What inspired you to quit your job and go on a nationwide road trip centered around coffee?
The specialty coffee community has been a welcoming home for me over the last 4 years. From NYC to New England, at competitions and all over the country, so many folks I’ve met have been just wonderful. This seemed like a perfect time in my life where I could take some time to do this. I’ve been saving for the last year and the time is finally here! It’s my chance to connect with those folks and showcase all the great things they’re doing at their home shops! I’d also like to create a platform that is approachable for the general public. I’d love for folks to check out this project who have no idea what specialty coffee is all about and introduce them to this crazy world we work in!
Where were you working before?
Joe, Intelli, Seven Stars, Irving Farm, a mobile coffee truck, kinda everywhere! I was also managing back of house production for Spring Street Social Society, a dinner club, cabaret, social club thing in NYC.
Before working in coffee you went to culinary school. How does that affect the way you approach coffee?
Good job Detective Butterworth! Surprisingly, I’d say in noticing the importance of workflow. I’ll be pretty honest, the basic techniques of cooking really aren’t that difficult. (NOT baking, that is actually very difficult!) The real thing that sets cooking in a commercial kitchen apart from a hobbiest is your work flow, your preparation, your ability to make 10 or 100 dishes in a row, having them be identical and not making a massive mess along the way. I’ld say that leads into coffee. You need to be a master of preparation, aware of what your equipment can and can’t do and have a expert understanding of your ingredients. Have all the refractometers, scales and shiny things you want, at the end of the day it’s two ingredients: coffee + water. A deep understanding of the whole process, the ability to make 100 coffee’s identical, tasty and keeping it tidy in the process? That’s where it’s at, yo.
Tell us about your travel plans. How are you getting from point A to point B?
What cities are you going to?
Oof, a whole bunch I’m pretty much hugging the east coast, starting in Portland, ME, all the way down to Florida then working in a up-and-down pattern until finishing in LA.
Is there still time to book for a guest shift? How does one do that?
Yes! Yes! YES! I’ve pretty much only planned the route, I’m now in the process of coordinating guest shifts with folks. Please shoot me an email, I’d love to work with you!
How can our readers follow your progress?
Ryan Szrama says
May 23, 2016 at 11:12 amOoh, ooh – come to Methodical Coffee in Greenville, SC. I bet Will would give you a shift. : )
Joshua Littlefield says
May 23, 2016 at 9:38 pmHey Ryan!
I would love to work a shift at Methodical. Could I grab Will’s contact info from you?
Thanks!
Josh
Arthur in the Garden! says
May 24, 2016 at 2:14 pmAhhh. Living the dream!! 🙂
Pete says
May 28, 2016 at 8:47 amlove the article and the project, but someone needs to spend more time with the proofreading of these things.
Ariella says
August 11, 2016 at 11:01 pmJosh…if you haven’t already planned this, you should make a stop to Cleveland and try Rising Star Coffee… Best coffee in the city!
chocolatecoffeelover says
August 14, 2016 at 12:31 amJust read your article I love to read different articles about coffee. I saw your blog while learning the brewing method from lotofcoffee.