minnesota and the Twin Cities communities have been incredibly supportive, the specialty coffee community especially. We are turning people onto the wonderful flavors of light roast coffee, both through our samplings and retail partners, and our online store. This isn't a long blog post. All I want to say is that we are incredibly proud to be a Minnesota coffee roaster and we have some big things coming in 2019. We're holding on by the seat of our pants and trying to look as professional as possible while taking on new challenges every day. The only thing that remains constant and certain is that we will roast the best coffees we can source, we will strive to have coffees that meet the rigorous fair trade and organic standards, and continue to push ourselves both personally and professionally. Thank you all for your continued support. Now let's go rock out 2019

Folly Coffee Nerd Series

I'm incredibly excited about our latest rollout, the Folly Coffee Nerd Series. The Folly Coffee Nerd Series began very informally with the discussion that we would like to push the boundaries of our roasting abilities and seek out the best coffees we can get our hands on. The decision to source and roast our first batch was completely impulsive. We were just wrapping up another super fun and adrenaline rush inducing packaging session (scoop, pour, seal, repeat forever) when we received word from our importing partner, Minneapolis based Café Imports, that they received a very special microlot from the Finca Tono of the Aguilera family in Costa Rica. Part of the microlot was a fully washed Gesha. The Gesha variety of coffee is a variety that is one of the most highly regarded and creates a cup that is floral, complex, sweet, and this lot is no exception. So while we were sitting there, we were like, "Wait...should we do this?" "Which package would it go into?" "The price point is above the rest of our line". We clearly all wanted to roast and taste this coffee, so I ordered it mid-conversation. We didn't know what we were going to do with it, but we wanted to drink it, and that was enough for me.

Since then, the Costa Rica Washed Gesha inspired the Folly Coffee Nerd Series. It will be a rotating series of the finest coffee origins and varieties in the world. There will be no set timeline for when the next edition will be launched. It will occur as the first edition, spontaneously as enticing coffees become available. So enjoy this first lot, because it won't last long!

Huge shout out to Roaster Ken and Folly Jeff for profiling this bean to what it is now.

Good News keeps rolling in!

I chose the title because we have had an insanely awesome past week at Folly Coffee Roasters. I'll get right into it with the classic three question format of the Flog.

Where have we been?
This past weekend myself (Rob) and Folly Jeff rented a cargo van, loaded up the kegerator and kegs of cold brew, and headed down to Coffeefest Denver to take classes to improve ourselves as a roaster, and also to compete in America's Best Cold Brew Competition. We had never competed in any coffee related competition, so we were pretty nervous going into it, especially with so many great roasters competing.

After 13 hours there, we crashed at an Airbnb Thursday night and woke up bright and early to get registered and to take a few classes on direct sourcing, packaging trends, among others. Then we had our first round of the potential three round tournament. After 40 minutes of sampling attendees, the session ended and we learned later that day we advanced! We went out that night with a bunch of fellow coffee nerds and checked out Denver's amazing scene, but it was a mega early night from a severe cold brew crash.

The next morning, we took two more classes and had our next round. We thought it was another 40 minute round, but turns out it was an hour and a half. My voice gave out part way through and Jeff took over. We get to the end of the session and realize we are running very low on the 5 gallons of cold brew we brought to the competition. If we advance, we don't have enough samples to get through another full session. We ask the organizer if it's okay if we only have enough samples for the judges, "The attendees vote is the judges' tie breaker, so if you don't have cold brew for them you forfeit any chance at a tiebreaker, and you advanced so you should figure out a plan" That's how we figured out we advanced. Excitement and joy followed by immediate panic. We brought coffee to cold brew and Minnesota spring water to brew with, but I forgot our 5 gallon cold brewer. Long story short, someone from DaVinci syrups let's us borrow theirs and Ben and Curtis from Ink! Coffee Company let us use one of their cafes to brew! It was amazing! So we got another batch brewing that afternoon.

The final day we load up the cargo van, keg up the cold brew at the Ink! Coffee café, and head to the convention center. The final round was the final four. It was the longest 40 minutes ever. Shortly after they announce the results....we placed 3rd overall and 1st place for the People's Choice (attendee votes). I'd be lying if I said I didn't want first, but to place 3rd at America's Best Cold Brew competition with the first keg of cold brew we have ever kegged is pretty incredible to me.

