The Roanoker Sept/October 2023 - 110

Dining
Hatter works with a top-of-the-line, threekilo
roaster from Mill City Roasters.
INSET: Gladheart's roasting room occupies
its own sealed space within the shop.
choose " crowd-pleaser " coffees, like the bestselling
Brazil Fazenda Furnas, a medium
roast chockful of rich notes of dried cherry
and dark chocolate. Hatter's personal favorite
is Ethiopian Limu, which he lauds for its
complexity and lemony acidity. For a smooth
sipper that blends the best of both worlds, try
Wilderness Road, a blend of Brazilian and
Ethiopian beans, which yields a smooth acidity
akin to red apples and notes of chocolate
and honey.
The roasted beans are packaged in handsome
matte black foil bags with a custom
logo printed in gold, designed by local artist
Alison Hatter (Hatter's sister-in-law co-owns
a studio with his brother). The bags are resealable,
so you can opt to get your beans ground
to your preferred brewing method: very fine
for Turkish coffee or an AeroPress, just past
medium coarseness for drip brew and a slightly
coarser grind for a French Press or Chemex.
Gladheart recently started selling brewed coffee
by the cup, too.
As with wine, there can be a sense of intimidation
around craft coffee. Hatter laments that
in American culture, coffee isn't treated with
the same reverence as elsewhere. " I think a lot
of people don't know what coffee is. It's a fruit.
And it's a seed from a fruit. And you roast it.
And you make it good. We're just so used to
bad coffee, " he says. " I still fight this. Jayson,
my business partner and best friend, works
in the fire department world. They see what
we're doing as some frou frou, fancy thing and
yet when we send them coffee, they push the
Folgers and Maxwell House aside. "
True to Gladheart's ethos, the owners want
their coffee to be as approachable as their
wine and beer assortment. One way they've
found success in demystifying wine is with
their Friday night tastings, when each week
features a different producer, region or style.
Hatter envisions Saturday morning coffee tastings
and cuppings, which coffee pros use to
evaluate the quality, aroma and flavor of several
coffees. " Cuppings are just fun-they're a
chance to slurp and be obnoxious for a purpose, "
Hatter says.
While a few staple coffees will be on rotation,
Hatter is looking forward to adding more
beans to the mix. There's a Columbian variety
he's particularly excited about, as well as
one from the Guatemalan Highlands that are
touted for their complexity and great acidity.
" We'll introduce more blends around the holidays,
and maybe funky unicorn coffees at that
time once we've built trust with people, " Hatter
says. He describes unicorn coffees as " big, crazy
coffees, " like what double IPAs are to the beer
world. More specifically, they are coffees that
either undergo unusual processing-like a carbonic
natural processed coffee-or are special
varietals, like Geisha, a low-yielding coffee
plant that bears fruit with intense flavors.
" Our whole goal of the shop is to be an
approachable place, " Hatter says. " So, we're trying
to make it a comfortable place to jump in
and enjoy buying and tasting new things. " I
LAYLA KHOURY-HANOLD is always looking for the next exciting bite-and relishes uncovering the story behind it. Her work has appeared on Saveur, Food Network and Refinery29
and in The Chicago Tribune, Drinks International and Our State. Follow her on Instagram @theglassofrose or on Twitter @glassofrose.
110
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2023
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