“It seems like most people walking out the door have a smile on their face, and that’s really all I want. A feel-good experience.”

Tami Mizrahi, Co-Owner of Goddess and the Baker

With seven locations all across the city, it seems that most people have heard of The Goddess. Starting off as a catering company and morphing into an empire, The Goddess Restaurant Group now includes four Goddess and the Grocer locations in addition to three locations of the spin-off concept known as Goddess and the Baker. So The Goddess is kind of a big deal. 

“I think there’s always an excitement about it. I think people are happy to come in and treat themselves, get a coffee, get a sweet, get a sandwich or salad and have it be good…But also not take ourselves so seriously. Just trying to have fun with it,” says Tami.

Muffins, cookies, almond croissants, and the signature multilayered rainbow cake fill out the front case while the menu overhead boasts an array of sandwiches, salads, soups, coffees. Wine, beer, and cocktails round out this somewhat amazing selection of foods and beverages. Everything is baked and prepared by Goddess bakers, and local artisans like Metric Coffee make appearances as well. They offer regular drip coffee, but also Chemex and V60 brews that require a little more patience and attention.  It’s just one example of the elevated approach that Goddess and the Baker takes in serving downtown Chicago. 

Goddess and the Baker brings forth a cafe culture of craft and friendliness. It’s a space designed for the feel-goods, ingredients that fulfill that promise, and a staff that provides it. It’s pretty much guaranteed that something will strike your fancy immediately when you walk in, but in case you can’t make up your mind, we recommend starting out with the coffee.

“Our work definitely comes from a place of honest enthusiasm. It’s what we do for a living. ”

Matty Eggleston, Co-Owner/Managing Partner of Spilt Milk Tavern

Matty Eggleston is a big fan of an underrated word in the world of business and barrooms: “we.” The trio that makes up Equal Parts Hospitality, LLC is Matty, Tony Selna, and Jason Turley. Each comes from a background in service, and have worked with one another off and on for years leading up to Spilt Milk Tavern’s opening in late 2016.

“It was just nice for us to find a way to have a place of our own, a place to hang our hats,” says Matty. 

A partnership helmed by Jason Freiman of Footman Hospitality eased the technical aspects in getting Spilt Milk Tavern up and running. Once a derelict space at the corner of California and Fullerton, renovation efforts of Beyer Built created what is now a beautifully restored version of what it once was, a classic Chicago corner bar. Inside, a rich, textured, yet comfortable aesthetic imbues the space due to the vision of Alice Hanson and the design work of Boone Interiors. A vast bar stretches across the room, and the back bar is full of beautiful bottles of everything known and unknown.

“We’re definitely a dark kind of getaway bar,” says Matty. “The service is genuine, warm, and friendly. We lucked out in that arena because we have a team that is able to do that. It’s a small staff, but it’s the most important part.”

Chicago corner bars are places folks can become enveloped in. Places a person can get their usual, or feel relaxed enough to try something new. A place to meet a friend and share a tab. Spilt Milk Tavern’s menu is one tailored to its audience, and popular demand has dictated a menu of accessible, well-crafted cocktails (including the “Frozen Coffee” cocktail featuring Hellion Cold Brew alongside delicious boozy elements). A unique selection of local and national beers plus a wine menu that is well-curated and inviting supplement this diverse and balanced menu. But like any project among passionate individuals, plenty of fine-tuning occurs along the way. 

“It’s cool for all of us to be jumping in and tinkering with it, tuning it up and making plans for it. Looking at it from the bigger picture is kind of fun. You constantly have to focus in real tight and ask what works,” says Matty.

In the spirit of the bigger picture, Spilt Milk is working to expand its perimeter to include a patio (up and running by mid-August 2017), and in the more distant future, a full kitchen for food service. 

In the cases of Spilt Milk Tavern and Metric Coffee, the overwhelming perspective seems to be that people matter. Customers, partners, friends and peers. The human element, the beautiful and ultimate “we,” is what truly breathes life into a space, and what makes a venture worth pursuing.

“The truth of the matter is, if you know a thing or two about connecting with people, chances are you will get to work with people that will make positive contributions to the buying process.”

