Buy Local, Buy Often

I owe a big thanks to Kimmy for providing the impetus for this post with her comment on my last entry. Kimmy wrote in response to my promotion of the idea "buy local, buy often" when it comes to purchasing coffee for your home. Basically what I said was that in my opinion, the best way to purchase coffee is in small quantities from your local roaster or coffee house on a more frequent basis to ensure freshness of coffee and sustain the social aspects of the product through interaction with your roaster or purveyor. I think Kimmy assumed that I was advocating buying coffee ONLY from local roasters which is not the case. With that said, I'm going to dive into the subject of "buy local, buy often" when it comes to purchasing coffee.

Kimmy brings up a great point when she says "no coffee is local". Spot-on Kimmy; coffee grows in a fairly tight band on either side of the equator, thus excluding 49 of the 50 United States. Barring some freak greenhouse experiment, we're not getting local coffee until we all migrate to the jungles of Brazil. So if no coffee is local then how could I possibly advocate "buy local, buy often"? I like to over-simplify this idea: There are two types of coffee buying, the kind that comes with a handshake or the kind that comes with a free can. Buying local coffee, in my opinion, means buying coffee that comes with a handshake. Once again, coffee is a social product that begs for conversation and connection so a great place to start is with the folks selling you your beans; chances are, they're fairly knowledgeable about their product.

Kimmy's other point was that buying local coffee doesn't have to mean buying locally roasted coffee. Once again, spot-on Kimmy; owning a roaster does not a great coffee make. It takes years of patient, thoughtful practice, research and constant study to develop the skill and intuitive understanding of the balance between art and science that makes a single good roast of coffee; then you have to repeat it. I understand this as well as anyone from the years I spent in front of a roaster, notebook, timer and pencil in hand. I'll never mention specific names, but I have visited places that roast coffee in this town that would be far better off buying bulk beans at Sam's Club and repackaging. On the other hand, I am a sucker for locally roasted coffee; there is no hiding that fact, but I never limit myself to such a small swath of product.

Let's consider buying coffee locally as an experience and an investment. When I buy coffee I want to have an engaging social experience centered on the product I hope to take home. For me, it is sort of like buying the record of a band I've just heard in concert. I want to feel the passion and excitement about what I'm being sold. I never pick up a bag of coffee off the shelf and slap it on the counter with my credit card. I want to taste it, talk about it, hear it's story; for me, this all comes from the guy or gal behind the counter. I will buy your expensive coffee if you actually sell me on it. Yes, it helps if you roasted the coffee yesterday. Yes, it helps if you are a locally owned and operated business. Still, to tell the truth, I've had the experience at Starbucks and I've gone home with a bag of Brazil Ipanema roasted somewhere up in PA, and you know what? It was a damn good cup of coffee.

Buy Local, Buy Often. This means treat coffee as the luxury it should be, not the commodity it often is. If coffee is just a means to a caffeinated end for you then save money and opt for the free can experience. If not, then seek out the luxury. Danny Meyer wrote that the only thing to remember in providing a memorable customer service experience is the three things you get when you're born, "a smile, a touch and some food"; that philosophy has helped him become one of the most successful restaurateurs in the country. In a sense, this is exactly what I'm looking for when I buy coffee. It is an experience, a trade between two people, in my eyes it doesn't get any more local than that.