Roast, Inc: Craft Roasted Coffee

   A hot beverage is the second best way to start any morning.  Coffee is my personal choice of morning drinks, although I do not limit my consumption to just mornings.  I am a morning person there is no doubt about that.  When I wake up I am awake, but I still love that little caffeine pick-me-up.  Also, the feeling of a warm mug in chilly hands is delightful.  (I get cold when I sleep, so my hands are chilly when I wake up, year round.)

   A couple weeks ago at the Franklin Farmers' Market, I bought 1 lb of Roast, Inc Guatemalan coffee.  It was in impulse buy because we literally have 4 lbs of coffee in the freezer.  As I walked by their stand on a pretty, sunny fall morning, the smell of a beautifully brewed coffee wafted pass me.  It made my knees a little week.  The smell of coffee holds so many memories for me that I can't help it.  I did a sort of U-turn and was almost knocked over by this gorgeous, huge mastiff (who's owners are at the market almost every weekend.)  I looked at my mom and said "I am buying some of this!"  Apparently, I felt the need to declare my imminent purchase less she try to stop me in favor of keeping a rational amount of coffee in the house.

   Guatemalan jumped out at me first.  I love single origin Central American coffees, and the nice man assured me that is was a great coffee.  He had run out of sample brewed Guatemalan, but had Peaberry.  I had a sample.  It was bright, sharp and acidic the way a good Peaberry coffee should be.  If you can roast a decent Peaberry coffee, I will assume your other coffees are also good.  Since 2 lbs of the coffee in our freezer is Peaberry, I didn't hesitate about the Guatemalan.  It is smooth, rich, and widely appealing.  Even if you are only a casual coffee-drinker, you will refill your cup again and again with the Guatemalan.  We went through the pound in about 10 days (and that is with only three of us drinking it.) 

   The coffee is a little on the expensive side at $11-15 a lb, but so worth it.   It is what you would expect to pay for a premium, gourmet large-scale roasted whole bean coffee at specialty stores.   Roast, Inc ships in fresh, unprocessed berries from around the world.  All the roasting takes place in their one shop on Trousdale Dr; they refer to themselves as "micro-local".  Even though the business has only been up and running for a few months, the owner Brad Wood, knows his stuff.  I can't wait to try the other varieties!

Roast, Inc

 4825 Trousdale Dr. Suite 211

Nashville, TN 37220

Check out their Facebook Page!

PS-- Dear Mr. Wood, 

If you have happened to stumble on this by chance, I think it would be really great if you started shipping your amazing coffees nationwide so that people outside the Nashville area may enjoy your roasts!

Sincerely, 

Lauren