By Wylie VanWenger
It was 3:42 on a sunny Thursday afternoon when I walked into Olympia Coffee Roasters, a café and roastery in downtown Olympia across from the new city hall. In addition to the downtown location, they also own a small shop on the Westside.
I had a meeting with Sam Schroeder, one of the owners of the establishment. Sam and his business partners, Oliver Stormshak and Andrew Schroeder, bought the business last November.
Sam is a clean-cut fellow with wellkept wavy hair and thin rimmed glasses. I was immediately struck by how young he looked.
OP&L: You advertise your coffees as ‘Fair Trade.’ What does that mean exactly?
Sam: What it means is that we buy our beans directly from the farmers that grow them. Oliver, my co-owner, visits each farm personally and negotiates a price with the farmers themselves based on the cupping.
OP&L: I’m sorry, the cupping? What is that exactly?
Sam: It’s the standard rating process which determines the quality of coffee,” he explained. “Experts, in this case Oliver and the farmers, prepare a sample of the coffee and rate it based on various factors like aroma, acidity, mouthfeel, flavor, aftertaste, and overall balance. In the end a particular strain of coffee is given a score that ranges from 1 to 100. The higher the number, the better the beans.
OP&L: So what is a good score based on this system?
Sam: Well, anywhere from 80 to 90 is considered a B. Above that is an A. We don’t purchase any beans that rate below 86. When we get our hands on a batch that rates above 90 it is considered a micro lot and we give special credit to the farmer. For example, we just got a shipment from Columbia that was cupped at a 92, which is exceptional. The farmer’s name is Pablo Zuniga, and as you can see his name is featured on the bag.
OP&L: How do you balance the small, locally-owned coffeeshop with the internationally renowned roaster? It seems like a potential identity crisis.
Sam: Working closely with farmers, appreciating what they bring to the table, and collaborating with them as equal partners feels to us like the epitome of the Olympia way to do things. This is a culture that values makers and growers in this community and beyond. We work with growers “beyond” and are makers in this community. We also bridge the divide by not taking ourselves too seriously. We make fun of ourselves for being unapologetically obsessed with coffee or for being so utterly Olympian.
OP&L: Tell me about your employees. What do you look for? Who do we see across the counter, and who’s backstage, so to speak?
Sam: We have an über coffee geek culture. Everybody in the company has a barista background and can pull perfect espressos and pour stunning latte art. Being into coffee is the single unifying aspect of our staff and the thing we look for when we hire; you can’t teach passion. Our staff members have won and been in the finals in three separate coffee competitions: the United States Barista, Brewing, and Cupping Championships. Our Cherry Street retail store/café, where we roast our coffee, has large windows into the roastery, so hopefully you’ll be able to see all of our staff at work. There is no true “behind the scenes” to our coffee production. In addition to the barista staff whom you’ll meet as a customer, and our two employee owners, we have a roaster and a production employee.
OP&L: Earlier you mentioned a “focus on education” – what does that look like?
Sam: A love of coffee guides everything we do. We also want to continue learning about coffee ourselves. Our approach has always been to lift the veil. We have no trade secrets, no mystery of the roast master whose knowledge is too great to be shared. We want everyone to experience joy from coffee. We want to keep it simple, transparent, and fun. We never seek to “educate” our customers, only to provide transparency into what we do and the opportunity to ask questions. We hold free public cuppings every Wednesday at 10 am!
OP&L: What’s it like to be a small business in downtown (and the Westside)?
Sam: It’s mostly good being a small business in downtown and on the Westside; we like density, walkability, and transit and both locations offer those amenities. The new City Hall’s proximity to our Cherry Street location has impacted our customer counts in a steady, gradual way. We are excited about the potential of the Eastside of downtown.
OP&L: As someone who’s relatively new to business ownership, do you have any advice for others?
Sam: Plan, stick to the plan, work hard, be patient and double check your work, then work harder.
OP&L: What’s on the horizon?
Sam: We are looking to add another neighborhood-based retail store. We are just waiting for the perfect location. We also want to continue attracting wholesale partners and supporting amazing farmers around the world. ◙