THE FOUR PROMISES

Each batch of Bold Brew Micro Roast has the following tag:
Direct + 10% + 48Hrs + Hand = Drink Coffee Naked!

What does that mean?

I've found that even in roasting for friends, I have to constantly make critical "business" decisions: how I roast, what "brand" i want to project, what the product will be / become, and for what i want the "enterprise" to be known. In the spirit of my good buddies over at Matchstic, you realize that even in a micro-micro enterprise, you must put stakes in the ground.

- It is through these stakes that values are declared
- It is on these stakes that a house / a culture is built
- It is by the support of these stakes that customers are served and a brand is established

So what are the Four Promises of the Bold Brew?

1) DIRECT: Beans will be procured through direct trade whenever possible. Direct trade differs from Fair Trade in that it generally implies a focused, long term relationship with a group of farmers versus transacting over what can often be an arbitrary price that does nothing more than create market distortions through price-fixing. Starting out, I'm limited in my bean sources, but my commitment will be to start with at least 50% beans through direct trade, growing to 100% in 18months.

2) 10%: 10% of Profits will be reinvested into a farming community. This is above and beyond investments made as a result of a trading relationship (e.g. co-investing in better equipment, processes, or product). 10% is not a maximum, but a minimum that will be re-evaluated yearly to see how we can increase over time. It is a stake in the ground that while profits matter, giving back is a long term personal goal and reflection that life and legacy is bigger than money.

3) 48HRS: All coffee will be shipped or delivered within 48 hours of roasting. The coffee experience is highest 1 - 7 days after roasting, and your coffee roaster should deliver that experience to you. To be clear, 48 hours is a maximum -- the aspiration is that all coffee will be shipped / delivered within 4 - 12 hours after roasting.

4) HAND: All roasts will be sorted by hand before and after roasting. All beans are not equal and all roasts are not even. There's nothing worse than crunching into a rotten or an under / over roasted bean. The benefit of small batch roasting is that quality can be pushed to the highest level.

What do the Four Promises add up to? Well, to be fair, that is for the drinker to decide. For me, I've found that putting these four things together led me to re-discover coffee after 17 years of bad brews. I found delight in a naked cup and no longer needed the guise of a dollop of cream and sugar. I found that I wanted to know more about the origin of the coffee -- what made it distinct, what shaped its flavors, and who planted, picked, and prepared the beans. I found that as I enjoyed more, I was driven to know more and ultimately to do more.

Drink Coffee Naked is an aspiration -- not all want to or should want to eschew cream and sugar. But beyond how you drink the coffee, hopefully it becomes a metaphor for understanding what you are drinking and getting excited to pursue the story behind the cup.