Latest / Coffee People Podcast / S6:E5 - Spencer Lambas, Wilder Coffee Roasters
Transcript
- 0:00Had an emergency room customers. I'm actually out in the coffee
- 0:03shop, right now. Hopefully, it doesn't mess with
- 0:04your audience too much. Oh no worries.
- 0:08Just adds a little Ambiance, not a problem at all.
- 0:11Appreciate you taking the time. Absolutely.
- 0:29Hey, good morning everyone. Welcome to season 6.
- 0:32Episode, 5 of the roast West Coast coffee podcast.
- 0:36I'm Ryan Walt and I'm trying to be a little more enthusiastic
- 0:39today, because coffee, this is the show where I bring you the
- 0:44stories of coffee per specials entrepreneurship and coffee
- 0:47education. I'm back once again, with the
- 0:50new guest this week. It's Spencer lambis.
- 0:53He's the founder and head roaster of Wilder, Coffee
- 0:55Roasters in Coeur. D'Alene Idaho, I reached out to
- 0:59Spencer after stopping by his slow coffee bar, a few blocks
- 1:03from the lake and the main drag of Coeur d'Alene earlier this
- 1:05year, the cafe is a 3-2 Force. Toolbar top inside of the fern,
- 1:10plant shop meaning, if you want a cup of coffee, you're also
- 1:13going to get a healthy dose of Green Therapy.
- 1:16I'll post some photos of my visit to the cafe on roast
- 1:19westcoast.com, and you should follow at Wilder Coffee Roasters
- 1:23on Instagram to see even more photos of the shop for today's
- 1:27show. Spencer joined me from one of
- 1:29his wholesale clients cafes after a Hospitality emergency.
- 1:34If you've ever worked in a restaurant or a coffee shop or a
- 1:37Tavern, you know, that thing's only break at the worst possible
- 1:41time, basically, whenever you're about to do something else.
- 1:45The cable only goes out before the big game and your delivery
- 1:48only shows up late right before the Friday.
- 1:50Happy hour rush. I say all that because Spencer
- 1:53graciously took the time to chat with me despite working through
- 1:55something that was clearly more important to his business.
- 1:58The downside of that is, our audio is a little bit rougher
- 2:01than normal today. And the cafe sounds, which I
- 2:03generally love his background Ambience.
- 2:06Make a few sentences, more difficult to hear the normal.
- 2:09I implore you to listen anyway, because Spencer's plan is no
- 2:12plan which Makes him unique as an entrepreneur on the show and
- 2:17it is inspiring to know that there isn't only one way to
- 2:20pursue entrepreneurship in general.
- 2:23So wherever you are, make sure you have a full cup of coffee
- 2:27and settle in next to your favorite houseplant.
- 2:29I'll be surrounded by the ferns. I recently brought home from the
- 2:32Botanical Garden for an intention filled.
- 2:34Listen of the roast West Coast coffee podcast.
- 2:37This week featuring Spencer, lambis founder and head roaster
- 2:42of Wilder coffee roasters. And I'd say welcome to the roast
- 2:56West Coast coffee podcast. Nice to meet you.
- 3:02If you wouldn't mind for the for the tape, just let us know your
- 3:06name, the name of your company and maybe what your favorite
- 3:11Ninja Turtle is a good question. Yeah, my name is Spencer.
- 3:17This business is, why would you copy wasters based out of my
- 3:22favorite Ninja Turtle? I think we have to be Leonardo
- 3:26but, you know, depending on my day I was going in my change.
- 3:30I want to just let the audience know.
- 3:32I've been to your coffee shop in Coeur.
- 3:34D'Alene, are you only in that one location in Coeur d'Alene,
- 3:37which is inside the fern plant shop or uni?
- 3:40I know Fern has multiple locations.
- 3:42So I didn't know if you were in all of them.
- 3:44Yeah, for sure. So we are that's our only
- 3:48brick-and-mortar quote unquote location that we have primarily.
- 3:52We're a wholesale roaster. And so we provide coffee for
- 3:56tons of different crops in town, we had the opportunity in To
- 4:01open up that space with burn some friends of mine.
- 4:05And I actually went in and use that space, renovated, it and
- 4:08then sublet it to Fern. And then we have a clothing
- 4:12boutique in the back and a photographer that runs an
- 4:14office. It is, it was a good opportunity
- 4:16for us to have a little place for people to come and taste our
- 4:21coffee. And just see what we're all
- 4:22about without having to run a full-blown cancer.
- 4:26I had stopped there just last month or so kind of found it on
- 4:29the Google. Map and just had a really great
- 4:31experience and I'm sure that was because of the coffee.