Xavier Alexander, Co-Owner of Metric Coffee

Being able to connect with people and discuss what about each coffee is preferred or less-than-preferable allows true collaboration (and calibrations) to take place. Importers can understand what coffees might suit your needs. When buyers are cupping at the farm level, producers can present lots that are more to a buyer’s specifications, and get buyers to bid for the most alluring coffees on the table. When organic relationships grow into partnerships, there can be a beautiful exchange of information that can help both sides develop their coffee knowledge. 

There are two major methods in purchasing coffee: Buying spot coffees, and buying direct. Buying spot coffees, or coffees that have already been imported and are resting in a warehouse in the States, is something that is pretty common among small- and large-scale coffee roasters. 

“Most folks, especially in the beginning, can’t dole out thousands of dollars to build relationships at the farm level, which is why it is industry standard to seek out reputable importers for quality green,” says Xavier. 

Quality spot coffees, those that score well above specialty coffee’s minimum of 80, exist in abundance via big-name importers, and working closely with professionals who import those coffees is a sustainable way to get a roasting business off the ground.

The other way to buy green coffee is direct trade, or working with farmers and producers to taste and purchase coffees. This typically results in a financial benefit towards the farmers, and a quality and personal benefit towards the buyer.

“The best moment is tasting a cup from a producer no one has ever heard of and the flavors are magical and isn’t committed to another roaster,” says Xavier. 

After locking down a great coffee, a buyer like Xavier will start working on determining a price. Often, a fair deal is what can make the difference between continuing to grow coffee, or being forced to sell the land of pursue some other crop. It can mean that the farmers are able to send their kids to school, that a family can eat a little more, or can simply invest in themselves. It is not to be forgotten that farming is not an easy or high-paying job. It is difficult and often the best way for folks to live in objectively less-affluent regions than where buyers tend to hail from. Ideally, in paying higher prices for a luxury beverage like coffee, companies can unite under the ideal of doing everything possible to pay as much as possible, and to raise the quality of life for all humans involved. 

“The single biggest reason why buying directly, knowing the dollar amount that lands in the producer’s pocket, matters is because you know without a doubt that producer isn’t operating at a loss that year which often happens when producers are paid commodity pricing,” says Xavier. “The term ‘Direct Trade,’ while somewhat loosely defined, is still the way our industry, collectively should strive to accomplish buying,” says Xavier. “To me, Direct Trade means paying a higher price for quality coffee and knowing the producers by name.” 

For Xavier, everything returns to the importance of building relationships. From personal partnerships within large-scale importing entities like Ally and Olam, to friendships with farmers like Juan Carlos Chen in Guatemala or Denis Enamorado Moreno in Honduras, buying great coffee involves a commitment to understanding one another, and to hopefully mutually benefit from that understanding. Buying coffee is an exchange of resources, but it is so much more than that. It’s educational, it’s a growing experience. It’s respect and understanding and compassion coming forth in unexpected ways. It’s an experience worth having, worth remembering, and worth sharing.

“The real treat is finding coffees that are unique and colorful which I know our customers will love and also the story tied to those coffees. That is, in my opinion, the epitome of relationship coffee.”

Xavier Alexander, Co-Owner of Metric Coffee 

After a coffee cherry is picked and processed, it needs to be tasted, purchased, and exported. As we continue the journey that coffee makes from farm to cup, we pass through a very important stage that represents the bridge between those two shores: sourcing great coffee. In an effort to demystify what goes into this step, Xavier Alexander, Co-Owner of Metric Coffee offered his insight and perspective. Xavier has traveled to the likes of Colombia, Guatemala, and Honduras during his coffee-seeking travels. Here is a quick summary of what the sourcing and buying process entails from start to finish for a small company like Metric Coffee according to Xavier Alexander:

“Metric Coffee has several relationships that we have forged over the years with producers in Colombia, Guatemala, Peru, and Ethiopia, so once the harvest season is in motion, we visit these countries, cup early harvest samples of our coffees, and approve or reject which coffees we are interested in purchasing. We also build blender lots according to our desired flavor profile. After that, we wait a few months until we receive the pre-shipment samples that are cupped and approved or denied before contracts are drafted. Once our coffees are selected, our importer handles the financing and logistics for these coffees and sends them directly to our closest point of contact which in our case in New Jersey.”

