Austin, we have a roaster!

We started searching to partner with a coffee roaster and supplier months ago. As with other parts of this process of creating the perfect cross between a coworking space and a café, the search was thorough and the goal clear: find not just “the best,” but “the best for LaunchPad Coworking.”

Julie has talked before about not just tracking down people who know how to do their jobs, but people who are willing to share their knowledge. The idea is that, just as coworkers who will use LaunchPad Coworking stand to learn from each other, we want to learn from the people we’re working with to create our space.

Which makes RC Beall an ideal fit. RC, who heads up Texas Coffee Traders, might as well have a Ph.d in coffee. He’s been in the coffee business for over 25 years, and he’s a lifelong student and educator on the topics of fair trade and organic coffee, the economics and politics of coffee, creating the perfect roast, and best brewing methods.

To spend an hour or so touring his 14,000 square foot warehouse on East Fourth Street and hearing about the adventures he’s taken around the world in pursuit of great beans is to walk away with the equivalent of a double espresso shot of knowledge. The experience is intense, concentrated, and eye-opening and, what with the roasters roasting away, smells awesome.

Back when RC started roasting in 1981, he was one of only 40 roasters in the U.S. roasting good coffee. A decade later, he was one of only a hundred. These days, thanks to what RC calls the “tremendous entrepreneurial spirit of small roasters,” he’s got lots of company in the business.

RC just got back from a trip to Ethiopia where he went to visit with coffee growers. He also spends a lot of time in Monteverde, Costa Rica. “My favorite place is at the origin, visiting the people who pick the beans and seeing how it’s processed in the middle of nature.”

The Texas Coffee Traders warehouse is divided into various spaces. You walk into the retail space, with countless espresso machines, sundry coffee-related items, and goods — including beautiful hand-woven baskets — that RC has brought back from his travels. The roasting room features hot air roasters, which RC likens to hot air popcorn poppers, a technique that prevents bean scorching. 40-50 different kinds of coffee are roasted daily in small batches ranging from 8 to 60 pounds, with “a couple of hundred thousand pounds per year,” moving in and out of the warehouse, which is decorated with old coffee sacks from around the world, each a work of folk art.

The olfactory leg of the tour is, perhaps most enjoyable (tying with the cappuccino they hand you on the way in the door), with RC teaching whiffing techniques (don’t be an aroma hog and inhale too hard, too fast) and explaining the differences among the various roasts — light, Vienna, French, and Italian — and how achieving the roasts is just a matter of degrees.

We’re looking forward to getting to know RC and his team more as we push toward our grand opening this summer. Tomorrow, RC and Tina will visit 800 Brazos and strategize the café side of LaunchPad Coworking. At some point, we’ll head over to the warehouse for training, which RC notes is important on par with using great coffee. A knowledgeable barista is more likely to be a dedicated barista. And we’re sure our team will get a great education down at RC’s warehouse cum Coffee U.