Contributed photo / A Revolutionary Coffee from YemenHow does Michael Rice, co-owner of Mad Priest Coffee Roasters, deal with officially closing the Cherry Street location because of health and financial reasons brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic? He takes a good chunk of his working capital and buys a $30,000 lot of newly discovered Yemenia coffee.
Rice paid $140.50 per pound for around 210 pounds of the coffee, which was recently determined to be a previously unrecognized “mother coffee,” at an auction. For perspective, he also recently paid $10 a pound for some high quality Columbian coffee beans.
“And, that is still a lot,” he said. “Usually we might pay around $5 to $7 per pound.”
Because of the cost of the beans, Rice plans to sell it only via pre-orders done either online or in store at the retail location on Broad Street or the drive-in/roasterie location on Wilcox Boulevard. The Cherry Street location has been closed since July, but it wasn’t made official until recently.
“It didn’t make sense to keep it open,” Rice said.