Fresh Cup Magazine, providing specialty coffee and tea professionals with unique insight into the trends, ideas, products and people that shape their world.
Issue link: http://freshcup.epubxp.com/i/158781
TAYLOR MAID FARMS Sebastopol, Calif. CHRIS MARTIN, OWNER C CAFÉ S ROAD S CROS BY REGAN CRISP hris Martin started roasting organic coffee before it was fashionable, in a barn set aloft his hilly, 100-acre property outside remote Occidental, Calif. Taylor Maid Farms—now one of the West Coast's largest retailers of organic coffee—has long since moved out of the barn, but it has remained rooted to those earthy beginnings—a common practice in verdant Sonoma County. This summer, on the heels of the company's 20th anniversary, the eco-friendly roaster opened its long-awaited fagship café and headquarters in The Barlow, a former apple-processing plant turned artisanal business community in Sebastopol. Complete with repurposed redwood counter, upcycled windows and rusted tin décor, the new location is also home to a commercial roastery (visible to customers from the café's mezzanine) and a coffee lab. With plans for a second Taylor Maid Farms retail location in San Rafael already in the works, Fresh Cup talked to owner Chris Martin about how the roaster stays locally rooted while continuing to expand. Q: Taylor Maid made its original home in The Barlow; how did you end up back there? A: We started in [The Barlow] but at the other end, and it was just a warehouse. Then we moved into town more, to a location with more visibility in a nicer building we could bring clients to. Then The Barlow developed and they wanted us to come back there, so we kind of ended up in the same old building. This project is really going to create a whole new vibe for Sebastopol, which has never really had a tourist attraction. Now The Barlow has Kosta Browne Winery, Woodfour is opening up a brewery, Zazu is doing really good food, there's a Zen center and [local natural-food store] Community Market is coming in, so we're creating a whole new village and the theme is to create and sell your own products. No chains are allowed—we're trying to keep it really local and handcrafted. Q: Taylor Maid has been a successful enterprise for two decades without a storefront. What made you want to finally open a shop? A: We had this great program, the can refill: You bring your coffee can in and re-use it, and we give you a dollar off. It's not really about making a buck; it's about supporting a company that is using a can instead of plastic bags. It went really well, but over the years I decided to get involved again instead of being more of a silent partner, and this has always been what I wanted to do. My vision of the company from day one has been to do a café looking over the roastery area and have a cool place to hang out. It's continued on page 26 24 Fresh Cup Magazine freshcup.com