Nothing helps you rise and shine better than a fresh, hot cup of coffee. Nothing ends a meal, gives you a break at work, or extends an invitation to gather with friends in your downtime quite like one either.
National Coffee Day is Tuesday, September 29. It’s a day to celebrate the beloved beverage and all the many things it means to us. From the early-morning ritual of waking up to its enticing aroma and the jolt that powers us through our day, coffee certainly causes a buzz. Paradoxically, coffee also slows us down and gives us a reason to sit and sip a cup as we share good conversation in a café or at home with friends and family. Most importantly, coffee creates a sense of community many of us find lacking in our busy, screen-filled world.
Coffee Connects Communities
Nestled in the Yadkin River Valley halfway between North Carolina’s High Country and Winston-Salem is the small town of Elkin. Among the businesses on its charming Main Street is a new café called Milk & Honey Coffee Co. It features a seasonal menu of artisanal lattes made with house-roasted coffees and an assortment of scratch-baked pastries, bagels, breads, and cookies brought in fresh daily. The space itself is modern yet intimate, with sidewalk seating, large storefront windows lined with bench seating, and a cozy loft overlooking the coffee bar.
Soul Godfrey is one of the baristas there. She has worked at Milk & Honey for just over a year, nearly as long as the café has been open in Elkin, but she has been a barista for the past nine years.
Soul spent much of the time before her current role living in Boone, where she worked at several restaurants and cafés in the area. While Soul loves her new café and its setting, she still feels a strong connection to the High Country and visits frequently.
Photo taken at Venture Chocolate + Wine, Co., 605 West King Street, Downtown Boone.
“I really liked working in Downtown Boone,” Soul said. “It was a lot of fun because when you work there, you know everyone and it feels like a community. Boone has every type of activity you could want, like lakes, rivers, trails, bowling, gem mining, restaurants, and shopping for every imaginable aesthetic. I’d always go to the Mast Store to shop for my winterwear. Everyone at Mast was so kind, and it also gave me a reason to check out the fun candy section while I was there!”
One of Soul’s favorite places to visit on her trips back up the mountain is Valle Crucis, home of the Original Mast Store, where one of her close friends lives.
“Valle Crucis has one of the most beautiful parks I’ve ever been to,” Soul said referencing the Valle Crucis Community Park directly behind the Mast Store Annex. “There, we’d play soccer, roller skate, float on the river, walk, and make chalk art. We even had several of our birthday parties at the park.”
She described the impressions Valle Crucis left on her memory, “There’s something about that specific area that has the perfect temperature, and the sky seems so endless, so massive, and so artistic. It’s the best place to see an amazing sunset. I’ve been there so many times with friends, and I head back there as often as I can.”
For Soul, feeling connected to places and people is just as important in her work as it is in her personal life.
“Being a barista gives me a chance to engage with my community,” Soul explains. “It teaches me a lot about communication because you never know what someone who’s walking through the door is dealing with when they come in for their cup of coffee. Once you learn how to communicate, you form connections with people, especially the customers you see every day, and that helps you maintain timing, create art, and work in a flow and as a part of a team. It’s what being a barista is all about.”
According to Soul, the café environment itself is conducive to creativity because of the rituals and social interactions that surround coffee.
“Cafés are great places to meet people. Whether you’re behind the counter making drinks or getting together with friends, they’re spaces where you have the opportunity to interact and create experiences with each person there,” Soul said.
Soul notes, too, that keeping a café routine enriches you most if it doesn’t confine you to only one place and one menu.
“If coffee is part of your daily ritual, you should lean into it and go out to all the coffee shops in your area. That allows you to see the different forms of creativity in your community. There are so many types of coffee roasts, blends, and drinks that you shouldn’t limit yourself to only one café,” Soul advises.
“Keep an open mind, don’t be afraid to try new things, experiment with flavors that develop your palate, and support multiple local businesses in the process.”
The variety of cafés in a region is as diverse as the coffees they serve, the people who frequent them, and the communities they’re a part of. For Soul, the experience of visiting as many local cafés as she can not only strengthens the community aspect of coffee, but also makes her feel more unique, confident, and creative as an individual.
“I still love my friends at cafés in the High Country like ‘E’ News, Hatchet Coffee, and Venture Chocolate and Wine. Each of those places offers something different and very special,” Soul said, “But I also love my new home at Milk & Honey and the town of Elkin. I’m happy people here recognize me now because I’ve served them a coffee. It’s important to feel welcome and seen in any coffee shop or community.”
Tips to Brew Like a Barista
Even when you’re not ordering a drink at your favorite café, you can still brew a cup of coffee like a barista at home! Sometimes, after all, spending a weekend morning with a mug of fresh coffee tastes best when you don’t have to get out of your pajamas.
Here’s a brief barista Q&A with Soul to make sure your home-brewed coffee tastes its best:
In your opinion, what’s the best method to brew a cup of coffee at home?
“For me, a French press is the best way to brew coffee at home. It’s simple to use and gives you a very pure coffee taste. It also works very well with a coarse- or medium-coarse grind, which is how most pre-ground coffee is packaged. It’s best, though, to grind your own whole beans at home because it gives you a fresher taste and lets you adjust the strength of your coffee.
“French presses have lots more advantages, too. They’re relatively inexpensive, they cut down on waste because they don’t need paper filters, they brew enough to share with a friend or two, and they’re fast and easy to clean. With all those things considered, they’re the perfect life hack, especially for college students!”
Barista Pro Tip: When grinding whole beans at home, use a finer grind if you prefer a stronger cup, and for a weaker cup, make the grind coarser.
How can I make sure my cup of coffee at home tastes as fresh as it does in a café?
