When did you learn to love coffee? Not the buzz that kept you awake through hours of late night studying or the morning wakeup cup but the way coffee lingers after the last sip? Coffee ‘cuppers’ call this the finish. I call it making the experience last just a little longer.
My real journey into coffee-love began when I was at college in Boston. I spent hours in coffee cafes in the Back Bay, Beacon Hill and Cambridge drinking little cups of expresso, cafe au laits, lattes and coffee plain and simple.
Recently I had the pleasure of joining Malika Bowling, Atlanta Restaurants Blog/Association of Food Bloggers on a private tour of coffee roasters’ Batdorf & Bronson’s Westside Atlanta factory. (I love touring factories!) Coffee-passionate, coffee-knowlegeable Ren Doughty was the perfect host and guide.
While we sipped on fresh brewed coffee Ren told us the backstory and explained the culture of Batdorf & Bronson. The company, launched in 1986 by a couple of coffee-passionate hippies – Dick Batdorf and Sharon Bronson – in Olympia Washington. The Atlanta roastery/factory opened in Atlanta in 1994. Batdorf and Bronson definitely have ‘beans’ in the growing Atlanta coffee landscape game.
Coffee is sourced from around the world, roasted to order and packaged by hand. Elvis provides rockin’ quality control.
Watching the Batdorf & Bronson baristas up close as they made perfect latte art for us was a special treat; and more coffee to taste for us!
Ren debunked a few coffee myths
- Never refrigerate or freeze coffee since moisture may occur
- It’s okay to have your coffee ground by the roaster, in fact it may be better for the beans since a typical home blade grinder may not give you an even grind.
- Most coffee tastes best 24-48 hours after the initial roast because degassing
Batdorf & Bronson sells to the trades but they also sell direct to consumer from their eCommerce page. In addition you can enjoy their coffee at the Dancing Goats Coffee Bars in Olympia and Atlanta.
The Batdorf & Bronson tour, coffee samples and cool mug were complimentary as part of a blogger influencer program affiliated with Association of Food Bloggers . All opinions are those of the author.
