Our Lead Community Chef, Chrissy, sat down with one of Craig Farrelly, one of the three brothers that started and run Brewklyn Grind Coffee to get the low-down on their family business.
Chrissy: How did you get started?
Craig: It was a hobby. We started roasted in my brother’s kitchen in a small roaster, less than a pound at a time. Back in 2004, we were caffeine freaks and the freshness got us hooked! From there, we started buying our own green beans offline and started to learn the regions and different tastes. That’s kinda where we started.
But, I really got into the roasting because of the science and enginerering background. It wasn’t until 2010 we took the next step to create a business. We always wanted to have a family business and it was a common love, so when I was laid off in 2010, it seemed like the right time.
We bought a bigger roaster and after struggling to find a commercial space, we got some space donated and started roasting. It wasn’t til a year later in 2011 that we had a finished product.
Chrissy: Why coffee?
Craig: We were a huge coffee drinking family, so that was the initial start. Caffeine is like our one bad vice. (Craig laughs) We’re kinda health nuts.
I went to school for engineering and once I became familiar with roasting, I realized that the two were very related and it really interested me. It’s also a very complex product, depending on the region and how it’s processed, there’s so many different taste characteristics and roasting lets you really take the flavors and different parts out in the way.
Chrissy: You work with your brothers. is that tough?
Craig: We actually get along very well so in that respect it’s easy. We each handle different parts of the business. James is the oldest, Alan is the second, and I’m the youngest. so, we play to our strengths.
Alan is business minded so he keeps things going smoothly. I’m strongest in the roasting and r&d of blends and roasts, what coffees to bring in, and Jamie has an insane pallete so he’s great at cupping, that’s the formal tasting, of the product. We all cup together, but he has the most sophisticated palete. It really comes together in the end.
Chrissy: What does direct trade or fair trade mean to you?
Craig: Direct trade is a fairly new term and it means that we give the farmer what’s fair for the price of the coffee for the work he’s done. It means not having another entity in the middle taking a cut when they really shouldn’t. Fair trade is simliar but there’s more transparancy where everything is going.
For us, we have a few direct trade relationships, which is pretty rare for the size of our operation. It’s hard for us to develop these relationships, so we’re pretty lucky to somehow have developed these relationships.
We have a friend in Hawaii who farms coffee. It’s actually my brother’s old boss who retired and bought a house in Hawaii and it came with 3 acres of coffee trees. They had a lot of time on their hands and over a few years, they revitalized all the trees. Eventually we made contact and learned he was farming the coffee. When he revitalized the farm, there were no pesticides or herbacides used. Everything was organic in practice. Kona coffee can be very hard and expensive to come by, so we were really lucky to find this connection. We actually take exclusive shipment of all of his coffee.
We also get direct Guatamala thru a non-profit that links Antiguan farms and Huehuetenago with smaller roasters in the US. What was happening was that they were dealing with larger commercial roasters and were getting screwed on the price, so they wanted to connect with small roasters who would pay a fair price for the quality coffee.
Chrissy: Can you tell us about what happened with your operation in Sandy?
Craig: Since we’re located in red hook, we were hit pretty hard by the hurricane and had about 5 feet of water in our space. I was crying. Everything was submerged. Our roaster, grinders, all of our green bean inventory. We had about 10-15 sacks of coffee, a lot of it was Kona and Guatamalan. We had just gotten an order in, and it was all destroyed.
Thankfully, some of the machines we were able to repair, so we’ve been roasting out at a friends just to keep maintaining our current accounts, but it looks like we’re going to get a second floor space in the same building and will be fully back up and running by the end of this month. Everyone who’s stuck with us during this difficult time really made it possible for us to rebuild.
Chrissy: What motivates or inspires you?
Craig: In terms of the coffee, I want to showcase the coffee in it’s best light. Because i know how much work goes into the farming and processing, I never want to fall short roasting a coffee and not allowing it to be it’s possible full potential. In the end, it does a disservice to the farmer. I’m kinda insane about the roast process.
Personally, I want to do something greater than the coffee and create something that has a bigger effect that helps Brooklyn and community. We grew up here so I want to be able to utilize what I do to give back.
Chrissy: Anything else you want to share with the CSA members?
Craig: I don’t know… (he laughs) I guess just that we really appreciate the people who have a loyalty to our coffee and those that try to help us get up and going, especially after the recent setbacks with Sandy. It means a lot to us.