From Coffee Beans to Community with Michael Rice

I'm your host for today . People ask sometimes what is the reason , what is the theme behind the Good Neighbor podcast ? Well , our theme is because we want to bring an awareness to the residents living in our community regarding locally owned businesses . Here in the Chattanooga area , you know local businesses small local business , medium sized local businesses .

They're really the backbone of our community . If you take them , take them away , there's not much left . So we need to rely on them , we need to support them and show them that we appreciate them . And every local small business has a story to tell , and here at the Good Neighbor Podcast , we just want to help them .

Shout it from the rooftops , just loud and proud , and tell your story to the masses . So you know , we got one of our good neighbors here with us today . His name is Michael Rice , aka Mad Priest at Mad Priest Coffee Roasters . Welcome , michael . Thanks for being on the podcast today .

So it's awesome to be here and get to engage more with people , because that's how we thrive . We do most of our work here , locally .

So I didn't really plan on this .

So specialty coffee association , we're SCA certified green buyers , and a lot of that has to do with the fact that we wanted like a holistic integration where we truly are experts . A lot of times in this industry , with food and beverage , people don't fully understand the value of the education behind it .

You know you're not going to call a mechanic that you know doesn't have some sort of it . You're not going to call a mechanic that you know doesn't have some sort of certification . You're not going to go to a doctor . There's all these other trades that have to have that and this isn't really any different .

You can buy a roaster and learn to roast on your own . But I think there's value behind learning from people who've been doing this 30 plus years , for decades , and showcasing the fact that we want to be the best at this , simply because the coffee itself , the producers behind the coffee , deserve that .

We want to honor all the hard work because , at the end of the day , it is all about them . We want the caffeine , sure , but it is all about the people at the very end of the supply chain who started it and grew it , and we want to showcase that , honor that .

So we're part of not just the roasting process but also the green buying side , ensuring that there's actually ethical practices , that we're paying good farm gate prices , that there's transparency right , because at the end of the day , there's a lot that can get hidden once you start crossing barriers and oceans and logistics companies .

So we want to be able to not just honor them but also allow our consumers to learn about the fact that there's actual . You're voting with your dollars when you buy our coffee , you're actually participating in change with the producers .

That wasn't started off the backs of slaves and so , even though a lot of that has changed in the last hundred years , at the end of the day there's still this like economic impoverishment that has taken hold because , for example , about 70 percent of the green coffee supply chain is controlled by five companies . But you've got 25 million smallholder farmers .

So just imagine that imbalance of all these farmers with two to five hectares of land that make barely any coffee and can't make much money , and then these big conglomerates , usually run by white people , that just kind of dictate things .

And so we want to see that balance of power shift so that the people growing the coffee can actually not just put food on the table but send their kids to school , you know , and have the same things that we have here , that we kind of take for granted .

And so a lot of that from an economic perspective is saying well , let's start with what the actual cost is . What is the cost of production ? Because right now we base our coffee purchasing as a whole in the industry off of an invisible C market price run in New York .

Well , if that C market price dips below an actual cost of production per pound and this farmer doesn't have any say in that and they're getting paid per pound amount that's less than it actually cost them to produce I think we all know basic math . Oh yeah , and they already don't have much of it , and so we want to see that change .

And it's slow , it's hard . This is an extremely big boat , but it's going to take people like you know , lots of roasters like us and just that intentionality . But it also is with the consumers choosing to buy coffee at companies that do things like this and buy well .

The coffee industry in India at the time was blowing up . Starbucks had just planted their first shop in Delhi , so we were kind of on the cusp of something big and I just I loved it . I loved it from the people perspective .

It was like this is I'm a communicator , I'm a people person , I love to engage , and so coffee shop just made sense as far as having a medium to do that .

And so then when we moved back to the States , you know , came here , worked at the time it was Camp House , which is kind of still around through the Mission Chattanooga helped manage that shop for a while . But I needed more .

You know , I'm a driver , I'm a visionary , and Chattanooga is a small town and I just was like , well , you know , there's not a lot of opportunities for me to grow in my industry without moving somewhere , and we were already feeling settled and we love it here .

So , uh , I just started my own and since I mean learned so much more than I ever imagined as far as the industry goes , and we just keep evolving and shifting , you know and and mad priest as a company and as a name , from the beginning , philosophically was rooted in this idea of empowerment opportunities .

So when we first started , the name represented this idea of hiring refugees , and part of that came from the original novel of Count of Monte Cristo , which our name is rooted in , and so it's kind of just our DNA Like .

Since 2016 , that was a part of who we were and though that's shifted a little bit , we still work with refugees , but now we're a lot more focused on the product and the purchasing of that product and just a little more of a holistic approach to ensuring that all of our practices are as ethical as we can and just keep learning and growing .

You have heat and you have either a steel or cast iron drum that rotates , and part of the reason why that's important is consistency right .

Traditionally , if you go to Ethiopia , where coffee is from , coffee ceremony might be an open fire roasting ceremony but it's on a flat pan so you're kind of getting uneven roasting right , and that's part of that tradition and that culture .

But as far as knowing what we want to do , actually through like the caramelization and Maillard reaction process of essentially changing the chemicals of that bean , the acid and the sugar compounds , we want equal , equal heat , and so there's a lot of chemistry involved in the coffee roasting process . So if we know that we have basic heat , we have a drum .

now there's all these micro elements that go into that , as far as how hot , how long . That process , just like if you put sugar on a stove and you make caramel , right , it doesn't turn into caramel for a long time and it it can become just basic like sugar syrup for a while , and so it's the same thing .

