Oct 19th 2010
Aromas are very important to me. Not only does the store need to be enveloped in interesting scents, but I love it when wine and beer have great aromatics. When you walk in to our store, I want the warmth of the wine stained wood bar to envelop the nasal passages. As you walk around the store you will smell various other subtle scents. Soy based Chardonnay candles, grape seed soap, dark chocolate and cider being poured at the bar. We might have numerous aromas, but each one is intentional. We now have a new aroma in the store. Sip…a wine store now has coffee beans. The same amount of time and selection that went into our wine choices went into our selection of coffee beans. Sip…is not just carrying some off brand of coffee; we went straight to the source. The Carrboro Coffee Company, based in Carrboro, NC of course, is a local source for custom certified organic and fair trade blends. Scott Conary and I first started talking back in late August. I had met his business partner, Elizabeth, through her husband Thomas Meunier. Thomas is a wine importer and Sip…carries a number of his labels. The first time Scott mentioned creating a custom blend of coffee for us, I was apprehensive. My main concern was the aromatics. Even though I would love to have a coffee to offer, I mean what wine fan doesn’t need a cup of coffee once in awhile, I was very concerned that the aromatics in the store would change. I want our customers to remember the smell of wine and wood, not coffee. Scott assured me this would not be a problem, so I decided I would at least discuss the possibility with him. I figured, worst case scenario, I’d get to taste some great coffee. When I first meet Scott, I knew I had to do something with him. He has an honest love and passion for coffee, supporting small farmers and supporting local business. Carrboro Coffee Company roasts coffee in small batches or as needed. I can assure you there are no stale smells or wimpy beans being used here. After roasting a small batch of beans, we started tasting and the aromas were amazing. Now we have all had coffee and sometimes you can smell spice and cocoa notes. But I smelled orange rind, cinnamon, clove, floral notes, chocolate, nutmeg, black cherry, white tobacco, earth, herbs and that was just the decaf. These were some of the most aromatic roasts I’ve ever experienced. Then we checked out the packaging and low and behold … no smell until you opened the bag. Sold…I new we could sell coffee and no one would know it unless we pointed it out. The next step was to create a custom blend. This time Scott really came through. I mentioned that I wanted a coffee that reminded me of a red wine; heady, with aromas of blackberries, black cherries, cinnamon, caramel, nutmeg and cocoa while being velvety and creamy at the same time. Four samples in and we had it. A beautiful blend of 50% French Roast and 50% Peru beans. All certified organic and fair trade. Now that is a beautiful smell. Stop by for a bag of beans for $8.99. We would love to hear what you think.
| 
| 