Relationship Coffee at Vienna

I love people who really love what they do. And it’s just icing on the cake when they happen to be really good at it.

I had a comment on my first blog about the people behind our local businesses, and I thought to myself, “Who do I know that has a really cool story?” And that would be John Clark of Vienna Coffee. John started his career as a chemical engineer, and a lucky co-op placement as a student with an environmental engineer led him to do environmental work for chemical companies, a career he pursued for 27 years.

This took him to San Francisco, where he was exposed to great locally roasted coffee. He’d become a bit of a junkie during his senior year (as so many of us do), and he immersed himself in the dark-roast tradition of the West Coast.

When John moved back to East Tennessee in 1996, he searched for good coffee and didn’t find any. At this point many people would resign themselves to buying national brands from the grocery store, not buy green coffee beans through the internet and try to roast them in a popcorn popper.

Two-and-a-half ounces at a time, John learned about roasting the Orville Redenbacher way. He found a book, called Home Coffee Roasting by Kenneth Davids, which helped a lot. He began experimenting with different beans and designed a larger roaster. At one point he considered using his rotisserie, but ended up buying an old broken-down roaster from some folks in Calgary, which he rebuilt and began roasting 15 lbs of coffee at a time.

John was doing really well for a hobbyist roaster, but 15 lbs of green coffee is expensive, and he needed to fund his habit. That’s how Vienna Coffee was born: from one guy’s love and dedication to a good cup of joe. When the company became official in 2001, John and his wife were selling coffee one bag at a time to friends, family, and her colleagues at Scripps, particularly the foodies at the Food Network.

Maryville College was Vienna’s first commercial client, then Horn of Plenty picked it up and still has a wide variety of both whole-bean and drip-ground coffees (and they’ll grind it fresh for you in the store). In a serendipitous coincidence, the chef at Blackberry Farms discovered the coffee while buying produce at Horn of Plenty and started serving it in his restaurant, which brought a lot of attention and opened lots of doors.

From the very beginning, it has been one of John Clark’s primary goals to keep the company moving in a sustainable direction, and right now that means trying to shift as much of the business as possible into fair trade, organic, and shade-grown coffees. Right now that’s about ten to fifteen percent of the business, but as prices for fair trade coffee get closer to prices for conventional coffee, there’s a good chance that people will be more likely to make more sustainable decisions.

John insists that buying sustainable coffee really does make a difference. Fair-trade growers make 40 cents more per pound, which has a huge impact in their lives, and organic and shade-grown coffees don’t have the devastating effect on the growing region that conventional coffees can. In sum, that extra several dollars (if even that) clearly and measurably makes life better and healthier for other people.

The big push right now among specialty coffee roasters is for what is termed “relationship coffee,” meaning that roasters team up with the communities that produce the raw coffee and cultivate that relationship, creating a better product and a more reliable market for growers. Even Starbucks is getting on the bandwagon.

Vienna has done this with a small town in Guatemala, Santa Maria de Jesus, which is the source of its La Armonia Hermosa blend. The first-ever commercial-quality crop from that town made its way to Vienna, shepherded by some dedicated volunteers, including John’s daughter Jamie Clark and her friend Les Stoneham, who got the Clarks involved in the program in Guatemala and has been working with the growers there for years. The blend has been flying off the shelves at Vienna, so it is lucky for us all that another batch of beans to be roasted is coming in very soon.

On top of all the factual reasons to make local and sustainable buying decisions is one that is much more ephemeral: it makes us feel connected. To each other, to the guy who roasts your coffee and to the guy who grows it. When we feel connected to each other, we know that the things we do impact other people for better or worse, and I think that could be the root of a new economy as well as a new environmentalism. And the source of some damn good coffee.

P.S. the Vienna website has the most thorough directions I’ve ever seen on how to brew the best coffee possible, right down to the parts-per-million of calcium in the water.

P.P.S. If you want to try something really crazy, put a little lemon in your coffee; it really brightens up the flavor. My favorite way to drink it is about a half teaspoon of sugar and a little squeeze of lemon. I have to credit Stevo for that, though he used just a little cream with the lemon.

www.viennacoffeecompany.com – Vienna Coffee Company

www.laarmoniahermosa.com/Home.html - La Armonia Hermosa’s Website

www.scaa.org – Specialty Coffee Association of America

www.amazon.com/Home-Coffee-Roasting-Romance-Revival/dp/0312141114 Home Coffee Roasting by Kenneth Davids

1 comment:

Submitted: 2009-02-27 09:39:44

Update - Not Bars to Dance In

The Capitol Theatre is hosting dance bands on Monday nights beginning on Feb. 2. The events will be family-friendly and alcohol-free, but there will be a cost of $10 in advance or $12 at the door. It's still not the coffee-house-groove-joint envisioned by the anonymous commenter, but it's a start.