“Fresh-roasted coffee has a shelf life. The sooner you drink it after it’s ground, the more flavorful it will be. If your coffee is pre-ground, look for an expiration or ‘Best By’ date on the package before you purchase it. Also, once you’ve opened the package, don’t let it sit in your cabinet for more than two months.”
What is the difference between light roasts, medium roasts, and dark roasts?
“Lighter roasts tend to have more floral and fruity notes. They’re crisper, more palatable, and easier to sip. Medium roasts are more balanced and generally feature notes of chocolate, almonds, caramel, and sugar. The café where I work specializes in light and medium roasts. We have only one dark roast, which is reminiscent of a diner-style coffee. It has notes of toasted sugar and dark chocolate. It would make a grandpa happy. Whichever roast you prefer, I’d advise drinking your coffee black first before you add any cream or sweetener. Take time to sip it slowly and let it coat your tongue. That way, you’ll teach yourself how to taste its specific notes.”
Barista Pro Tip: A coffee’s tasting “notes” are characteristics inherent to the natural bean and the process by which it’s roasted. The notes refer to the coffee’s acidity, body, bitterness or sweetness, and flavor profile. They do NOT refer to flavoring agents added to natural coffee beans used to create flavored coffees.
Is it true that light roast coffees contain more caffeine than other roasts?
“No, not necessarily. It’s kind of a common myth among coffee connoisseurs that light roasts have more caffeine, but the amount of caffeine in a coffee really depends on the surface area of the bean. Dark roasts are roasted longer than medium or light roasts, and the beans tend to puff up and become less dense the longer they’re roasted. So, if you use a certain number of scoops in each of your brews, a lighter roast will have a denser scoop than a darker roast, and, therefore, it will contain more caffeine. If you get very specific and use a scale to weigh your beans before you brew them, the amount of caffeine should be relatively the same no matter the roast.”
What category of coffee does espresso fall into?
“Espresso is a format of coffee. It isn’t a specific bean, blend, or roast. Any bean can be made as espresso, just like any bean can be made as a drip coffee. It all depends on how you grind the bean and how water is pushed through the grind.
“Espresso is a very fine grind, which produces what’s essentially a highly concentrated cup of coffee. The finely ground coffee is tamped down and compacted, then pressurized hot water is pushed through it quickly. The pressurized water running through the fine grounds as they release natural oils and carbon dioxide is what creates the beautiful crema – the thick, light brown foam – on top of an espresso shot. The whole process should take no more than 30 seconds.
“On the other hand, a drip coffee is more coarsely ground and water passes through it slower than espresso. I like to think of the difference between espresso and drip coffee as an ocean wave pushing through sand versus a slow-moving river running over large rocks in its bed.”
What should I do with all those used grounds after I brew my coffee at home?
“It’s important to manage your coffee. Put used grounds in the compost for your garden. Plants love your coffee waste! You could also make a nice exfoliating body scrub with your used grounds, or, if you’re really creative, use them to tie-dye clothes.”
What’s your secret to making an amazing cup of coffee?
“From a barista’s perspective, the best cup of coffee is one that’s well-stirred. Your coffee could be made with the most incredible ingredients, but if syrups sit on the bottom of your drink, they throw off its entire flavor profile. It’s a simple thing that even baristas sometimes forget in rush, but taking the time to stir a drink properly shows your customers that you care about them and their order, plus it gives you more time to interact with them, too. The same thing applies if you’re serving coffee to family or friends in your home. Stirring is caring.”
Our thanks to Soul for sharing her story and barista expertise! If you’re in Elkin, North Carolina, be sure to visit Milk & Honey Coffee Co., 206 East Main Street, Suite A, or its original location at 110 West Main Street, Yadkinville, North Carolina.
A Coffee for Every Cup
Mast Store Provisioners Coffees are roasted in Greenville, South Carolina, by West End Coffee Company, a roaster specializing in Fair Trade Organic Coffee. From smooth and mellow blends to rich dark roasts and sweet flavored coffees, there’s a cup for just about every mood.
On National Coffee Day, Tuesday, September 29, drop by your local Mast Store to sample selected roasts and take 25% off each one-pound variety available in stores and Mast Store Online.
Here are some brief descriptions of Mast Store Provisioners Coffees you might find us brewing and tasting for the occasion:
Toasted Carolina Pecan is a smooth blend of toasted Southern pecans, sweet vanilla, and rich caramel. With its warm, dessert-like flavor, it makes a natural choice for an after-dinner cup.
Mast Store Provisioners House Blend is a smooth, rich medium roast made from four Central and South American coffees. It’s an easygoing, well-balanced blend that works especially well as a morning cup.
Jamaican Me Crazy® is a flavored island-inspired blend with notes of Kahlúa, caramel, and hazelnut. It’s sweet, aromatic, and has become one of Mast Store’s most popular flavored coffees.
The Appalachian Blend is a medium-bodied, semi-dark roast that brings together earthy Sumatran Mandheling and crisp Colombia Supremo. The result is a balanced cup with plenty of character.
Smoky Mountain Blend is a dark West Coast-style roast with a smooth, smoky, nutty flavor. Full-bodied and complex, it’s a satisfying choice when you’re looking for something a little bolder.
Bourbon Praline Pie brings dessert to the coffee cup, with a smooth flavor reminiscent of pecan pie topped with bourbon caramel glaze. Rich and unmistakably Southern, it’s a sweet way to end the day.
A favorite during the holiday season, Jingle Bell Java is a delightful caramel-flavored roast with just a hint of toasted pecan and buttery rum to add a cup of cheer to frosty mornings.
We look forward to seeing you on National Coffee Day! Come by for a free sample, pick up a bag of Mast Store Provisioners Coffee at 25% off its original price, and visit a local café while you’re out. Having a coffee is more than catching a caffeine buzz, after all… It’s sharing a drink, a gathering place, and a moment with people who create a community.