It was a weekend full of amazing people and drastic overcaffeination through cold brew. We learned some great things that we are going to take home with us and you will see us roll out soon!

Where are we now?
We're back from Denver, and the good news didn't stop there. Yesterday, Coffeereview.com posted their monthly coffee review, this time on African Great Lakes coffees. Over 100 coffees were submitted for review, and Folly Coffee Winer placed #5 overall with a rating of 92, an "exceptional" rating. Basically, for you non-coffee nerds, anything over 90 is reedonkalus. The Winer right now is the Burundi Bwayi and it is nothing short of spectacular.

We are back to whatever normal is, and I just got back from a solid packaging session with Folly Jeff.

Where are we going?
We have some cool events coming up, the biggest being the Wayzata Art Experience June 23rd and 24th. We will be slinging hot and cold brew, as well as whole bean bags for sale. The event is expected to bring in over 10,000 people, so it should be crazy and an awesome way to support local artists.

Keep an eye out early July for the launch of the 4th Folly Coffee in our lineup (so ominous and mysterious, brings me chills <====THAT'S A HINT)

Folly Jeff and I utilized the 13 hour drive home to discuss anything and everything coffee. We are going to be investing back into Folly very shortly to bring our coffee game to an even higher level than it already is. We aren't happy with just making good coffee and continue as we are. We want to pursue the best we can be and put not only Folly, but Minnesota on the coffee map. WOO!

-Folly Rob

May is upon us

Hello! May is finally upon us and it is finally getting warm. A lot has happened since the last Flog, so I'll get right into it.

Where have we been?
Some major stuff has happened recently. We successfully funded our Kickstarter to fund a commercial cold brewing system as well as a cold brew kegerator, so we are now able to do cold brew on tap at events, weddings, any place someone wants a delicious single origin cold brewed Folly Coffee. We launched in 20 of the Lunds & Byerly's throughout the Twin Cities metro area and it has made us extremely busy. Busy enough to bring on a new team member, Folly Jeff! I met Jeff at Eastside Food Coop. He's extremely passionate about coffee and off the bat will be helping with packaging, events, samplings and any other place we need an extra hand. He has a very good palette and will be a welcome addition in evaluating our coffees that go to market.

Where are we now?
We have experienced rapid growth over the last couple months, and as a response we are slowing things down to make sure we are taking care of all of our retail partners. The coffee is on the shelf, now we need to get the people to now it is there! We are sampling every weekend, which has been very well received and are exploring all avenues of raising awareness of our amazingness in a bag. I'm super pumped about the roasts we have been releasing to market and may be drinking most of it myself at this point

Where are we going?
Despite slowing down, we are continuing to push our creativity and always look forward. Within the next month, we will be launching another Folly Coffee perfect for the summer that I couldn't be more excited for. The Kenya Gichereri that is currently the Winer is just about to run out and will be replaced by an insanely wonderful Burundi Bwayi (you heard it here first!). This one has an amazing juicy acidity with some light herbal notes creating an insanely complex cup of coffee. We are also tapping a limited release collaboration with Waconia Brewing Co, a Chocolate Coffee Golden Ale, at New Bohemia Uptown on Friday, May 18th at 6pm so come try some beer and coffee and grab some free swag from the Waconia Brew Co team. It's hard to tell where we are going, but as long as we roast amazing coffee and do what is best for our customers, I have to think it will work in some fashion. Off to sleep as I'm beginning to hallucinate scenes from the Beatles Strawberry Fields.

Almost April??

I took a second and was thinking, oh jeez it's been a couple weeks since I've Flogged I should probably get on that. The last Flog was 6 WEEKS AGO?? What the heck is going on. Time is flying in a very good way. Onto the Flog.

Where have we been?

