What a crazy weekend! When I was in my younger years, I was a much larger football-playing type person, and for fun I competed in a couple strongman competitions because they looked fun on TV. Fast forward (and rewind) to a little over a few months ago, I had just formed the LLC for Folly Coffee, I had just met roaster Ken, and I was eager to get our first event on the calendar to have something tangible to work towards. An old friend of mine, Super Steve, convinced me to do another strongman competition, this time at my now lighter weight class, and I found one in Stoughton, WI, "Feats of Strength". I noticed from last year's competition they had sponsors, and I reached out to the organizer and nicest guy ever, Jimmy Brooks, and he said it would be awesome to have a coffee sponsor and tent for the event. So, there's the backstory on how Folly Coffee's first ever coffee tent event ended up at a strongman competition in the middle of Wisconsin.
Where have we been?
I, along with best buddies Big Jake and Paul F, got back near midnight Saturday night after slinging hot coffee all day at the strongman competition. I also competed in said competition, and it may or may not have been in full costume (stay tuned to Instagram for the pictures), lifting heavy things dressed as, but not limited to, Paul Bunyan and a panda. It was exciting to see so many people try specialty coffee for the very first time and love it! We had our natural process Ethiopian Yirgacheffe that has the wonderful blueberry chocolate notes (AVAILABLE FOLLYCOFFEE.COM *SHAMELESS PROMOTION) available both cold brewed and french pressed, but seeing as how it was 45 degrees and raining, the hot coffee was the *ahem* hot ticket item.
Where are we now?
As for the roasting facility, we finished construction on the necessary wall last Monday, and all that is left is to install a hand washing sink (purchased) and utility sink (about to be purchased). After those are installed, we will schedule an inspection from the Department of Agriculture and we should be cleared for retail!
Where are we going?
We're getting antsy to begin selling at retail, and have some local places on board for Folly Coffee. It is admittedly stressful not knowing an exact date, but we are moving with urgency to get things done. In the meantime, stay tuned to the website as I am working on what should be a sweet holiday brewing package, as well as a new hat due to requests outside of what we currently have. As always, feel free to reach out with ideas or just to see what's up!
Monday, October 16, 2017
Thursday, October 5, 2017
Blog Post 10/5
“Overextended”
Where have we been
I always hate to admit it, but sometimes I take on too much at once. My eyes get too big for my stomach and I put way too much on my plate that is my calendar. In this case, much of it was not coffee related *GASSSP. Within the last week I was the co-best man in a wedding of one of my best friends (yes co-best man is a thing), continued building of the roaster wall needed for our wholesale license, drove to St. Louis to help a special someone move, and worked my other job as a barista. Hence, the blog post is late, I’m overcaffeinated, and hallucinating slightly. One of the major things that keeps me going besides the constant pursuit of roasting the best coffee is the excitement of those who bought coffee during the pre-sale. So far the feedback has been great and my heart is warmed.
Where we are now
If you follow us on the socials, you know that our roaster wall is no longer see through! During a pretty amazing thunderstorm, we put in a solid 9 hours in the build on Monday. Running on Folly Ethiopian Yirgacheffe (brewed with Aeropress) and Ken’s wife’s amazing cooking, we finished the interior wood frame and cut/hung the metal siding to one side of the wall. The space is starting to look like a real life roaster! Our online store will remain in full operation during the build, with the Ethiopian Yirgacheffe still available for purchase as well as our full lineup of merch (www.follycoffee.com to peep da goods).
Where we are going
We hope to add the finishing touches to the wall with insulation and the other metal siding, as well as caulk and seal the wall. After that, Ken is going to install a bathroom, we get an inspection from the state, and (in theory) we are good to go! Once this happens, we can go to retailers to carry our light roasted amazingness and get the coffee to the incredibly kind, friendly, and slightly passive aggressive in an endearing kind of way Minnesotans!!! Timing is TBD based on the inspection. Stay tuned to the socials @follycoffee to keep up with the news.
-Rob
-Rob
First Ever Flog Post!
Flog Post 9/22/17
Welcome to the first ever Folly Coffee Roasters blog post. I’m new to the blogging thing, so I’ve decided to make a format to these weekly posts that should help to keep the scatter brained patterns of thought in line. Every week I’ll answer three questions. Where have we been? Where are we now? And where are we going? It’s a quick check-in each week to keep you in the know and to show you what we have going on. I will likely have a smattering of random posts as well as topics arrive. Since I have no idea what I’m doing with blogging, it really is the feedback of you, the #deliciouspeople to let me know what you want to hear about. So, onto the blog!
