Grounded is one of my new favorite spots in Willimantic, and I was lucky enough to chat with Nick Bentley, QC Manager, and Barista Trainer. Nick gave me a quick education on what's what in the coffee world.
One of his favorite things about Grounded, and probably one of mine too, is the non-judgy atmosphere. Coffee shops of this caliber are generally aggressively pretentious, but Grounded's low-key atmosphere allows for customers to feel comfortable asking about the blends, the menu, anything. I'm just getting back into coffee, and am not at all up on blending ratios or any of that, but it's not stressful asking here. He believes in being nice to customers, which is kind of uncommon in the coffee world. He says all the menu wording is very intentional, and that he loves how clean, friendly, and inclusive Grounded is making good coffee. I asked Nick, as an uneducated consumer, in his expert opinion, in what ways are we ruining coffee. Apparently, one of the biggest ways we're fucking up coffee is the Keurig. According to Nick, not only is the Keurig a huge source of waste, ecologically speaking, but the brewer also warps brewing ratios. Nick put it in simple terms- first, the coffee in the pods is already stale. It's ground nearly years in advance, and by the time it gets to you, it's old. That staleness makes it weak, so initially you're brewing stale weak coffee. You also know nothing about the beans they're using, and that leaves you completely uneducated about the product you're consuming. Then, when you consider the size options most Keurigs offer, the larger sizes are just adding more water to the same amount of coffee. This twists the brewing ratio to around 1 to 16 grams, which is pretty weak. You're essentially diluting coffee that's weak as is. It's not great. Nick was never a coffee fiend growing up, but it all started when he attended Soulfest, in NH, a multi-day music fest with jam packed days. Nick decided 'Alright, I'm gonna drink coffee..' and he was all in by the end of the week. He started drinking it black, and that's still his favorite. He progressively got more and more into it, and learned more and more on the way. His favorite regional blends hail from Kenya and Ethiopia, and he loves the vibrant citric, fruity flavors. He likes his coffee complex, light, refreshing, and most of all fun.
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