Why you should buy Charlotte-roasted coffee beans, and where
Why does buying coffee beans from local roasters matter?
Matt Yarmey, founder of Pure Intentions Coffee, once told C5, “Everyone has an emotional connection to coffee, and my purest intention with our coffee is to make that connection with every person who drinks it.”
I love that concept of connection. I love knowing that what gets me started in the morning (two cups of coffee, please) was handled nearby with a special touch, making it fresher, and treated with passion, making it meaningful.
I initially didn’t love the fact that local coffee tends to average $5-$10 more than a bag of Caribou Coffee’s $8 light roast from Harris Teeter. Until Tony Santoro, founder of Enderly Coffee alongside his wife Becky, explained that I’m paying for higher quality beans that are more expensive for local roasters and, therefore, more expensive for me.
Santoro says a common commitment to buying local is what would make our city great. Coffee is one of those avenues.
Where to buy the beans of four Charlotte-based coffee roasters:
Enderly Coffee
Special touch: They use coffee roasting as a conduit for revitalization and economic opportunity in West Charlotte. Santoro said, “Our neighborhood, Enderly Park, is just desperate for opportunity and great things to happen.”
Where to buy the beans, or drinks made from them: Healthy Home Market, Rhino Market, the YMCA, Advent Coworking, Industry Coworking, Mecklenburg County Market and more.
Pro tip: Their most popular roast is the Colombia roast. Santoro described it as “a very delicious medium roast coffee. You get a lot of notes of chocolate and black cherry.”
Pure Intentions Coffee
Special touch: Pure Intentions aims to provide exemplary customer service while educating Charlotte on what craft coffee can be. “Everyone deserves to know what a great cup of coffee feels like or tastes like,” Yarmey said.
Where to buy the beans, or drinks made from them: Earl’s Grocery, Rhino Market, Little Spoon Eatery, Soul Gastrolounge, Healthy Home Market, Sunflour Baking Co., NoDa Bodega and others.
Pro tip: Pure Intentions Coffee can be found in nitro-cold-brew form at local watering holes like Red Clay Ciderworks.
Magnolia Coffee
Special touch: “The best coffee is much like the specialty wine business,” said founder Jay Gestwicki. “We purchase small lots of coffee from the best new crops from all of the world’s major coffee-growing regions.” That includes Bali, Ethiopia, Costa Rica, Brazil, Papua New Guinea and Honduras.
Where to buy the beans, or drinks made from them: Common Market, Rhino Market, Amelie’s French Bakery, Julia’s Cafe and Books, among others.
Pro tip: Look for Magnolia Coffee’s most fun labels at Common Market. Think “Good Hair Day” and “Sexy Power.”
Bags and bags of fresh Noel Blend going out to all @AmeliesBakery cafes. Makes a great local gift. pic.twitter.com/LeF3nLCOS9
— Magnolia Coffee (@MagnoliaCoffeeC) December 3, 2015
Parliament Coffee Roasters
Special touch: Musician Paul Waggoner (his band Between The Buried and Me plays at The Fillmore Dec. 17) roasts coffee as a labor of love. Why? To help put Charlotte on the map as a place where you can get really good coffee.
Where to buy the beans, or drinks made from them: Rhino Market and Fud at Salud.
Pro tip: If you order Parliament coffee online and you live in Charlotte, you can arrange to pick it up at Salud instead of wait for it by your mailbox.
@parliamentcoff @paulbtbam got my first order of coffee today, stoked to try it. Personalized message and all pic.twitter.com/uOCKiX5is9
— Brandin Hisaw (@Hsarus) October 10, 2015
Your caffeine hit awaits.
Photo: Katie Toussaint
This story was originally published December 6, 2015 at 11:00 PM with the headline "Why you should buy Charlotte-roasted coffee beans, and where."