It's well documented how a coffeehouse can help reinvigorate a neighborhood. Bongo Java gave a caffeinated shot in the arm to Belmont, Frothy Monkey and Portland Brew helped wake up 12South, and Crema got people buzzing about Rutledge Hill, to name just a few local coffee catalysts. Now Brian Hicks, executive director of Harvest Hands Community Development Corp., is looking even further up the caffeinated supply chain, betting on coffee beans to stimulate a community.
A longtime coffee hobbyist who dabbled in roasting his own brews, Hicks realized that an artisan roasting operation could work well with Harvest Hands' dual goals of teaching young people about entrepreneurship and generating income to plow back into South Nashville. "We wanted to find a way to keep dollars turning over in our own neighborhood," says Hicks, who lives around the corner from Harvest Hands with his wife Courtney, who also works for Harvest Hands. He pitched the idea to the philanthropic community and got an enthusiastic response from former Dollar General chief Cal Turner, who offered to fund the purchase of a state-of-the-art Diedrich roaster. Thus was born Humphreys Street Coffee Co. in late 2009.
Named for the address of Harvest Hands, which occupies the former Humphreys Street United Methodist Church building, Humphreys Street imports beans from all over the world, which it roasts, packages and sells, branded with the simple woodcut logo of the landmark church building. Hicks attended an intensive roasting course hosted by the manufacturer of the machine, and he brought on former intern Luke Lancaster to serve as the chief roaster and youth program manager.
Lancaster now roasts between 150 to 200 pounds of coffee weekly in a back office in the basement of the erstwhile house of worship. The crowded but tidy room is packed with 125-pound bags of green coffee beans from Central America and Africa, which surround the gleaming $16,000 roasting device. Along the walls are concise sets of typed instructions specifying the process for packaging and labeling orders.
In a room adjacent to the roasting office, a pingpong table is folded in half beside a long communal table where neighbors gather weekly for a free luncheon provided by Brentwood United Methodist Church. In partnership with BUMC, Harvest Hands works to serve the diverse community comprising Wedgewood Houston, Vine Hill and Chestnut Hill, with after-school programs, summer camps, affordable housing and other outreach.
Humphreys Street Coffee Co. provides hands-on experience for young men in grades five through 12 participating in the MIMIC program, which stands for Men in Mentoring in Community. Through this program, Hicks and Lancaster work with more than a dozen young men from the surrounding neighborhood to teach a work ethic, entrepreneurship and financial skills. Lancaster manages the roasting, while the students lend manpower to processing orders and packaging and labeling roasted beans.
"Brian really includes the students in all aspects of the business," says Heath Henley, owner of Dose Coffee & Tea on Murphy Road, who remembers sitting down with Hicks and three MIMIC apprentices to discuss the business relationship between Dose and Humphreys Street. Henley and business partner Keith Steunebrink have carried Humphreys Street beans for a while, but this spring they made the entrepreneurs at Harvest Hands their primary suppliers.
"They understand the seasonality of green coffee," Henley says. "They understand that there is a window of opportunity to showcase a coffee's natural flavor." He and Steunebrink are working with Humphreys Street to compress the length of time between when the beans are harvested and brewed. Furthermore, he says, Humphreys Street has the responsiveness and flexibility to supply small amounts of beans that are in season. By contrast, many larger roasting companies require clients to place bulk orders, a restriction that might prevent Dose from rotating its menu as the seasons — and the tastes of the baristas — evolve. Finally, Henley adds, small artisan roasters are more willing to search out unusual products, such as the naturally processed Bali Kintamani currently available at Dose. The light roast with notes of chocolate and fruit is an unusual product for its region, Henley explains, because the beans are sun-dried with the fruit pulp still on — rather than washed and dried — allowing the beans to absorb flavors of the coffee berry.
So far, the relationship appears to be mutually beneficial. Hicks says Dose's standing order for between 130 and 150 pounds of coffee per week has catapulted Humphreys Street well above its financial projections for its first year, putting the fledgling mentoring program on its way to being a self-sustaining enterprise.
Humphreys Street's community outreach in South Nashville is all well and good for the clients at Dose, but Henley didn't just sign on to support a charity project. He respects the mission as well as the product, he says. "This is a legitimate artisan roaster, with all the tools and the passion you would expect to find."
Humphreys Street Coffee Co. beans are available at Dose Coffee & Tea (3431 Murphy Road) for $14 per pound and at Harvest Hands for $12 a pound.
Email arts@nashvillescene.com.
