Cometeer<\/a>, which actually won one of the Best in Show awards, it\u2019s a recyclable pods company, but there\u2019s no grounds. What they do is brew the coffee and then freeze it\u2014which George Howell is all about freezing coffee\u2014in these completely aluminum pods. So you can pop it in a Keurig machine, and it basically just dilutes as it warms up, so then you\u2019re left with a completely clean empty cup that you can immediately recycle. The way that they brew preserves a lot of the aromas, the sweetness, and the terroir of the coffee, and you don\u2019t get a weird, stale, weak cup. So we\u2019ve been really involved in that company for years, and we\u2019re really proud. This is their release weekend. We\u2019ve been working with them and their booth.<\/p>\nJJ: And you were on a panel, which I attended.
\n<\/strong>RA:<\/strong> Oh! Yeah! Ever Meister invited me to be on that panel about generational mentorship, kind of how we can better learn from one another and, I haven\u2019t had time to process that yet.<\/p>\nJJ: I think we all haven\u2019t had time to process anything. How long have you been working at George Howell?
\n<\/strong>RA:<\/strong> I started in July of 2016. I moved to Boston from Oklahoma and I knew that when I moved to Boston I wanted to work for George and thankfully they found a place for me here.<\/p>\nJJ: Do you work closely with George Howell?
\n<\/strong>RA:<\/strong> (laughing) Yeah. We work together about four days a week. We cup together, we taste together, we look at roast profiles together, we run around on the Expo floor together. He is very influential in my day-to-day.<\/p>\nJJ: For new folks coming into Expo or going to their first tradeshow, what sort of advice would you give to them as they\u2019re exploring their career and different options?
\n<\/strong>RA:<\/strong> That no matter how scary it might feel, if you see someone that you admire or recognize, just get in there and say hi, introduce yourself. Our industry is made up of so many gentle giants. You know these people and you know their work, you see them from afar on Instagram, or read about them in books. So many of them are so warm and welcoming, and want everyone to love our community so much. Just go say hi.<\/p>\nI once heard Colleen Anunu speak on a panel when I was brand new to the East Coast. I felt like I had lost my coffee community that I had been building and been a part of in Oklahoma City. Two months later I went to a conference and saw her speak and I had seen her work from afar, she blows me away with all the things that she\u2019s done in coffee and she was like you, \u201cSend someone an email. If you want someone as a mentor, ask them to be your mentor. If you admire someone, or something about someone, ask them about it. If you need advice or are curious about a job that you want and don\u2019t know how to get it, find someone who has it and ask them how they got it.\u201d That was really impactful for me. Then I just went up and talked to her, now I feel fortunate to call her a friend. She\u2019s someone that I extraordinarily admire and is special to me, and she has fostered not only a passion for coffee and to be better in this industry, but interpersonally. Don\u2019t be afraid of perceived barriers.<\/p>\n
JJ: Are there any trends that you\u2019re seeing right now within coffee, whether it\u2019s science or interpersonally, that really excite you?
\n<\/strong>RA:<\/strong> Two things, one of each. One, I feel like people are warming up to the idea of freezing, which is\u2026not intentionally a pun. But, we\u2019re seeing how the beautiful coffees that we source, roast, and brew can be preserved and enjoyed longer term by freezing, which is really exciting to me. Also, I am seeing a lot more diversification and representation of marginalized people and minorities, and I hype for that. This Expo, I mean, there\u2019s still a lot of monochromatic things that go on in coffee in America, but there\u2019s starting to be voices from other demographics being heard and I\u2019m here for all of it.<\/p>\nJJ: Is there anything else you wanted to mention about your experience here at the Expo this year?
\n<\/strong>RA:<\/strong> It\u2019s kind of what you said earlier, about just getting to meet people you really admire, making new friends, new connections, getting to see how other people experience this community in different ways. Just reaffirming a passion, right?<\/p>\nThis interview has been lightly edited for clarity.<\/em><\/p>\nRead all of our conversations<\/a> from the 2019 Specialty Coffee Expo. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Quality Control for George Howell Coffee<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1145,"featured_media":22569,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"limit_modified_date":"","last_modified_date":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}},"beyondwords_generate_audio":"","beyondwords_project_id":"","beyondwords_content_id":"","beyondwords_player_style":"","beyondwords_language_id":"","beyondwords_title_voice_id":"","beyondwords_body_voice_id":"","beyondwords_summary_voice_id":"","beyondwords_error_message":"","beyondwords_disabled":"","beyondwords_podcast_id":"","beyondwords_hash":"","publish_post_to_speechkit":"","speechkit_hash":"","speechkit_generate_audio":"","speechkit_project_id":"","speechkit_podcast_id":"","speechkit_error_message":"","speechkit_disabled":"","speechkit_access_key":"","speechkit_error":"","speechkit_info":"","speechkit_response":"","speechkit_retries":"","speechkit_updated_at":"","_speechkit_link":"","_speechkit_text":""},"categories":[26,18,23],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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