I was roasting coffee for many years before turning my passion into a business. As a musician, gardener, baker, brewer, and cook, I see coffee roasting as yet another extension of my artistry. Before coming to Athens to teach English as a Second Language at Ohio University, I studied linguistics and language acquisition at the University of Iowa. I currently host the Open Stage at the Smiling Skull Saloon every Tuesday, and can often be found playing my fiddle, banjo, or whatever else I can use to make a song.

 

My love of coffee began in 2007 while I was living in Europe. During a two-month break from my studies at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universitaet in Freiburg, Germany, I set off on an audacious cross-continental voyage. I visited the famous Cafe Louvre in Prague, Czech Republic, where, at a friend's suggestion, I purchased medovnik (Czech honey cake) and my first cup of coffee. I loved it so much that I got a second cup!

 

I then spent a some time in Spain, enjoying the ubiquitous café con leche (espresso with condensed milk) served on every street corner, before returning to Germany where I would hang out with Italian friends and make Moka Pot coffee on the stove. Then I moved to Finland for a couple months and drank instant coffee because I didn't want to buy (and subsequently abandon) a coffee pot. But I don't like to talk about that.