I realize that Forge has not posted to this blog in quite a while…  I guess it’s time again!

First of all… we are still here. We’ve just been very busy, and the blog tends to get the least amount of attention.  Thanks to everyone who has supported our local small business this far.  We have made small victories in our growth along the way, and hope to keep getting our coffee out there to new places it hasn’t been yet.  You can buy Forge Coffee in a couple of small local grocery stores now, we have a presence at two farmer’s markets throughout the week, and we participate in special events whenever we can.  We truly appreciate your repeat business and your encouraging compliments. Nothing makes us feel like we are making a difference more than one of our customers taking a drink of our coffee for the first time, pausing, then saying, “oh… that’s goooood.”  It makes us smile.

This is the fuel that keeps us going at midnight on a friday when we have five more batches to roast, or when we have to wake up the next morning at 5:30am to load and travel to the farmer’s market.  Starting a business isn’t easy, and it’s even harder when you are bootstrapping it on limited funds and your own tenacity.  Every positive moment counts, and our customers… you… have been very generous.  Thank you!

What’s in a name?
As Don Draper might say, “everything”, in a cutting and serious tone that would make anyone want to pull out their wallet and write him a fat check on the spot.

We mulled over many names for our coffee company. This was a process that lasted several months. Some of the rejected names, Quirk Coffee (too geeky), Colossus (we don’t want to be big), Krakatoa (everyone would ask, “east of Java?”), Ground Floor (sounds unsanitary, bonus points for coffee pun) all didn’t fit what we were trying to add to the local community, and their enjoyment and education of the coffee world.

We settled on Forge.
A blacksmith will take ore, un-attractive rocks that appear to have no potential, and put it through a refining process. Through the application of heat, pressure, and force, the smith can produce a sword of unparelled beauty, nothing like the ore it came from. It is how the craftsman handles that ore, the knowledge and the art that is applied that results in something so different and desirable.

We do the same to coffee beans.
Our beans arrive green, dried, covered in a husk called chaff. They stink, they are waxy and hard as rocks.  Completely inedible.  It’s only when I apply heat and a craftsman’s hand to the green bean that it results in something unique and special.  All of those months of toil on the part of the farmer are brought to the surface.  The qualities of the plant become identifiable.  Aromatics that simply did not exist, now are inexplicably there.  The heat pulls away the cover and discerns good coffee from bad.  We put green beans into the roaster, and get something entirely different out.  Every time I roast, it’s magical to me, almost on the level of alchemy.  This is why I love coffee.  This is why I founded Forge.  This is why I hope you enjoy the coffee experience we are offering to you.

Welcome to the Forge coffee blog.  We are a very small micro-roaster specializing in the “best of the best” coffee.  We deal with small lots of extremely high quality beans from carefully selected sources, then roast them by hand in small controllable batches to bring you a truly unique experience.

Please come taste our coffee and take home some beans, so you can experience Forge for yourself.  We will be at the Sherman Oaks Farmers Market on Sepulveda behind the Galleria parking structure on Saturday, September 24th from 8am-1pm.