this week, for the small business series, let’s have a chat with koan of huckleberry roasters, a denver coffee roaster. i love coffee. i love denver. and huckleberry is doing it just right. they had me at one shot of their blue orchid, an exquisite espresso i first tasted two years ago. it remains my favorite espresso to date.
1. what is huckleberry roasters?
Huckleberry Roasters is a two year old coffee roasting company from Denver, owned and operated by Koan Goedman and Mark Mann. We use our well-sourced, carefully roasted coffee as a vessel to encourage people to enjoy slowly (rather than hurry up) and to create community through discussion and interaction. We think sharing a cup of coffee can lead to meaningful shared experiences and want to offer that to as many people as possible.
2. how did you get into this? what was your inspiration?
Huckleberry’s formation is rooted in coffee. We worked at shops together, became close friends, and decided that starting Huckleberry Roasters was a great way to bridge the gap between our own entrepreneurial spirits, our love of coffee, and our desire to create community. Although Denver is still trying to figure itself out in a lot of ways, it’s filled with such immense talent! We’re surrounded by people seeking perfection in their fields (food, bicycles, beer, art, photography, etc.) that it’s not hard for us to seek perfection in our own.
3. what had the process been from conception to execution?
To borrow a phrase from a friend, “It’s a slow burn.” To be totally honest, getting our own brick and mortar location has taken a lot longer than we anticipated. The longer wait had its benefits too. It has allowed us to build strong wholesale relationships and we’ve had more time to improve our roasting. About seven months ago we found a space for our flagship location; a long-term home for both our roasting operations and a cafe. To our surprise, we were also offered a small cafe space within an innovative new development that was too good to pass up. It took a little longer than we would have liked, but it’s getting really exciting now!
4. has creating/developing/launching/sustaining this been what you expected? easier or harder? what have the challenges been?
It’s a slow burn. Ha ha…it’s a versatile phrase, right? In terms of building and growing this business into something successful, maybe we were a little naive in the beginning. We’ve had our share of heavy and humbling moments, but we’re proud of what we’ve created and look forward to what’s to come. For me (Koan) it’s been a fascinating journey of managing expectations, building some self confidence, and finding the balance of when to sit back patiently and when to push beyond a comfort zone.
5. are you doing this solo or you have other partners/collaborators/helpers in the brand?
While the day-to-day operations of Huckleberry are handled by Mark and Koan, much of our growth has come from the support, constant encouragement ,and constructive criticism of the Denver coffee scene. For example, Crema Coffee House took a bit of a gamble by featuring us prominently while we were still trying to dial in our own product, but I’d like to think we’ve both benefited from the relationship.
6. who, if anyone, has helped w branding/website development/maintenance?
So far we’ve done branding, designing, and packaging ourselves. Mark has a background in design, so he took the lead and developed a brand that’s resonated really well with Denver. Now that our business is growing up, we’ve turned to one of the best designers in the business, Mackey Saturday, to help us through a rebrand and take us to another level; one that will hopefully play well on a national level…someday. We’ve just started the process, but the initial concepts Mackey has presented to us have been exhilarating and inspiring. We can’t wait to share them!
7. what is launch date for your two new shops?
Since we’re still early in the process, the launch dates for the two shops are still a little hard to pin down. The flagship location on 4301 Pecos Street, where we will house our new 15k Giesen Coffee Roaster and have a cafe, is tentatively scheduled for early Fall. The 2500 Larimer Street location, which we’re excitedly sharing with some incredible neighbors including Topo Designs, Work & Class Pizzeria Basta, Cirro and more, will open later in the Fall. Until then, people can consistently find Huckleberry Roasters at these wonderful cafes: Crema Coffee House, Denver Bicycle Cafe and Two Rivers. Check our Facebook for other places.
8. where can you be found, IRL and interwebs?
huckleberryroasters.com. Also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram,
9. what new/other businesses are you excited about in denver? or would you like to see in denver?
Seems like 2013 has been and will continue to be a defining year for Denver. So many cool spots opening and so many great people doing great things. We are having lots of quick breakfasts at Crema Coffee House (pastry program keeps improving and now all bread made in house!). We’re eating lots of lunches at Curtis Park Delicatessen and Masterpiece Delicatessen. To close out the day, I would say that we’re at TRVE Brewing more often than we’d like to admit. All of those places provide constant inspiration.
10. what’s your favorite shop in denver? favorite place for food? neighborhood?
My favorite shop in Denver, at the moment, is Steadbrook. It’s seems to be the perfect example of the direction that Denver is headed. A place that would be at home in San Francisco or New York, but still fits perfectly in Denver. A place that blends beautifully curated, responsibly made goods and excellent coffee service with creative, thoughtful design….all with the intention of giving the people of Denver a special experience.
