Hi there dear buds.
What a wild time, huh? Another Trump presidency and time of extreme volatility; much of it avoidable, most of it predictable. I’ll save the tariff talk for another day; trust me there’s a lot to talk about and I don’t see any way prices aren’t going up. But there’s been a lot of wildness, too, going on behind the scenes at BTC over the last few months and it’s time to let ya in on the ding dang thing.
My wife and I are moving back to Pennsylvania this summer. Not to Philly, where most of you BTC lifers met us, but not too far away from Philly. No, we’re trading in our lobster rolls for Yocco’s. We’re saying goodbye to Acadia and saying hello to Dorney Park. We’re hanging up our log pick and putting on our hard hat and radiant heat reflective uniform. That’s right, we’re moving to the Lehigh Valley. Presumably Bethlehem.
You probably knew something was up. An eerie silence online. Certain evergreen coffee selections suddenly “sold out.” Classic BTC creating inexplicable and completely unnecessary mysteries.
There was a lot that went into this decision. Maine has been an excellent home and source of community for the last 3 years. I’ve never lived in a state, where, despite it’s expansive geography, there was a palpable sense of solidarity among it’s citizens. Mainers also believe in making quality items and doing quality work. They believe in getting their hands dirty and learning how to do the thing themselves. Maybe some of that is just out of necessity. We’re as Northeast as you get in the country and there’s a lot of woods and water between here and there. When you consider that dedication to quality and to the state, it’s no surprise that there’s such a strong statewide embrace of folks making quality food in Maine. Not surprisingly (but kind of surprising to me at the time), I found Mainers to be an incredibly supportive, encouraging, and interested bunch of comrades and community upon moving up here. And thank god. It was a huge move from Philly, in the middle of winter, on a worker’s budget. It could have gotten scary fast. But it didn’t.
I’m grateful for the openness of so many folks up here to try, to buy, and to serve my coffee. It’s not like that everywhere. There are so many cafes, markets, and shops that I’ve been able to work with here and they deserve a mention: Chimera Coffee, West Market Square Artisan Coffee Shop, and the Natural Living Center in Bangor, Seafolk Coffee in Rockport, The Portland Food Co-Op, Table Bar in Gardiner, Coffee Matter and the Salt Market on MDI, the Brooklin General Store, The Post Supply and CÔNG TỬ BỘT in Portland, Treats in Wiscasset, the Rock and Art Shop in Ellsworth, and Tiller and Rye in Brewer. You all do awesome work and are important entities for the landscape. I’m so stoked that you gave me a shot and I’m over the moon to be able to keep working with you, too.
It was a pleasure to be able to do pop ups at so many awesome shops and work with so many incredible food purveyors. Big, big ups to folks like Spark Bagel, Table Bar, Wolfpeach, Goods, the Alna Store, Kelsi Marie/Salty Tiny Bones, and CJ at Congress Square for letting me sling drinks near ya. Also, so much love to Nathanial at Downshift Coffee for letting me roast on your sweet machine while mine was getting set up or was being repaired. Your coffee is awesome, your cafe is great, and you are the real deal.
Beyond the community connections, there were some incredible gains for the BTC during this time. My understanding of roasting grew exponentially. In the past, I used to feel like an imposter (I think a lot of us that are self reflective often do). Several huge learning moments later, born out of big fucking fails- I stopped feeling like an imposter. I revel in and for a challenge. To that end, I’m selecting coffees that I trust can be tricky to navigate but that have rewarding profiles. That definitely wasn’t the case pre-2022. And despite moreorless keeping a fairly low profile online and in person, I managed to get some coffee to some new folks throughout the country and even over to far flung places like Mexico and the UK. And then there’s the decaf crew out there… In the spirit of keeping it brief (not possible with me), I’ve been able to get A LOT of coffee out to A LOT of new people in this time.
But the Philly love didn’t cease either and I’m grateful that so many folks were down to still check out coffee from me despite the many, many miles in-between.
So, yes, we’re moving back to PA. There are a lot of reasons to do this. The big picture is that 1) Turns out being so far from family as you get older is difficult. 2) My very cool wife (you know the one) got a really cool job offer.
The latter is fairly straight forward, right? I mean, she worked with some great people and at a great school for the last three years and that needs to be made clear. But this next gig very much so comports with what she went to school for and is an awesome opportuntiy. I’m so proud of her and what she’s been able to accomplish. She’s a real catch ;-)
The distance bit was a real surprise for me. Because I’ve lived way farther away from Philadelphia (like the San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle) and it didn’t feel like such a big deal before. But I was in my 20’s and my family was younger then, too. And of course, there was the whole “I was gainfully employed by other people/companies and could take time off” thing back then- not self-employed as an owner/operator wholesale coffee roaster with cafes dependent on my product. Wowwy wow wow, I sure didn’t consider any of that when considering the move to Maine. Even still, it was worth a shot. And again, living in Maine has been an important experience for me; one that I am grateful to have had.
All this is to say, I miss being able to see family regularly. Enough to make another huge, sorta scary move. They’re worth it!
So, why the Lehigh Valley? To that I say, why not the Lehigh Valley? My familiarity with this zone began in my college days. There was a “punk” table at the Temple University food court that I finally worked up the nerve to eat at in my Junior year. Those kids became best friends and were all from the Lehigh Valley. That was my intro to the area. Later, my parent’s moved to the Poconos and I’d always stop in Bethlehem and Easton in-between drives from Philly for Lebanese food and Vegan Treats (obviously). During those drives, it became really clear to me that this part of PA (and the country) is kind of awesome. You get the lush PA summer green thing, with rivers and hills cutting up the landscape, and incredible architecture dispersed in all of these cities and towns, that are all like 15-20 minute drives from one another. It’s a pretty ideal thing, in my opinion. (Plus… all that Lebanese Food and Vegan Treats, lol). So, after an especially nice xmas visit to Philly (and right after the furnace died in my building and my landlord decided to slow-roll replacing it), it felt like the universe was telling us to get back to PA. My wife found a listing for a school in the area, she aced the interview, and, baddabing badddaboom, we’re moving to Bethlehem.
I guess that’s the deal. I wanted you to know. Now you know.
And in knowing all of that, I also need you to know and understand that there will likely be a few weeks where the online store is closed. It’s intentional and necessary. I’m not dead. We’re not dead. It’s not dead. I’m hoping to keep it to a real minimum. I may even need to change up certain ways that I’m taking orders for any given week. We’ll get there when we get there and I’ll do my best to explain all of it.
Again, I’m so grateful for everyone’s support all this time. I look forward to getting you more fun coffee very soon.
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