We have been figuring out what the weekly routine is of Folly Coffee Roasters. We are beginning to find a rhythm, and a big part of that is our amazing retail partners. We continue to find great new partners throughout the Twin Cities (and Rochester, where I'm currently writing this, wudup Cafe Steam?). Basically, our time is spent weekly on roasting, packaging, and sampling. The samplings have been a great learning experience finding out what tastes people pull from our different coffee and to see that lightbulb flicker on when someone tastes a lightly roasted Folly Coffee that has flavors they don't expect from a coffee. The feedback ranges all the way from, "Are there people who actually like this?" to "Whoa, this is unlike anything I've ever tasted!". My personal favorite was, "This actually tastes like what you say it tastes like." I think people are so used to marketing type descriptors and flavors in coffee that don't actually show up when brewed they are surprised when the House Bean has a fruit aroma and flavor, or the Winer finishes with a wine-like acidity. LOVE IT! 

Where are we now?

We are waiting on some big news from some key meetings held recently. I can't really talk more about it until we know for sure, but stay tuned on the 'gram and other social media platforms and you will hopefully hear some exciting news soon. 

We are also in the final days of our Kickstarter campaign to fund a cold brewing system and kegerator and it is going to come down to the WIRE. We are 2/3 of the way through (3 days left) and 66% funded. For those that are math people, those are the same amounts. Craziness. 

Shamless link plug here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1770715657/minnesota-craft-cold-brew-on-tap-folly-coffee-roas?ref=user_menu

Where are we going?

I call this time "keep head above water" mode. Manage the chaos and learn as we go. Basically, as long as we continue to taste every batch to ensure the best beans are going to market, and continue to partner with awesome retailers who share the same values, I believe this can only continue to go in an awesome direct. That, and a distinct lack of sleep. THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR SUPPORT SO FAR. It has been a delicious, exhausting, awesome experience and I am nercited for the future.

FAFQ (Frequently Asked Folly Questions)

FAFQ

In our short one month life span as a (legitimate) coffee roasting business, I've already noticed similar questions asked of me while sampling, delivering coffee, free form jazzercising etc., so I decided to do a Flog post to answer some of the most common questions I hear in the very simple form of Q and A. Give me a shout if one of these doesn't answer a question you may have about Folly or coffee in general!

Q: Where is your cafe located?

A: We are a wholesale coffee roaster, which means we don't have a cafe or storefront. We roast and deliver our coffee to retail partners including co-ops, grocery stores, cafes, and even a home and linen store (wudup Highcroft in Wayzata??). I'm trying to think of a new phrase for wholesale coffee roaster that encapsulates what we do better because right now it sounds like we're roasting mega sized discount batches of cheap coffee....wholesale coffee roaster...bleh

Q: I haven't heard of you before, when did you start?

A: January 5th. Folly's a baby!

Q: Silver Lake?

A: It's an hour west of Minneapolis. Hop on highway 7, fly through Shorewood, if you hit Hutchinson you've gone too far. Blink and you'll pass right by it.

Q: So what's different about Folly Coffee?

A: Instead of striving for optimal consistency so our coffees taste the same throughout the year and anywhere you drink it, we highlight the differences between beans and batches by profiling every bean differently and constantly rotating the origins. We buy some of the best beans on the market, and to over-roast these beans for the sake of consistency would be a tragedy! 

Q: So does that mean it's a light roast or a dark roast?

A: We intentionally do not label our roasts on a scale of light to dark. We believe each bean has an optimal level of roast that brings out the most natural flavor of these high end beans without covering it up with the roast flavors, think burnt, charcoal, bitter etc. But, so I don't completely dodge his question, our beans are on the light end of the coffee roasting spectrum because this is where the best flavors and aromas are exposed. (For all you coffee nerds, we never reach second crack in the roast, dropping before 1-2 minutes after first crack depending on the origin and desired flavor profile).

Q: So what bean is the (insert House Bean, Classic Jo, or Winer here)?

A: We rotate our single origin beans based on the freshest coffee crops of the year and rotate. To find out the origin of the bean in the bag now, head to the folly site at www.follycoffee.com under the "Roasting Calendar" tab to read all about the current origin. The House Bean always has fruit forward beans, the Classic Jo has traditional flavors of nuttiness and chocolate, and the Winer has beans that complex and acidic like a good glass of wine. (Don't worry, if you asked me this in person I would also tell you the current origin...I'm not a robot)

Q: Where can I find it?

