Vendor Spotlight: Bluebeard Coffee Roasters
It’s no secret that we love Bluebeard coffee here at TPC Tacoma. They are our exclusive coffee vendor here at our Tacoma coworking space and a beloved fixture in the Tacoma small business community! Read on for an interview with founder Kevin McGlocklin.
Bluebeard has definitely made a mark for themselves as an institution here in Grit City. How long has the roastery been around? I’m also curious what made you choose Tacoma over Seattle as your home base?
The roastery has been up and running since April of 2011. So, we’re nearly 10! It seems so obvious now, but initially we chose Tacoma because we dug the people and place. It feels special to us. That’s been cemented ten-fold in our eleven years here and I could expound here for hours, but it boils down to the people who choose to be here; who fight for Tacoma; who take pride in its work-hard, play-hard ethos; who revel in the historic overlooking of the City of Destiny; who believe in the strength and potential of Tacoma’s racial, cultural and economic diversities. You’ll like Tacoma, and if you don’t, good riddance.
On that note, the cafe itself has such great energy; it’s always bustling (when allowed to be open). What do you think helps to create this sort of welcoming environment?
I hope folks see that we’re people who like people. We can teach the coffee part. And we try to be a reflection of our place and community -- there’s no specific Bluebeard kind of person, we hope. I think we see that in our customers and co-workers. And this is a thing we can always be more mindful of, the enormous challenges folks are facing in our own backyard right now, and how can we individually and collectively make a positive impact. We’re imperfect, but I think we’re part of what makes Tacoma a place you’ll like.
Can you tell us a little bit more about how you got your start in the coffee industry? What about this industry is exciting to you?
I personally started in coffee doing wholesale coffee at Lighthouse Roasters in Fremont (Seattle). I’d worked several years as a writer and editor and my cousin Ed Leebrick recruited me into working with him. It goes back farther than that, as I’d been focused on Latin America in my undergrad years, and studied and traveled a fair amount in the Spanish speaking world. Coffee is fascinating and complex both in its flavors and effects, and as a huge, complex and vitally important thing to so many folks in parts of the world which are more cash strapped and in need of living dividends for wonderfully grown coffee.
What sets Bluebeard apart from other roasteries?
In short, it’s a wonderful balance of flavors and development in your cup. Overall, Bluebeard is unique in its small size and wide skill set. There are companies that source well, pay good money for their coffees, compensate their employees fairly, have delicious coffee, and present their coffees well; but none that combine all of those things in a little company with limited resources who also represent their city and community well. It’s on us to continue to do a better job of telling the story of these coffees, and coffee people, roasted in this place.
This is a tough time to say the least for so many small businesses in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. What would you say is the biggest obstacle for your team at this time?
Making the ongoing adaptations to maintain revenue to keep our team employed and intact has been super challenging. The flip side of that lens has been finding new novel ways to offer our customers a thing they want and need, and a good way to procure it. The continued support from Tacomans and coffee drinkers wherever they are (bluebeardcoffee.com!) has meant the world. Thank you!
Has our current situation shed any light on things you’d like to implement moving forward, or have you been inspired by something in particular during this time?
I’ve never been so jealous of drive thru businesses, perhaps. And companies with great outdoor gathering space. It’s led us to be more thoughtful about our online presence. Overall, yes. We should all be rethinking who we are and what we do pretty critically, now more than ever.
Finally, do you have any tips you can share for making better coffee at home? :)
Of course. Get a burr grinder -- that’s probably the single biggest move the home coffee brewer can undertake to make more consistently good and great coffee at home. Of course, buy great locally and/or recently roasted coffee. We have a recurring Bluebeard Coffee Subscription, for instance. And a scale helps. A 17-1 ratio of water to coffee grounds by weight is a pretty golden ratio, however you filter coffee.
Photo: Effie Gurmeza. TPC Member’s Coffee Cupping event hosted by Bluebeard, 2019.
Fill in the blank!
__Ho Soon Yi__ is the best kept secret in Tacoma.
When I’m not at work, you can find me __In Puget Sound__.
__Salmon Beach___ is highly underrated.
___Driving North of I-5__ is highly overrated.
A perfect weekend starts with __En Rama and Wooden City__ and ends with __Hanks__.
Thank you Kevin!