He who finds a good roaster finds a good thing. A coffee roaster, that is. Believe it or not, the coffee bean is a fragile thing. (I’m such a poet and I know it) any step along the road from seed to cup can effect the bean in either a positive or negative way. Making it imperative to choose a roaster that will deal delicately with the fragile little bean. This is why we chose Alliance World Coffees. *Note the thumbs up and cheesy grin.
I’ve mentioned a little bit about Alliance previously; they’re a business that runs from interns at a Missionary
Alliance Church–and yes, that is where they got the name Alliance World Coffees, you’re so smart. The goals are mainly to give students an opportunity to get their hands involved in a quality business, teaching them skills that will help them to remain on their feet through college, as opposed to floundering around trying to figure out just how many ways you can cook Ramen. All the while, teaching the interns involved various biblical principles. Genius. College kids + extra classes = COFFEE. They can’t go wrong.
And these college kids? Shiite coffee drinkers. I was surprised to not find them jittery during our training session we had a week ago. It’s impressive at the information they are able to spit out. The perfect timing of the roaster. The perfect latte art. And here you thought I was a coffee snob–HA!
Alliance has two big sides to the coffee side of the business: the roasting of the bean and the training of the Barista (here’s where I’m getting to your question Kristen and Sarah!) Both facets they take seriously. Sending out interns to coffee expo’s. Competing in Barista contests. You know, all the uber nerdy things. For coffee shops/houses/kiosks/what-have-you, they offer training free of charge (mind you, you are purchasing your beans from AWC.) For the new entrepreneur or possibly home Barista–that’s you Kristen!–they offer a “school” called The Coffee Institute. This is an “as much as six days” school offering super in-depth training in everything from the business of coffee to the actual Barista training. It can be a little pricey, but the information is definitely worth it. *Again, note thumbs up and cheesy grin.
AWC also offers “cuppings” (fancy pants word for coffee tasting…like a wine tasting, you follow?) Cuppings are really fun to attend. When you’re taught how to try different coffees and what the different regions of the world offer…it’s like caffeinated love…and you come out looking like a genius, literally a genius. For those Hoosiers–what the heck is a Hoosier?–out there, I believe AWC offers cuppings every Thursday. By the way, a Hoosier is the proper nickname of someone from Indiana, and no, not even they know what the word means. I bet there’s a lot of other roasters out there that offer cuppings as well, so if you’re not from Indiana, don’t despair. Just go ask at that little shop that you’ve been going to. And if we’re going with the cafe education theme, you’re going to look so smart I bet the Barista falls over in awe of your coffee knowledge.
If you are EVER in Indiana for ANY reason, and you claim to love coffee, stop at Alliance. First, you’ll feel like complete scum for even thinking about pressing the “cappuccino” button at the gas station. Then you’ll get over it. And you’ll think you’re in heaven because of the glorious smell coming from that wood stove shaped machine in the corner. Take the opportunity to explore the shop a little. Ask questions. Smell the freshly roasted beans coming out of the roaster. And YES, if you’re nice, they might just make you a cup.
Oh, and one last little thing. I do know that you can order awc coffee online. Even better, I happen to know that they roast the beans to order, and ship them the same day they roast them. Fresh beans to your door….mmmm nothing like it. *One last thumbs up and cheesy grin for good measure.
That is awesome. I really wish I would of went with you guys to learn that awesome STUFF.
I’m really impressed by AWC. Well, knowing that He-brews buys from them that they must be good.. But to see why and how they are soo good its really cool
Awesome dOOd!
Sounds like a great organization.
Coffee roasting is very tricky isn’t it? There is a coffee shop here in town (we have several of them) that has their own roaster, but the coffee always taste burned.
Once again, thank you for educating us.
~Lavanna Martin
I want to know if you know how to make that cool little design shown on the opening page of the coffee institute web sight. great stuff. I wish I was a coffee snob. *sigh*