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Log
Cabin Coffee
by Keith Tomlinson, Peace Coffee Head Roaster
 I'm
at the North
House Folk School
in Grand Marais, at the end of the fourth day of a
five day class on the basics of log
cabin building.
Normally, every morning at Peace Coffee when I
arrive to start the roaster, I help start myself
with a single shot of espresso. Here at the folk
school I have been beginning the morning with a
cup of French Roast coffee that they have brewed
and provided for us. Starting the day in this new
way gets me thinking about that first cup of
coffee and the role it plays in getting us moving
and ready for work.
This
morning it was -15 degrees as I walked into the
long building that is a converted Department of
Natural Resources (DNR) garage. The southern part
of the building is where the first four rounds of
a log built sauna sits. The north part of the
building holds a small kitchen area, where my
adopted mug, a short white mug with blue and gray
rings on the inside rim, and an airpot of dark
roasted coffee sits. I typically tend to drink a
light roast when I have brewed coffee, but I have
to say I think there is something to the thick
body and big aftertaste of the dark roast to match
with a hardy breakfast kicking off a day of hard
labor.
So,
when I find my way home later this week, as a
thanks for the hospitality and education, I'm
going to send a pound of our French Roast coffee
up here to be brewed and enjoyed by people
learning to make canoes, or timber framing, or
baking artisan bread, or to continue axing away at
this sauna that I've put a few days effort into.
The subtly bright beginning of this Peruvian bean
can be felt on the sides of the tongue, but it
quickly takes a turn into rich creamy dark
chocolate on the back of the tongue leaving a
coating in the mouth and pleasant aftertaste.
It'll help me feel like I've contributed something
substantial to the students of North House Folk
School's morning and hopefully support them in
carrying on in the hard work they will be doing
and in learning to carry on important folk
knowledge.
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