What Is “Modern Coffee”?
“Modern Coffee” is a promise.
Coffee has gone through numerous waves since its industrialization in the late 1800s. Prior to the turn of the century coffee was a luxury afforded to royalty, but post industrial revolution became a mass produced commodity available at every diner, drug store and home kitchen. This was the first wave.
In the 1970’s some roasters began to place an emphasis on quality and sourcing as a way to differentiate themselves. Some of these brands became wildly successful and still exist to this day, with many regional and local stores opening in the decades that followed. This was the second wave.
And then again in the early 2000’s, as globalization took hold, many roasters began to dedicate themselves to sourcing what became widely known as “specialty coffee”. Groups like the Specialty Coffee Association founded in 1982 became champions of sustainability, fair trade practices, and beverage presentation, squarely positioning coffee as a craft, artisanal product.
Smooth Coffee Co. is undoubtedly a specialty coffee roaster. But we want to go further and have chosen the banner phrase “Modern Coffee” as a promise of our commitment to everything specialty coffee and more.
To us, specialty coffee is defined by its commitment to product quality and representation of coffee producers at origin. This is our standards baseline, so we commit to sourcing exceptional coffees from exceptional people and roasting it with respect to their work.
To excel beyond specialty we also commit to the following:
1) Every ounce of effort we put into sourcing and roasting will be matched with education and training for absolutely anyone who engages with us. Patrons, wholesale clients, employees, other roasters, etc. Rising tides raise all ships.
2) We will match those efforts with an exceptional quality of service to all who engage with us. We are stewards of both this incredible agricultural product and of our community, and we will treat all involved in the process with curiosity, empathy, and respect.
3) We will advocate for these standards at every step of the process and hold our partners to those standards in equal measure. We will also provide every resource possible to ensure our partners have what they need to meet those standards.
OUr Commitments
Smooth Coffee Co. was founded in 2024 by Owner/Roaster Noah “da Roastah” Reeves.
“My first exposure to specialty coffee was at my first coffee shop job, which was also my first service industry job. During my interview the owner and GM brewed a V60 of a washed Ethiopia Worka and… that was it.
That shop was growing quickly and I started bagging coffee twice a week. That lead to learning how to roast and eventually I was promoted to Lead Production Roaster, which was my title for about a year before leaving to explore more of the service industry, and myself.
I bounced around for another two years between breweries, wine tasting rooms, bakeries, a Michelin Starred restaurant, but a backburner dream of opening my own roastery burned throughout that time. Eventually I picked up a refurbished sample roaster and things quickly got out of hand. A week later I had a 30kg bag of green coffee living on my 400sqft apartment’s kitchen counter, was passing out samples to anyone who would take them, and thus the snowball began to roll.
Now, here at the bottom of the first mountain, I am nothing if not grateful for all those who have been a part of the journey. This business is for you, for all, and I cannot wait for us to share a cup of Smooth coffee together.
Nothing but love,
Noah
“