The first band, Flashback, plays soul, rock, big band swing, and Latin music.

http://www.flashbackband.org/index.html

The show will last from 7-10 p.m, with doors open at 6 p.m.

Upcoming Monday Rocks shows will feature East Tennessee band including Boys Night Out, Soul Connection, and Kafeen.

Here is the Blountopia link to the event: http://blountopia.com/index_events.php?nptSearch=monday%20rocks&x=0&y=0&m=2

2 comments:

Submitted: 2009-01-29 11:03:02

Submitted: 2009-02-15 12:37:54

Non-Bars to Dance In

I got a comment on the first blog about places for dancing or hanging out and listening to music in Blount County that are not bars. I did a lot of internet research and a lot of asking around, but I haven't been able to find any (at least on the dancing point).

There was a place like that in the 90s in the Broadway vicinity, a kind of Christian youth dance club, but it is long since gone. I found some recent talk on a message board speculating about whether such a place would be successful now, but no definite plans.

There are a number of music venues that have dancing at shows, but as far as I know they all serve alcohol.

There are regularly shows at places like the Capitol Theater and The Shed at Smoky Mountain Harley Davidson (but The Shed serves beer and food) and of course there are ticket and cover charges for that kind of performance. There is a bit of a dearth in live-music coffee-house type places in the area as well.

If anyone knows of an alcohol-free dance club or music venue in Blount County, please comment and I'll make sure it gets posted.

I'll keep looking and pass on any updates!

A New Year's Non-Resolution

“The world is not comprehensible, but it is embraceable” – Martin Buber, existentialist philosopher

About a month ago, I came across this quote in a magazine while I was on my lunch break at work. I scribbled it down on a piece of paper napkin, which is now pinned/taped to my closet door.

I decided that day that, rather than making any kind of New Year’s resolution, I would use this saying as my motto for 2009. I am a bit prone to overanalyzing, and so often that keeps me from enjoying or even fully participating in my own life. So, I resolved to pause the paralyzing search for complete comprehension and focus instead on being open to the world, as you choose to be open to (and vulnerable to) other people. That’s the plan, anyway.

In writing this, I began to wonder about the context of that quote. Lifting one-liners from philosophical texts is a sketchy business. So, thanks to Google, here is a slightly extended version.

“The world is not comprehensible, but it is embraceable: through the embracing of one of its beings.”

Buber goes on to say that we are all shaped by these interactions with other people, and that in embracing and being embraced, a person can know the world. Indeed, we only become who we are, become individuals, through a creative process of interaction with the world.

I think this is one reason that community is so valuable, and why we must go to great lengths to cultivate it: the kind of community we build, in turn, builds us. Our willingness to embrace other people in their diversity and particular beauty not only describes who we are, but makes us who we are.

In this upcoming year, we’ll have lots of opportunities as individuals and as a community to continue this creative process by supporting local businesses, nonprofits, arts groups, etc. and by doing what we can to enjoy and preserve our national park and other natural resources.

I hope all this doesn’t sound preachy, because I’m talking as much to myself as anybody. After work, I usually just want to go home and read or watch a movie. So, if I have any specific resolutions for this year, they would have to be things like going to the Farmers’ Market if I’m off work on Saturday, seeing local theater and music performances, and hiking once a week. I’ll let you know how that works out. And I would LOVE it if you would let me know how it’s working out for you.

---Emily

Here are some links…just in case you’re interested

Maryville Farmers’ Market (for when it gets warm again)

Fine Arts Blount

Blount County Chamber of Commerce

Photos: (Left) A painting of Buber by Andy Warhol. (Right) My closet door.

The Foothills 4-1-1: Blogging for Blount

  Blount County is a microcosm of all the good things in the world. Or so it seems to me (though I might be a little bit biased). We have some of the most remarkable natural beauty in the world, great local produce, a fascinating history, and a small but thriving musical and artistic community. We have an active local culture rather than a carbon-copy of prime-time suburbia, and that individuality is a part of our local spirit. That’s what this blog is about – enjoying Blount and being a part of the community. From local issues to entertainment to the best outdoor activities for the season, I’ll be your feet on the street (or on the trail).
  So, let me know what you want to read about and I’ll do my best to give it to you. Are you more interested in local government or local music? In the best river rafting or the best coffee (I have a great tip on that one, by the way, which you can expect in the next blog)? You can get in touch with me with feedback of any kind through the comments tool, or at emily@blountopia.com.

2 comments:

Submitted: 2009-01-11 12:04:51

Submitted: 2009-01-19 12:14:25