“The person who roasts coffee should continue his development not only with skill and judgement but with a measure of love and devotion…The coffee roaster turns alchemist when he transforms an unappetizing seed into the makings of a delicious, invigorating drink.
His magic is genuine; he must interpret the beans’ secrets and reveal them to our senses.”
― Joel, David, and Karl Schapira (1975)
As relayed by the excellent, “Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee & How it Transformed Our World,” by Mark Pendergrast
Things I learned about Seth Wellens and Will Holder, a list:
They are the Co-Founders & Co-Head Roasters of Visitor Coffee Roasters.
They like music, though not always the same music.
They believe we are guests of nature, visitors, if you will, on Earth.
They like sci-fi.
They also like beer.
They put out some very chill vibes.
It is unusual for a coffee roastery to have Co-Head Roasters. I feel pretty comfortable standing by that statement after interviewing three seasons worth of coffee professionals. It says something about the bond between the two men that they can navigate the waters of friendship and business and ego and the progression of a growing roastery successfully.
VCR is a new business and it took months before they felt confident in the roasted coffee efforts they were sharing with their friends and family to take the next step. Part of learning and growth is trusting in others to give feedback. Seth and Will were doing that every time they shared a new roast.
That–sharing to get feedback–is something I struggle with. I make a lot of things–books, photographs, art, this podcast–but I’m often afraid to share them for fear that they will never live up to the expectations of others or will inspire a judgement on my personality that I’m not emotionally read for.
Coffee has helped me grow in that failing. Making a cup of coffee in the morning is easy. Making an excellent cup of coffee in the morning is significantly harder, and it starts with the efforts that roasters like Seth and Will put in to make the beans coming out of their roaster a great place to start.
Learning the ins and outs of coffee has definitely helped me overcome some of my ego, mostly by failing time after time, then occasionally being rewarded with brief explosions of perfection in the form of a pour-over from Sumatra or an espresso from Guatemala.
Visitor Coffee Roasters is an attempt to share a passion, a worldview, and a love of coffee with the world. A world that the team from VCR seems to feel a sense of gratitude towards and an awareness of our collective place in it. They are Visitor. We are visitors.
FROM THE SHOW
Artist and Designer Orange & Park a.k.a. David Klinker is responsible for many of the design aesthetics of VCR. I didn’t realize it until I was looking for a link to share, that I was already familiar with his work from other projects that have previously caught my eye; in particular, his use of maps and typography.
Follow @orangeandpark for more graphic art. Combine the Orange and Park passion for type and pattern with the elegantly elaborate illustrations of Fermín Caridad and the design of VCR really comes together. Some of my favorite coffee branding, so far.
Follow @enferming for more illustrations. The two books the VCR team said they referenced regularly as they were learning (and still are learning) are The World Atlas of Coffee by James Hoffmann and The Coffee Roaster’s Handbook by Len Brault.
The comment was made that drinking a hot beverage-like coffee-on a hot day can help keep you cool. That doesn’t make any sense to me at all, but as it happens, it’s true…kind of.
According to this article from the Smithsonian Magazine, drinking a hot drink can help increase the amount you sweat, and if that sweat can evaporate you will, in fact, be cooler, but if it is extremely humid or you’re wearing a lot of layers trapping in the sweat your body temperature will rise.
MIXTAPES
Get a sense of the VCR vibe by listening to the music going into the coffee beans by listening to mixtapes Seth and Will put together.
I love the concept that the nature surrounding the green coffee beans–be it auditory, visual or other sensory–could potentially influence the final flavors we taste in a cup of coffee as much as the nurture (roasting). I don’t know that there is any data to support the theory, but I’m willing to go with it on faith alone because it makes me happy to believe it. I’m hoping to compare a VCR green coffee roasted to the soothing sounds of Rage Against the Machine with one produced to the deserted backdrop of Kevin Morby sometime soon.
COFFEE VOCAB
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