- 4:34But also, just the Green Therapy.
- 4:37I was getting by being inside but the plant store.
- 4:40Yeah, absolutely. It's a great combination for
- 4:43sure. I want to go back a little bit
- 4:45and just learn more about you and kind of your coffee
- 4:48experience, I'm wondering if you had some first experiences or
- 4:53something that happened to you with coffee or a coffee tried,
- 4:56maybe that made you think, you know, I want to pursue this a
- 4:59little bit further. I really enjoyed this aspect of
- 5:03coffee. Yeah, for sure.
- 5:06So, I went to a small Bible College in Seattle, in 2007.
- 5:13And when I went over there, you know, see how this kind of the
- 5:15coffee Mecca of the world, one over there and my drink of
- 5:19choice at the time, was a white chocolate mocha with raspberry
- 5:23syrup and my friends just made fun of me.
- 5:27You know, was not exactly the man way.
- 5:30His drink that you could choose. I always got a heist.
- 5:34Yeah, never hot. And a friend of mine, shout out
- 5:38to and Eno hammock. She was an amazing breezed over
- 5:41there and Julie continues me into various parts of the world.
- 5:45You know, what happened drinks were available the different
- 5:49types of discussions that she was pulling.
- 5:51It was really eye-opening for me.
- 5:54And you know, my new coffee was a big deal up here in the
- 5:56Pacific Northwest but I never been exposed to it in.
- 6:00Way that she kind of showed me as a sense.
- 6:03Then I've been in the coffee industry, part-time full-time,
- 6:06volunteer, whatever you say. You know, I've been definitely
- 6:10interested in it, but that was kind of eye-opening moment for
- 6:13me like, oh, this is something that I didn't think, I didn't
- 6:17know, existed as you're having that and you're learning more
- 6:21about coffee or trying more coffee and your friend Angie's
- 6:24kind of guiding you at some point.
- 6:26You decide to become a coffee roaster or to get into that.
- 6:30Side of things which is yeah, a Step Beyond what most people who
- 6:33drink coffee. Decide it several steps beyond
- 6:37what made you think that coffee? Roasting would be something you
- 6:39were interested in and then once you started learning that
- 6:43process, what made you think? You know what, I want to
- 6:45actually share this with other people and I feel like I might
- 6:49have a future here. Yeah, so I didn't have any of
- 6:52those thoughts and several years into that.
- 7:09You know, the church has working.
- 7:11That was heading in the direction that I wasn't
- 7:13necessarily on board with. And if it was just my church, I
- 7:16would be, although he's out see you later.
- 7:18But when it's your job, you know, you're kind of like, oh,
- 7:20this is more complicated than just stepping out from that
- 7:24space. And a friend of mine, had a tiny
- 7:29Coffee Roasting Company. And I wasn't the biggest fan of
- 7:34his coffee, you know, I wasn't a fan, I've been scanning how we
- 7:37roasted it, but he asked me, if I would like to consider taking
- 7:41it over. We wanted to move out of the
- 7:43area and was this point, you know, I had been talking to
- 7:47treat for probably seven, seven years or so seven.
- 7:51Eight years and manage my, our marriage to copy shop for a
- 7:56local roaster for a few years. And so, I had some experience on
- 8:00the grease, decide things on the management side of things.
- 8:04But I remember telling my wife, probably six months before he
- 8:07approached me. I don't want to own my own
- 8:10business, I don't want to roast coffee, you know, and she's had
- 8:15the idea, the notion that I'm being comfy for a long time.
- 8:19And so, I just felt like that was something I was supposed to
- 8:22do and took over his company started.
- 8:26My own company kind of absorbs is, and it just blew up.
- 8:30And since day one, we've been paying all the bills and, you
- 8:35know, I got two young boys and taking care of them and it's
- 8:38been Been a big blessing but a wild ride for sure.
- 8:45You mentioned kind of your path where you were on a trajectory
- 8:48to become a pastor and the church that you were with was
- 8:53initially going in the same direction.
- 8:55But what made you decide not to just find another church or
- 9:00church that did mesh up with the values that you felt were
- 9:02important to you? Sure.
- 9:05Yeah. I don't necessarily know As you
- 9:10were kind of looking around to see what's next to your life.
- 9:13He just kind of fell into place and, you know, when something
- 9:17feels, right, you just go with that.
- 9:19And yeah, I don't want to say, I had a identity crisis or like,
- 9:25for what crisis or anything like that, but definitely thinking
- 9:29internal inventory of where my values.
- 9:32You know, what do I want to do with my life?