After the coffee arrives in New Jersey, the palates stacked high with burlap sacks of coffee are put on a freight train across the country and arrives in Chicago. It’s loaded onto a truck and delivered to 2021 W. Fulton, unloaded with a palate jack, and rolled victoriously into our roasting works.  This is the nutshell version. But let’s rewind, and start with what occurs when a buyer travels to origin. 

At Origin

Mornings can include a hearty yet simple meal followed by cupping coffees. Farm visits involve hiking the hills and valleys where the coffee grows, and visiting with the folks who run the mill. Perhaps there is yet more coffee tasting. Often enough, there are shared meals with producers, hospitality that is always unique yet somehow surprisingly familiar. We’re all just a bunch of humans, after all. If a buyer is not totally exhausted, the night life may have something worth exploring, a local bar or restaurant worth visiting. 

“Besides finding that perfect coffee, my favorite moments are after the cuppings when we go try the local fare,” says Xavier.

But tomorrow promises more hard treks in the mountains, a few mysterious bug bites, endless cupping tables, and long discussions about coffee and pricing. The trip will ideally end with handshakes all around, and perhaps the promise of samples to come. Sourcing coffee requires a great deal of communication, not to mention a firm basis of coffee knowledge and a trained palate to make the kinds of buying decisions that will set a company apart. The journey is just about halfway through, and making the actual purchase will be the subject of the next chapter of this little miniseries. 

Dry/Natural Process

At one point avoided because of perceptions of cloying sweetness, overly floral notes, and even vinegar-like fermented flavors, the dry or natural process is gaining ground in the specialty coffee industry by overcoming those stereotypes—in fact, well done dry processed coffee can be something balanced, complex, and delicious.

In undergoing the natural process, cherries are plucked from the shrub and then simply dried on patios or raised beds. In the case of Metric’s El Pilar Natural y Honey Hybrid, the natural lot is dried over twelve days. The coffee cherry is left on the bean throughout the entire drying process. Because the cherry stays intact, distinct flavors from the fruit are introduced to the bean. The bean itself interacts with natural microbes of the cherry that impart unique regional flavors, natural sugars, and fermented fruit tones naturals are known for as enzymes break down the mucilage. Before export, the cherry’s pulp and parchment are scrubbed mechanically from the bean.

Although ideal for drier climates, Central and South American countries are keen to master the natural process. It can prove to be very labor intensive, requiring manual sorting to sift out defects and careful attention in assuring drying occurs consistently and completely. Yet it can be done, and coffees like this El Pilar Natural y Honey prove that this processing is viable anywhere if enough work and attention are given to it. As the process gains traction, we can find natural processed coffees that have it all—balanced and unique fruit flavors working in tandem with the inherent flavors of the bean.  The trick is, just like with wet processed coffee, to do it well. It is yet another example of the forever changing nature of the coffee industry, and another reason why cupping everything with an open mind is important. 

Pulped Natural/Honey Processed/Semi-dry

 Gaining popularity across Central and South America is the honey process. 

“Honey process” is an admittedly conflated term that refers to a process in which some outer layers remaining in contact with the bean during the drying process. Some grade honeying with how many outer layers are left to dry with the bean, and some grade honeying in terms of how often the bean is turned during the drying process, or in general how long the drying is managed (yellow, red, and black are terms referring to the length of time the bean is dried with the mucilage left on). Although terminology and definition of such terms differ across producers and roasters alike, the important part of the honey process is that some parts of the the sticky outer layers are left to ferment, lending an amplified acidity unique to both the region and the coffee. 

For Metric’s Guatemala El Pilar Natural y Honey Hybrid, select lots are honeyed to a “yellow,” with some skin of the cherry and a portion of the pulp being removed before being left to ferment and dry. These lots are blended in with with natural process coffees, and the result brews into a balanced yet vibrant brew. Pleasant wine-like acidity and strawberry notes come through beautifully, and showcase the best of natural and honey-processed coffees all in one cup.