It's just , you're basically taking all these sugar acid compounds which , by the way , coffee has the most amount of compounds in any food and drink more than wine , anything else . It is one of the most complex food items out there , and so we're still discovering so many cool things about it .

And so , as far as calling ourselves roasting experts , part of that is just the experimentation , the R&D , research and development .

We constantly cup our coffees , which is a process where we put our production coffees on a table , we cup them , we make sure everything turned out well , or if we want to change something , and so it's just , it's a whole process that we engage with , versus just throwing it into a big drum and then walking away . Uh , so it's .

You know my roaster when they're at their roaster , they're fully focused on that process , even though it's a little automated to make sure every little detail gets paid attention to along the way . So it's it's pretty intricate , to be honest yeah , sounds like it . Wow , so you've been you just buy a cup of coffee . You don't think about this stuff .

We're in public in tennessee , we're in walmart , we're in a couple whole foods , uh , so I think you know it's , it's a growing part of our business , but it's also one that , uh , I don't like to pay too much attention to , just from the perspective of like margins are thinner and sometimes you can't control the quality level of how long something sits in the

shop Right . So it's just a different beast and , at the end of the day , where we really shine and our bread and butter is that direct to consumer in our own shop , crafting those beverages , interacting with people too , cause I think that's a big part of our , our brand identity is like engaging with the community and with people .

So , we're just simplifying right now . So we have the one store on Broad which will be transitioning in about four to six months to a new location .

If you wish there was one thing you wish all our listeners knew , but they probably wouldn't know unless you shared it with them and you'd like to just state it loud and proud here today on the Good Neighbor Podcast , what would that be ?

It's that we live in a society which has valued and honored the wealthy , and if we continue down this path of voting with our dollars by buying from companies that all funnel up to the top , the opportunity of the American dream and truly to have financial freedom and to live a life that you want will be impossible .

And I think the economic inequality in this country is getting continually bigger and bigger , and one of the best ways to combat that is spending our money at places like local businesses and places that are doing good work . Sometimes it's good work locally , sometimes it's good work outside as well , sometimes it's give back programs .

But our money is what speaks , our money is what allows us to see change , and we have that ability , but it takes a lot of intention , it takes a lot of emotional energy , and so I think I want to speak for a lot of emotional energy , and so I think I want to speak for a lot of small businesses to say , like , when you buy something as minor as

chocolate , buy specific chocolate . When you buy certain groceries , buy locally , buy from farmers .

I know it's more expensive , but I think , at the end of the day , if we learn to balance what we're buying and how , we can see more opportunities for us and for future generations , which is sometimes hard to keep in our minds because it's not as present , but it's really , really important , and that goes as far as things like biodiversity and how we care about

the land and what we eat . So my , my biggest thing is just like buy good research , spend time educating yourself . I get that it takes time , but sometimes we just fall into that trap of kind of mindless entertainment and stuff and I do it too . It's not a judgment . I do it too , you know .

You know , uh , and , and you know it , it is hard sometimes , you know , on the weekends , you know a lot of , a lot of family owned stores . You know close and hey , I'll blame them , I would too , but you need to spend time with family , you need to rest and sometimes you may need something . You have to go somewhere to buy something .

Maybe you know that's not local , but but when we can , like you said , be intentional , shop local to try to support the local business , I found out there was a . There's a farm in Charleston that I can buy meat . You know , directly from the farm , and you know , I didn't know about it the other day , you know , so there's a lot of places .

There's a lot of places I'm sure I don't even know of yet , that I'm still trying to discover . You know that we can buy from and support local owned businesses , so man it's the best . That's why I appreciate what you're doing .

So I have access to understanding before you know .

I've met that , straight straight from a 16 year old that cooks , that bakes cookies in her house and sells them to businesses and anybody wants them , but she , she does all her marketing on Instagram . I've interviewed her up to up to lawyers that are local and you know doctors that are local and they , they all need the same support .

They need people supporting me and you know it's . It's amazing to have met you today and I've heard your story and I want to give you an opportunity , michael , to tell people how they can reach out , whether online or offline , how they can feel you'll find out more about you .

If you're local or downtown or past you , downtown is just on broad street , uh , right at 20th and broad uh , so you can check out the website , come by the shop and then keep an eye out for the new store too , because it's going to be really beautiful and we're really excited about that .

So hope to see people kind of trickling either in store , online and , uh , I'm I all my information's online as well . So I'm always happy to engage with people who have questions , thoughts .

We get a lot of questions on things like organic coffees or or uh metals in the , in the ground , you know , and those are all things that we invest our time learning so that we can give that information , education .

You know , to all the good neighbors of the greater Chattanooga region , after meeting Michael aka Mad Priest , and learning more about Mad Priest Coffee Roasters , I know he , if you think about it , long before the corporate giants got here , the people who supported us were the local businesses and we need to remember and support them now as well , because , you know ,

we do live in a day when more and more people are kind of getting walked on by corporate giants and I'm not fighting anybody , they employ local people too . I get it . More and more people are kind of getting walked on by corporate giants and I'm not fighting anybody . They they employ local people too . I get it .

But if we can shop local and support local and and direct for our money where we want it to go , the better off . We'll be no doubt about it .

So thanks again , michael being on the program and thank you all you listeners for taking time of your day to be with us , and you know listening listeners for taking time of your day to be with us and you know listening , taking time to listen to the Good Neighbor podcast as well , and always remember , as the whole theme of my program , always try to be ,

always remember to support locally owned and operated businesses and do our best . You know , from Jasper to Benton , from Cleveland to Dalton , all our local communities and local businesses are important . Again , my name is Scott Howell and I'm with the Friends and Neighbors Group . Everyone go out and make this a remarkable day .