- 9:34Do? I want to do something that
- 9:36would, like you said, if I found another church, what I just run
- 9:38engine The same problem down the road you know starting your own
- 9:42business if you don't have a whole lot of inner struggles and
- 9:47in arguments with yourself when starting a business can be super
- 9:50fun, super rewarding. And it has been, I'm definitely
- 9:53not. And so I'm kind of a black
- 10:08sheep. You guys very much.
- 10:23I would point out that, even though you have taken a
- 10:26different path coffee is something that brings people
- 10:29together in a community and that they community over, which is
- 10:32very similar to church coffee at least in my experience was
- 10:35always integral to kind of the post Church experience.
- 10:38Yeah, especially when I was younger and there are a lot of
- 10:42similarities in that it's bringing people together and
- 10:45coffee is kind of just a foundational piece of what
- 10:48anchors people together. Absolutely.
- 10:52You're the name of your company is Wilder.
- 10:54What does that? Where did that name come from?
- 10:57And then I'm wondering kind of about you mentioned, you have
- 11:00two young sons and a wife, how does the family impacts what
- 11:05you're doing with the business? So twin boys, there's six.
- 11:09Now when we started the business in one and one of their middle
- 11:15names is Wilder, so that's kind of where that came from.
- 11:18Of course you see all these trendy And I'll take that name
- 11:23as well and we weren't trying to be cool.
- 11:26It is one of my son's domains but it fit our business and our
- 11:30brand. And you know my family is I
- 11:37constantly have to recalibrate to bring them back to the center
- 11:41of why I do what I do and you know working towards having more
- 11:46time with them working towards being the best husband that I
- 11:50can be a father than I can you. I love coffee.
- 11:52It's great. I will meet people that I work
- 11:54for and then I work with and I roast or but he said, cause he's
- 11:58a big Community part of the community, and it creates its
- 12:02own, and I love being part of that.
- 12:04But, you know, My kids are adults who their dad was growing
- 12:10up. How does that impact your vision
- 12:57for the future of wilder than, as you mentioned, trying to be
- 13:00there as much as possible. I come from a Hospitality
- 13:03family. I started working for my
- 13:05parents, when I was about nine. So you only have a few years
- 13:07away. It was definitely, I'm loading
- 13:11coolers and cleaning under booths when I was about nine
- 13:14years old as far as growth goes, you mentioned your wholesale,
- 13:17you have this one location, but does that family thought process
- 13:22or how does that impact your vision for the growth of this?
- 13:24This company or non growth of this company kind of strategic
- 13:28not Grove. Yeah, my dad.
- 13:54People that I work with are also small business owners and have
- 13:58that same family mentality. And so, as we look at what will
- 14:04this company look like in two years and five years, I really
- 14:08don't have a set but we're idea where it should be, you know,
- 14:13I'm just kind of going with the flow, you know, 2020 came around
- 14:17and a lot of small businesses had to close their doors became
- 14:21endemic. And that year, we actually grew
- 14:24this Any by 70%, which is absolutely insane.
- 14:28And then the next year we grew another 30% and this year we're
- 14:32on track to grow another 30%. And it's just something that,
- 14:36you know, I didn't put a ton of effort into making that happen.
- 14:40We've gotten Word of Mouth. I've been in our city since I
- 14:44was seven. So I have a lot of connections
- 14:46with people up here and it's just been just a big blessing,
- 14:51just to be a part of the community and so on.
- 14:54Our like what our business looks like.
- 14:56Like I have like, oh, it'd be cool one day if we can do this
- 14:59or do this and but those definitely don't steer the
- 15:03business. I just kind of let the business,
- 15:05you know, do its own thing and I do what's right for me and my
- 15:11family and what's right for my customers.
- 15:13And if there's ever like a disconnect with that, then I
- 15:17just walk away from that situation.
- 15:18You know. It's not worth it to me to grow
- 15:21my business at the expense of something else.
- 15:24Else. And so can we just find what
- 15:27works well for us? And, you know, I do have several
- 15:30employees that will be run. I think you met Savannah and
- 15:33down at the coffee bar and she's great.
- 15:36I love all the team members down there, but as a business I
- 15:40don't, I don't want to outgrow myself and so, you know, it's so
- 15:45far been a good experience, there's some Seasons that are
- 15:48busier than others. But then it's really favorable
- 15:51for me and, you know, I don't know if that's something.
- 15:54It's my personality or my experiences, maybe it's a
- 15:58combination of all of that but it's just been a really awesome
- 16:01experience and unique enough where I can't point to what I'm
- 16:05doing as I do. If you're trying to start a
- 16:07business, do this, you know, because it's definitely not the
- 16:12standard way to start a business for sure.
