Coava: In Chicago, Only at Wormhole
We’re going to talk about the beans being sprayed our way by Portland, Oregon-based Coava Coffee. But first, we have to admit, we kind of want to go there for a visit and then just kind of not leave. Ever. Never ever.
We talked to one of Coava’s original team members, Sam Purvis, about the new’s and the next’s and the were’s–but first, about working there. “Coava is very small and very much like a family,” says Purvis. “Our staff meetings involve chicken wings and Coors Light and lots of fun times, [while] talking about getting better.
“We all roast and make coffee in the same space. We share life together and are growing up in this industry together,” he continues. “We have a really good [coffee] community here [in Portland], a lot of good friends at different coffee roasting companies and cafes. We hang out and see each other at regional competitions. It’s a great market to be making and roasting coffee, to say the least.”
It gets better. “We kind of just keep it simple. We really enjoy the coffees and farmers we work with, that’s our bread and butter. Three years in, we’re getting opportunities to work with farmers that usually take a long time to get into relationships with, and I think people just appreciate our company because our focus is on sourcing and roasting phenomenal coffee. We don’t get caught up on anything else…no drama, no bragging.” So we’ll be doing it for them.
From Whence They Come (And How They Evolved)
Founded by best friends Matt Higgins and Keith Gehrke in 2009, Coava is now operated by Higgins while Gehrke is putting his efforts into a new brewing company. According to Purvis, Higgins was a long-time figure in the Portland coffee scene and in the Bay Area before that. “For Matt, especially starting as a barista and working up to a point where he was really falling in love with coffees based on their region and terroir, he got to a point where he wanted to source and roast his own coffees,” says Purvis. Thus, Coava.
Obviously, Portland was ready to receive this caffeinated frequency. Coava procures and roasts only single farm, single producer coffees “that can stand on their own two legs,” says Purvis. “When Matt [Higgins] was working in coffee ten years ago and beyond, it was all about blends. He’d come across beautiful coffees from time to time, but didn’t have the availability of these coffees from producers focused on lot separation and such.
“As those coffees became more and more available, Matt felt the way people roasted should accommodate that. We don’t find a need to blend at all because there’s so many beautiful coffees that stand on their own and are grown properly.”
Higgins is the head roaster and still puts in heavy hours at the roaster (new 12-kilo roaster coming!). Purvis also roasts, and, in a quick aside, met Higgins while the two worked at a coffee bar in North Portland right as Higgins was starting Coava. “He had taken a job consulting for a coffee bar that was just getting off the ground,” remembers Purvis. “He taught me a lot about coffee and I started helping out with Coava in the baby stages, then went and worked for a friend of mine who owns coffee bars in Portland, then came on full-time at Coava 14 months ago.
“For me, it’s imporant to enjoy what you do and not get caught up in any of this being our identity, but enjoying people [who are] doing the same thing and give people props when they deserve them. Every one of us leaves our ego at the door.”
See what we’re talking about in regards to possible future employment at Coava Coffee? Looking for the HELP WANTED! sign still.
Evolution Underway
As noted above, things are being upgraded at Coava as we speak, equipment-wise. They are currently in the process of building out to accommodate their new roaster, a Probat 12-kilo L12 that “we just received in the mail,” says Purvis. “Right now, we’re roasting on a 5-kilo that’s sitting in our cafe space; the new roaster should be operational in about a month [March 2012].”
Coava currently has around seven or eight people working the cafe side of things with only Higgins, Purvis and their office manager, Laura holding down all aspects of their roasting operations.
At this juncture in the space-time continuum, and such, Coava distributes wholesale mostly in Portland and then in a few other major coffee markets: New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago with yours truly being the only destination in Chicago as you know and love it today. We wouldn’t be surprised–or chagrined–if this situation doesn’t last. The more ridiculously quality beans that flood the city of Chicago, the happier we’ll be about it all.
Come get’em at Wormhole while you can; Coava Coffee is our Guest Roaster of the Month for February, 2012. Drink it.
Other Fun Things We Found ‘Bout Coava Coffee
Seriously awesome post on Coava Coffee by the blog, Dear Coffee, I Love You. You can find this article and many more on Coava’s About Us page.