[photos c/o luca venter, jake belvin, and huckleberry]
with little bug on the way, it’s clear that it’s time to find ramona a room for herself. she shared a bed with us for nearly the first year of her life. since that time, she’s slept in a crib in the middle of our basement that, though it has finished walls and ceilings, is hardly more than a concrete room with low ceilings (we live in a one bedroom home). but now we’re nearly done with a back part of the basement storage area that we were able to throw up some walls and create a small room for ramona. i can’t decorate until next week –after the carpet and baseboard is installed– but after that, i’m on a mission to make this teeny space perfect for miss minka moo. here’s what i’ve come up with so far:
clockwise from top left: || ekby jarpen shelf || gypsya bright paisley pillow || onefortythree brass wall sconce || vintage black dala horse || tarva dresser || moroccan leather pouf || roopantaran kantha quilt || adhesive black polka dots for the wall by walls by mur ||
what else, besides books and lovies and a few toys, does a little girl’s room need?
let the weekly belly bump photos commence! well, let’s be honest, if there’s anything there it’s just a thick-looking midsection. though i definitely can’t fit into my regular clothes i am not sporting a cute little bump. yet. here’s a peek at me in the first trimester with ramona.
i’d also like to have an excuse to work on my style. i wore what i could with ramona, scrounging around for anything that fit. i didn’t have the most fun dressing the bump even though i absolutely loved having it. this time around, i want to have so much fun with it.
|| top: madewell || cut-off shorts: old calvin klein’s unbuttoned. yes, unbuttoned ||
what maternity wardrobe must-haves do i need to add to my closet?
Grave, my wife lies back, hands cross
her chest, while the doctor searches early
for your heartbeat, peach pit, unripe
plum–pulls out the world’s worst
boom box, a Mr. Microphone, to broadcast
your mother’s lifting belly.
The whoosh and bellows of mama’s body
and beneath it: nothing. Beneath
the slow stutter of her heart: nothing.
The doctor trying again to find you, fragile
fern, snowflake. Nothing.
After, my wife will say, in fear,
impatient, she went beyond her body,
this tiny room, into the ether–
for now, we spelunk for you one last time
lost canary, miner of coal
and chalk, lungs not yet black–
I hold my wife’s feet to keep her here–
and me–trying not to dive starboard
to seek you in the dark water. And there
it is: faint, an echo, faster and further
away than mother’s, all beat box
and fuzzy feedback. You are like hearing
hip-hop for the first time–power
hijacked from the lamppost–all promise.
You couldn’t sound better, break-
dancer, my favorite song bumping
from a passing car. You’ve snuck
into the club underage and stayed!
Only later, much, will your mother
begin to believe your drumming
in the distance–my Kansas City
and Congo Square, this jazz band
vamping on inside her.
[today we heard the heartbeat of our little bug. ramona and papa were perched next to mama’s head while maren worked her magic to amplify the sounds of the still teeny, moving, little squirm that’s located inside me somewhere behind my pubic bone. we weren’t expecting to hear it and so my heart did flips when we did. even though we’ve seen the heartbeat twice now on ultrasounds, there is just something so so magical about hearing it. i posted this same poem when we heart ramona’s heartbeat for the first time.]
you bet your bottom dollar we’re going to lakeside amusement park again this weekend (the last weekend of the season!) to ride some more kiddie rides. we took ramona there last weekend with our dear friends, lashley and koan. whenever we drive by another amusement park in town right off the highway, ramona screams “rollercoaster!!” and every time i ask her if she wants to ride one and she says “yes!” so we thought we’d test it out at the kiddie land at lakeside, a denver institution. i had no idea how she would respond when we put her on the first ride. she’s brave, but she’s also two. so we started with the jolly choo-choo (which she, of course, kept calling thomas). parents aren’t allowed on the rides with the little ones so i just prayed she wouldn’t try and jump out while it was moving. it started and this girl could only smile. we started cheering her on with “hands up!” and the girl just gobbled it up and the kids around her followed suit. soon enough, you had a line of little kids with their hands up on a kiddie choo choo ride that is going faster than any kiddie ride i’d seen before (they sure don’t make ’em like they used to).
then it was on to the airplanes. then the horses. then the go-carts. that’s the first photo: ramona whipping around the corners alternating between holding on for dear life and letting it loose with her hands up. i could not stop laughing every time i watched her. i was so proud and so surprised and so happy for her delight. the girl loves excitement! every ride we walked by, big or small, she’d point to and say very matter-of-factly “ride next.” needless to say, she was devastated when we were told at the ferris wheel that she was just a couple inches too short to ride it. next summer, my little daredevil.
this would also make a great date night: it’s perfect for people watching (what amusement park isn’t), it has charm and cheekiness and is quaint and you feel like you’ve stepped back into time. it was built in 1908 and updated in the 30s. i can’t say it seems like much has been updated since.
lakeside is affordable. $2.50 per person over two. and 50 cents of that goes toward ride tickets (which on the weekend we went were only ten cents each! usually they are 50 cents). each ride costs 1-6 tickets. kids rides are all 1 ticket. certainly worth a trip to see if your kid is ready for some amusement park action! we spent $15 for four people. bringing your own food is advised as the options are underwhelming.
has your child ridden rides yet? how’d they do?
welcome