A: We are at a growing number of co-ops, grocery stores, cafes, and other retail partners that are updated weekly on the site at www.follycoffee.com under the "Where to find Folly" tab. (If your favorite store or cafe doesn't carry it, let them know!! Most stores don't know about us yet and any help to introduce them to the Folly deliciousness is greatly appreciated!!)

Q: This is whole bean....how do I brew this?

A: There are a number of fantastic brewing methods, but each one has a few key components that you need. A good grinder and a brewing mechanism. I have noticed a lot of people grinding their beans at grocery stores and refilling their coffee bags, which is a very easy way to do the first step. If you're looking to invest in a grinder, make sure you're buying a burr grinder to get good, consistent grinds. Any brewer that you're using coffee grinds will do, but there are methods that will produce a great cup of jo (I will do an entire separate post on brewing, but the easiest, most cost effective way to get a great cup is definitely French Press.)

Folly's Zero Carbon Footprint

It has been a crazy whirlwind since we launched full of awesomeness, sprinkle in stress, and a lot of delicious coffee. The format of this post is going to be slightly different because I want to highlight something really cool I discovered recently about our roasting facility in Silver Lake, so I'm just going to give quick hits about the launch after that.

Zero Carbon Footprint?
Ken and I were having a discussion about sustainability at the Silver Lake roasting facility. I had been doing some research into businesses operating with a zero carbon footprint or even a carbon negative footprint. To sum it up sloppily, a zero carbon footprint means that your emissions and energy usage are made up by use of sustainable energy. In the discussion, I brought up how amazing it would be to get the roastery operating at a zero or negative carbon. In one of the many things that makes Roaster Ken the best he says, "We are carbon negative."

I knew the solar panels Ken installed produced electricity, and I knew he used geothermal energy to heat and cool the roasting facility, but in the tornado of preparing for the open, I had never learned the details of energy usage. In Lamen's terms, between the electricity produced by solar energy and the heating capability of the geothermal energy, the only component creating any emissions output is the gas that powers the roaster. However, the energy produced through gas power is offset by the sustainable solar and geothermal power. The geothermal energy is so efficient that it is used to heat/cool Roaster Ken's house and still has enough energy for the roastery. Ken doesn't get an electricity bill, he gets an electricity check! Now for Roaster Ken's technical description below:

"Well, there are a couple ways to look at it.  You could say that the whole roastery electric power comes from grid connected solar panels.  Or the one I like is that the solar array is a Qualified Facility for generating a peak of 22.5 kilowatts of A.C. power back to the grid.  The roaster consumes far more b.t.u. of electric power than it uses in L.P. gas.

The Geothermal Energy coupled with a water to water heat pump is used to do heating and air conditioning and uses 2 to 3 times less electrical power than electrical resistance heating. Currently it is for Ken and Ani's home heating but has enough left over capacity to be used as an even more efficient means to heat and cool the roastery.  You might also mention that any use of geothermal energy allows for more solar energy to go back to the grid.  This whole property has a minus power consumption. It is a lot more complicated than what 99 percent of the population has."

Where have we been?
We launched! Holy smokes! We are currently in 6 stores throughout the Twin Cities with another 4 partners coming on board this week. Keep up with all the locations on the website under the banner link "Where to Find Folly". We seek out partners that focus on quality first and emphasize local businesses. I have been sampling like crazy, so keep an eye out for one of your local stores. Feedback on the coffees have been positive, which is very exciting to see others sharing in our excitement of the roasts. Also, we just did an awesome collaboration with LynLake Brewery and Sssdude-nutz donuts. LynLake infused three of their beers with Folly Coffee and Sssdude-nutz made some killer donuts and we did some pop-ups yesterday. It was amazing!

Where are we now?
It feels like I'm simply managing the chaos, riding the wave, however you want to phrase it. I'm finding organization to be key to keeping everything running smoothly, especially with coffee ordering and roasting. Basically learning on the fly to be honest...

Where are we going? 
Keep an eye out today at noon for a cool announcement of a collaboration with another local roaster. Collaborations are rarely seen in coffee because it is such a competitive industry, so this is a truly unique launch. I continue to seek out partners with the same emphasis on quality, so if you know any stores, hit me up! or let them know!!