- Role
- Roastery General Manager, Snake River Roasting Co.
- Roots
- Wisconsin, then west to Jackson Hole five years ago
My Coffee beginnings
The smell of coffee is my earliest Wisconsin memory. On winter mornings the windows in my childhood home would fog over, and my dad’s favorite blend would already be going in the kitchen. Long before I drank the stuff myself, that smell meant he was up and the house was warm.
I earned a degree in social work and spent my twenties advocating for people living with anxiety disorders. Coffee came along for all of it. It was there at yoga, on hikes through Wisconsin’s woods, and through every milestone in between.
My best friend and I drank it on the shore of Lake Michigan. It sat beside me through study sessions and got poured at celebrations. Each cup marked a moment I wanted to keep.
From the Midwest to the Mountains
Five years ago I moved west to Jackson Hole. I knew I wanted a career pivot to go with the new address, though all I could tell my now husband was that I wanted something with coffee.
So I signed up for a barista training course at Snake River Roasting Co. I went in expecting to learn how to pull a shot. I came out with a community and a connection to the journey of every bean. The Cafe Femenino initiative got me first. I had spent my whole adult life working to empower women, and here was a roastery that cared about the same thing.
In Every Cup, a memory
A trip to meet coffee farmers in Guatemala changed how I taste every cup. When I brew my morning ELLA now, I think about everyone who got it here, from the farmers to the importers to our own roasters at Snake River. Being that close to the process is why this job feels like the one I was looking for all along.
The blends have sorted themselves into family memories. Roam was the coffee of our wedding weekend. Bluebird comes out before ski days, and Ethiopia rides along on backpacking trips. Mostly they remind me how good the ordinary days are.
I told my now husband what I wanted next. Something with coffee.
Sipping through My Week
- Weekends
- My husband, Dustin, makes the pour over on weekend mornings, usually our Ethiopia. Later I treat myself to a White Spider cortado.
- Weekdays
- If I’m in the cafe for a meeting I order something random off the menu, half curiosity and half quality control. After that first cup the rest of the day runs on decaf or half caff lattes, usually two or three.
- All Week
- Team tastings pop up all week, and someone is always handing me a surprise cup to try. I never say no.