Ian Goodman, left, and Aric Annear stand with the coffee roaster Wednesday, February 24, 2016 in a St. Elmo shop.Contact Information
To contact Goodman Coffee Roasters, email goodmancoffeeroasters@gmail.com or check the business’ Facebook page at www.facebook.com/GoodmanCoffeeRoasters/
The founder of Greyfriar's Coffee and Tea Co., and a former Seattle coffee shop owner have teamed up to launch an artisan coffee roasting business in St. Elmo.
Ian Goodman and Aric Annear are 50-50 business partners in the new venture, which they've named Goodman Coffee Roasters - because two decades ago Goodman gained local fame as the founder of Greyfriar's Co., a pioneering downtown coffeehouse that recently relocated to the 300 block of Market Street not far from the Tennessee Aquarium.
"Ian still has a big reputation in Chattanooga as a coffee guy," said Annear who roasted beans at Greyfriar's up until 2006 and then struck out for Seattle, Wash., where he was owner of Fremont Coffee Co. "Everybody still remembers Ian very well."
Goodman sold Greyfriar's about eight years ago, and Annear sold his share in the Seattle coffee shop four years ago.
Now, they've teamed up to roast beans sourced from around the world in a space at 3913 St Elmo Ave. near the base of the Incline Railway.
"We have coffee in from 10 different countries, and we're looking at adding about four or five," Goodman said, reeling off the countries from which the raw beans came: Peru, Mexico, Columbia, Burundi, Tanzania, Yemen, Brazil, India, Columbia and Costa Rica.
"That was one thing that set Greyfriar's apart back in the day," Goodman said. "We carried 26 [countries'] coffees back then. Coffee's a lot like wine; you go to different regions or different parts of the world - they all taste different."
For now, the business only sells roasted coffee beans by the pound. It's not a coffee house - though the partners hope to add that eventually.
Goodman and Annear plan to sell to restaurants and supermarkets and retail bags of coffee beans from their St. Elmo roasting facility on Saturdays. Goodman Coffee Roasters will be open today from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The duo said sales were good last Saturday, their first day selling coffee.
The retail price ranges from $13 to $14 per pound for most types of coffee to as much as $30 a pound for Yemeni coffee, which is hard to get because the country is ravaged by war.
Goodman and Annear, who say they have a combined 35 years' experience in the coffee business, roast every batch by hand. They eschew the high-tech sensors that some roasters use to tell when beans are done.
"This a craft that requires training and experience," Annear said.
Goodman said, "You can tell a lot by sight, sounds, smell the roasting process uses a lot of your senses."
The business partners both live in St. Elmo.
"We think that there's a lot of opportunity here," Annear said. "We're excited about the enthusiasm that Chattanooga has for good coffee."
Contact staff writer Tim Omarzu at tomarzu@timesfreepress.com or www.facebook.com/MeetsForBusiness or twitter.com/meetforbusiness or 423-757-6651.