Our focus has always been first on the people. We have accounts throughout North America that we provide coffee, equipment, and consulting through, so we spend our time in our WeWork space doing tastings, meeting with customers, doing beta testing of equipment, research and development, and all kinds of fun things. That’s our East Coast base essentially for providing support to our East Coast wholesale accounts. Now we have an office in Washington, D.C. We’ve become very focused on creating an experience around coffee. That was the premise that Madcap is based off of, and from the beginning, we had a focus on working directly with producers we sourced coffee from, highlighting their stories, and we wanted to take an approach that showed that every cup of coffee has a story. So there was a big draw there to focus on that and create an experience that was all relational at all levels. It was in 2008 when I founded Madcap in Grand Rapids, Michigan.Īt that time, I had become obsessed with coffee and everything that goes along with it-being a very global product that’s very much relational, from producing farmers onwards. So Madcap was my third attempt at my own cafe/roaster concept and part of my team, when I started, was comprised of people who’d worked for me in my previous businesses. Before Madcap, I’d actually tried to start a few other cafe/roaster business concepts, both of which didn’t work for a variety of reasons (as those startups tend to do). I’ve been working in coffee now for almost 16 years. Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got started with Madcap Coffee. Read on to learn about starting your own coffee brand, what it’s like to see your coffee on social media, and more. A fellow Midwesterner like me, the WeWork Chinatown member’s passion for coffee extends to sourcing beans and presenting them in beautifully designed packaging. Who doesn’t love a great cup of coffee? When I saw Trevor Corlett’s Madcap Coffee tasting events happening here at WeWork, I had to reach out to learn more. And, he said it all comes down to good beer, good fun and - hopefully in the future - good food.In this series, WeWork’s director of digital community selects a WeWork member to get to know better, sharing her fun findings with the rest of the community. The culture clash, Holmes said, is all positive at MadCap. “They grabbed their beer and turned around and said, ‘Where are we sitting?’ And the older couple - I mean, the lady was knitting and the husband is reading some thick novel, - said ‘Come sit down next to us.’” “We had an older couple sitting at this table, and we had a couple of girls come in decked out in black and fishnets, ready to go to a metal show,” Holmes said. One of Holmes’ favorite parts of working at MadCap, bridging the younger scene with the older crowd. Throw in some giant wooden picnic tables, vintage pinball machines and a deck of cards for every table, and the spot is ideal for lovers of the brew. The building’s conversion features eight MadCap beers on tap, as well as a selection of cold brew coffee by Bent Tree Roasters. The building’s sheer size allowed for the crew to expand the brewing system from three barrels to 10 - and throw in some life-sized Jenga games for guests. The next step in growing the business came with an expansion after purchasing the old Consolidated Mold and Manufacturing building on Mogadore Road. Holmes noted that Ray’s is one of the longest supporters of his brew.Īfter landing a few spots in local bars in Northeast Ohio, Holmes knew it was time to expand from the “meet demand” mindset into a “make demand” mindset, testing out new flavors and variations of their original craft.Ĭurrently, featured flavors like the Golden Flash Ale, an interpretation of German-style beer, and the iconic Bad Leroy Brown Ale, a caramel-like traditional American Ale, include a few twists on classic beer styles. This cuts the cost of sourcing and shipping.Īdditionally, Creech said the bartenders consistently recommend MadCap to travelers seeking a local craft India Pale Ale while dining at Ray’s. Supporting the local scene is something MadCap is familiar with, as it sources most of its malts from down the road at LD Carlson Company. “Especially a nano brewery just a few miles away.” “It’s a good product and it’s always good to support local breweries,” Creech said. Tom Creech, a manager at Ray’s, keeps the Bullet IPA from MadCap on their tap system full time. One of the first bars to reach out to MadCap was Ray’s Place in downtown Kent.
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