My introduction to fragrances was at the age of 10 when I commandeered from my mom cologne called, Green Apples, and then I wore Toujours Moi in high school and l Georgio in college. These were my signature scents that friends and family identified with me – even some saying they could smell me before they saw me. My tastes have since refined to only the finest fragrances I can find in New York, Paris, and Dubai, although my favorite one is from Bahrain that has hints of vanilla and cardamom. I have a highly functioning olfactory system that can instantly distinguish smells, even the varied notes in a perfume reminiscent of one I might have worn long ago. In fact, I can smell contagious germs or other airborne substances released into the air!! It makes perfect sense to me - in pun fashion- that my business ought center on something that delivers a fully aromatic and flavorful experience.
Then on one not-so-sunny day spent in the Netherlands (during the time I worked for the Dutch company, Shell Gas Iraq) I visited the coffee shop Koffielust in the small residential town of Haren just outside of Groningen in the North Brabant province. My former Shell colleague and friend, Jan B., had taken me there since he was sure I’d love the coffee. When I approached the counter and browsed the coffee options chalked on the wall just behind the register the assistant, upon realizing I was an American, shouted, “This isn’t blank!!! (Name of pervasive American coffee company omitted intentionally.) I will make you the best cup of coffee you ever had … this is better than blank!” I yielded and accepted his charge. With the first sip, I could not have agreed with him more. It was indeed the best cup of coffee I had yet tasted anywhere. In that moment the idea to roast my own “best cup of coffee ever” was realized. And so this is where it all began, quite simply and unexpectedly, during my childhood years and in the Netherlands. The best thing of all is that I not only provide a great aromatic experience for customers, but I can craft this experience using my own hands (and nose!). Perfect.
Ironically, during my initial research of the history of coffee I learned that it was the Dutch who first brought the coffee shrubs to Europe, although other accounts credit the Venetians who may have opened the first coffee house in Europe. Nevertheless, the Dutch were the first to bring Arabica from Kaffa (modern day Ethiopia) to Indonesia (Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi and Flores) in 1696. This marked the beginning of their coffee import monopoly when in 1711 the Dutch East Indies Trading Company began cultivating coffee in Java after establishing large coffee plantations there.
This is the very place where my appreciation to roast and retail my version of “best ever” coffee was born! So after I set off to Tulsa, Oklahoma to begin my SCAA Roasters Guild certification training, I deliberately chose as my first roast profile the Dutch Guild, which is a single origin Indonesian Sumatra Mandheling. Since the Dutch prefer their coffee extremely dark and bitter, I developed this profile to be dark yet with a smoother chocolaty and less bitter flavor suitable for an American palate. While I was still in the profile development stages and incidentally still working for Shell Gas in Iraq, I brewed the Dutch Guild using my German-made pour over pot for my Dutch colleagues who, characteristically so, gave me the usual brutally honest, direct, and blunt feedback on how to modify my coffee profile so that it was suitable for a Dutchman. But, honestly, that is what I truly love about the Dutch, besides their coffee – they are as bold and blunt as a homegrown Philadelphia sports fan! Nevertheless, with the appropriate modifications my Dutch Guild would be as authentically Dutch as I can reasonably expect to sell in the United States market. It wouldn’t be long before that decision proved a good one.
In May 2017, The Dutch Guild made its debut in the American marketplace at Roost Crate, an Albany, New York business that offers subscription-based “farmers market in a box” full of locally crafted artisan goods. When I first learned of this business, the owner, Ms. Kelly, just so happened to have chosen a thematic box to commemorate the Dutch 17th Century settlement of Albany, formally Fort Orange, as a West India Company outpost. My Dutch Guild coffee made an ideal compliment for the box. I had since received excellent feedback from the subscribers who loved the coffee.
In many ways, I have the Dutch to thank for setting the stage where I eventually realized my true passion. I hope to someday return to that coffee shop outside of Groningen, drop a 5-pound sample bag of my Dutch Guild on the counter, and shoutout, “Now try MY Dutch Guild … it certainly is not blank but it will be among the best coffee you ever tasted!”
I welcome the reader to try the Dutch Guild if you enjoy your coffee on the brutally darker, direct and earthier side. I personally enjoy this coffee brewed using a pour over, but I also think it bites well through frothed milk – and even better through frothed almond milk. Compliment this over a mid morning breakfast or snack with my low fat banana raisin bread, and you will surely enjoy the best cup and cake ever! You can find the recipe at Click Here.
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