Collaborations in the food industry have moved from trending to status quo. Chefs, farmers, brewers, entrepreneurs, bartenders, and publications are just a few of the stakeholders working together to create exciting food, drinks, and events.
Still trending is Maplewood, a suburb so friendly to small businesses—and particularly those connected to food—that it’s about to pass from trendy to established.
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La Cosecha Coffee Roasters, a roastery and bar, is one of many businesses in Maplewood that capitalizes on the synergy of collaboration: La Cosecha shares a Manchester Ave address with Great Harvest Bread Co. The end result is a one-stop shop where you can get your bread, cookies, and coffee—both by the bag and cup—and enjoy your goods at one of the coffee bar’s tables or take them with you as you continue to shop Maplewood.
Jamie Jeschke and Gio Sparks, the founders and two of the three owners, met in church back in the 90’s, where they discovered they had similar interests in home roasting coffee. While they kept their day jobs when they first started roasting, they were excited about the prospect of doing more and good: “We could really try to promote fair trade and fresh roasted coffee,” Jeschke explained about the inspiration behind the business’ mission.
Toward that end, they work with a broker whom they trust to sell them beans from farms where workers are treated fairly. The Fair Trade labels and certifications (there are several) help the consumer know that the growers and workers are receiving a good wage. Evident in the business’ name (La Cosecha is Spanish for “harvest”) is the interest in their products’ origins. Sparks traveled throughout Guatemala with his wife, visiting five coffee growing regions, to understand as much as he could about “the greens,” or unroasted beans, and entire growing process. The couple stayed on primitive farms and met with several growers, “primarily to get inside their heads,” Sparks explained.
Visiting the roastery and bar, one can see that they’ve come a long way from experiments with hot-air popcorn poppers and empty Foster beer cans, MacGyvered with clamps. (Sparks joked that his neighbors must have thought he was cooking meth when he was brewing at home thanks to the clouds of aromatic smoke billowing from his house.) An impressive, sleek Diedrich drum roaster (above) takes up a good chunk of real estate in the shop. Of the roaster, Sparks said, “This was our stimulus package,” and they can roast up to 24 pounds of coffee at a time.
In 2006, well before they entered into collaboration with Steve Jawor, the Maplewood Great Harvest’s owner, Jeschke and Sparks began selling the product of their home roasting. They met Jawor several years later, and he began using their coffee. When Jawor moved his bakery from Olivette to Maplewood in 2013, it made sense to share the space with Jeschke and Sparks, who had been looking for a store front.
At the same time, Jeschke and Sparks brought Gregory Lowe on board (at right) as the third owner. Lowe, who had prior hospitality experience, manages the store and lends his creativity to the products’ labelling and packaging. (Coincidentally, they also met Lowe at church.)
During our interview with Sparks and Jeschke, Jawor stopped by the table to say hello. Of the collaboration, Jawor said, “It’s worked out really nice.” Sparks noted, however: “We still can’t get him to try any coffee.” Although he gets up every day at 3:30 AM to begin baking, Jawor does not drink coffee but loves the smell of it. In fact, La Cosecha’s coffee is one of the only things he can still smell after 13 years of baking. Between the two businesses, they are able to stay open 7 days a week; La Cosecha sells Great Harvest’s goods when the latter is closed on Mondays, and Great Harvest sells La Cosecha’s coffee, when they’re closed on Sundays. Jawor also uses the coffee in brownies, scones, and biscotti.
With the emphasis on Fair Trade and organic coffee, some customers have complained about the higher prices that accompany those designations. Others understand all that is involved behind the Fair Trade label and don’t mind paying a bit more for the products. Incentives exist as well, including bean cards and offers like buy a pound and get a free coffee (the daily offering) or buy two pounds and get any drink for free.
La Cosecha is in good company in Maplewood, where other business owners, like Chris and Abbie Bolyard of Bolyard’s Meat & Provisions, are dedicated to offering high-quality products that are produced ethically and sustainably. At the coffee roastery, for example, along with the attention paid to growers and fair wages, spent grounds are saved in buckets for area gardeners who like to add them to soil and compost, and the burlap bags that hold the greens are given to FORAI Crafts, a local non-profit organization that helps immigrant and refugee women gain crafting skills to start microbusinesses.
In addition to having several different offerings on hand, both to take home in a bag or drink in the store, La Cosecha’s owners recently debuted flash brewed iced coffee. In the Japanese style of brewing iced coffee, the flash brewing allows a higher temperature, which in turn extracts more flavor and aroma. The coffee is brewed into ice, where it’s instantly cooled, and then transferred to a keg and poured from a tap. Nitrogen is added to remove oxygen, so that the coffee stays fresh longer. The end result, according to Sparks is “smoother, more refreshing than cold press.”
The flash brewed iced coffee was launched in March at the annual Maplewood Coffee Crawl, where 25 gallons were brewed in anticipation for the crowd (estimated to be around 1000 people). The single tap at the bar will soon be joined by another bearing a creamier iced coffee, like a Guiness without the carbonation. Also in the works are non-alcoholic mixed drinks such as a take on the Dark & Stormy: ginger beer and espresso with bubbles.
For those who want to participate first-hand in roasting coffee, La Cosecha offers a class on the second Saturday of each month. Under Sparks’ guidance, participants get to work the Diedrich roaster and take home their freshly roasted coffee at the end of the class.
When describing the goal behind having both a small coffee bar and roastery, Jeschke said, “People can feel a part of something but don’t have to spend all day here.” That philosophy fits perfectly in Maplewood, where it’s impossible to visit only one business when so many others beckon.
In another philanthropic gesture, on the third Tuesday of every month, La Cosecha now donates 50 percent of its sales to a community member in need, a program they call Share the Harvest. This month, the benefactor is The Book House, an independent bookseller that must raise $10,000 by the end of June to remain in business.
Here’s to you, La Cosecha… We’ve marked our calendars for June 16, a week from today.
La Cosecha Coffee Roasters
7360 Manchester
Maplewood
314-440-0337
Mon: 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Tue – Sat: 7 a.m. – 3 p.m.