Where have we been?
Super hyper fast summary of the inception and creation of Folly Coffee (expanded version coming soon to the website). This guy (me, Rob) falls in love with specialty coffee, leaves job of four years selling craft beer to start coffee roaster, moves back home to Minnesota and into parents’ basement, meets talented coffee roaster at farmer’s market (Ken!), partners with said roaster, and Folly Coffee Roasters is born! Roasting our coffee on a rebuilt Diedrich IR-12 roaster from the 80s, we want to bridge the gap between the specialty coffee world and the drinker of the everyday cup of jo with delicious, single origin light roasted coffee.
Where are we now? It is the Friday after the closing of the presale Friends, Family, and Followers launch, and I am overwhelmed with the support we received with the launch. The excitement is palpable and it energizes me to keep working hard to keep Folly moving forward! The naturally processed Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Adado Shara is tasting amazing and I can’t wait for everyone to try it. Currently, we have our cottage license allowing us to sell directly to you, the #deliciouspeople, but in order to sell to retail (co-ops, grocery stores, cafes, restaurants etc.) we need our wholesale food manucfacturer license. In order to get this license, we need to build a wall in our roasting facility that separates the roasting area from our loading dock, as well as install a utility sink.
Where are we going? Luckily, Ken knows how to build everything and I am good at picking stuff up and hammering stuff so, as anyone who follows us @follycoffee on FB, Insta, or Twitter knows, we are doing it ourself. We are hoping to have the wall built and sink installed with the next weekish or so, then reaching out to the MN Department of Agriculture to get inspected and licensed! From there, we will hit the ground running and get #funcoffee to the #deliciouspeople of Minnesota and beyond!! I am currently writing this on a plane to Philly for a wedding of a college friend where I will be checking out a couple Philly specialty coffee staples, ReAnimator Coffee and Elixr Coffee and getting their feedback on our beans.
Welcome to the first ever Folly Coffee Roasters blog post. I’m new to the blogging thing, so I’ve decided to make a format to these weekly posts that should help to keep the scatter brained patterns of thought in line. Every week I’ll answer three questions. Where have we been? Where are we now? And where are we going? It’s a quick check-in each week to keep you in the know and to show you what we have going on. I will likely have a smattering of random posts as well as topics arrive. Since I have no idea what I’m doing with blogging, it really is the feedback of you, the #deliciouspeople to let me know what you want to hear about. So, onto the blog!
Where have we been?
Super hyper fast summary of the inception and creation of Folly Coffee (expanded version coming soon to the website). This guy (me, Rob) falls in love with specialty coffee, leaves job of four years selling craft beer to start coffee roaster, moves back home to Minnesota and into parents’ basement, meets talented coffee roaster at farmer’s market (Ken!), partners with said roaster, and Folly Coffee Roasters is born! Roasting our coffee on a rebuilt Diedrich IR-12 roaster from the 80s, we want to bridge the gap between the specialty coffee world and the drinker of the everyday cup of jo with delicious, single origin light roasted coffee.
Where are we now? It is the Friday after the closing of the presale Friends, Family, and Followers launch, and I am overwhelmed with the support we received with the launch. The excitement is palpable and it energizes me to keep working hard to keep Folly moving forward! The naturally processed Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Adado Shara is tasting amazing and I can’t wait for everyone to try it. Currently, we have our cottage license allowing us to sell directly to you, the #deliciouspeople, but in order to sell to retail (co-ops, grocery stores, cafes, restaurants etc.) we need our wholesale food manucfacturer license. In order to get this license, we need to build a wall in our roasting facility that separates the roasting area from our loading dock, as well as install a utility sink.
Where are we going? Luckily, Ken knows how to build everything and I am good at picking stuff up and hammering stuff so, as anyone who follows us @follycoffee on FB, Insta, or Twitter knows, we are doing it ourself. We are hoping to have the wall built and sink installed with the next weekish or so, then reaching out to the MN Department of Agriculture to get inspected and licensed! From there, we will hit the ground running and get #funcoffee to the #deliciouspeople of Minnesota and beyond!! I am currently writing this on a plane to Philly for a wedding of a college friend where I will be checking out a couple Philly specialty coffee staples, ReAnimator Coffee and Elixr Coffee and getting their feedback on our beans.
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