- 16:15Well your business growth kind of correlates with the growth of
- 16:19that Coeur d'Alene region generally over, you know, say
- 16:22the last decade or so, is it's been exploding.
- 16:24Just first with tourism. And then with people moving
- 16:27there and then with the pandemic, I know what even more
- 16:29growth and with coffee companies, there's a whole bunch
- 16:32of coffee based businesses in that kind of northern Idaho,
- 16:36Eastern, Washington area that are doing really interesting
- 16:39things. You, you are a relatively small
- 16:43batch coffee roaster. And I'm so there aren't a lot of
- 16:47offerings at your, at your coffee at your coffee bar, which
- 16:50is a slow bar. How does working in smaller,
- 16:53batches? If it's you, what is the value
- 16:56of that to you? And you mentioned early on that
- 16:59when you kind of got your starting coffee, you were
- 17:01drinking iced mochas. And and obviously, you've gone.
- 17:05I don't know what you drink in your personal life.
- 17:07I asked you about that later but at least with your coffee
- 17:11company, you've gone in a different direction, offering
- 17:13single origin coffees and what is working in those small
- 17:16batches offer you and what is kind of your philosophy when you
- 17:19are working with them? Yeah, so wholesale side of
- 17:24things working in small batches allows me to offer each one of
- 17:28my clients, a custom roast. And so we we do have our houses
- 17:33for Som, but each one of my coffee shops or stands that I
- 17:37roast for we work together and get them a rose, that's
- 17:40proprietary to their location. And you know, working in small
- 17:43batches allows me to just create that for them without having to
- 17:48stress about how much coffee is coming in.
- 17:50And how much Now, you know, I can just tell them in this
- 17:53Gator, each batch to their specific roast on the retail
- 17:57side of things. I remember early on, in my
- 18:01coffee days, I went to another local roast.
- 18:03Your, we have a big day at a latte, art competition or
- 18:06something like that. And they were test running, a
- 18:08new espresso that they've been developing and tasting that and
- 18:14it tasted like blueberry muffins and I was like, holy shit.
- 18:17This is really, really interesting and then You know,
- 18:21maybe a year or two later having a pour-over.
- 18:24I think it was engag and just tasted like you Benton to a warm
- 18:28orange, you know, with like this real sweet floral Aroma and this
- 18:33amazing thing that we think about being generally people
- 18:37think of Starbucks or whatever to have something that just get
- 18:42your palate. So differently I was really
- 18:44inspiring to me for me trying to seek those out and not
- 18:49necessarily replicate that but to find what flavors already
- 18:53exists in the couple's young purchasing and bring the best
- 18:59those copies. And so when we just ramped up
- 19:04the roast and bring the heck out of that, we lose a lot of those
- 19:07flavors. So when I'm working at a small
- 19:11batches just really taking the time and care to see what
- 19:17flavors we can find and then how we can adjust your against those
- 19:21neighbors, super fun, part of my job.
- 19:25That's what drives why I do what I do, you know.
- 19:29Well, working with a smaller batch.
- 19:30Can also be a little bit more challenging and frankly more
- 19:34expensive. If you are trying to meet
- 19:36certain certain values. And and I noticed just as I was
- 19:40researching you your company, the things like transparency and
- 19:43chemical, free and sustainability are values that
- 19:46you put forth. Part of your company is that
- 19:49important to you and how has it impacted how you operate.
- 19:53Yeah, I think it's small batches, you know, we we are an
- 19:56artisan Roasters and you won't have any automation to our
- 19:59roasting, but we do use a roasting software and some track
- 20:03every roast through that software.
- 20:05And then I want every, those by hand, and there are a lot of
- 20:10practices that you can do a lot of shady things in business and,
- 20:15you know, for me, finding importers the Q graders that I
- 20:20work with, you know, looking at what their values are.
- 20:23Our as the businesses that they are and sinking those up with
- 20:27mind and then continuing that process down to my customers.
- 20:31You know, when people invite the questions, I invite, you know.
- 20:36Okay, where do we get our coffee?
- 20:37You know, what Farms wasn't the from what region does it come
- 20:40from? How or those practices matching
- 20:42up to our standards and we do a lot of work to try to do a lot
- 20:49of work with farms and co-ops and organizations that Late
- 20:54different either. Minorities women in the copy
- 20:58community and just working with businesses and companies
- 21:02producers that just have high standards and I think that when
- 21:07you seek that out, your product is going to speak to itself and
- 21:11hopefully people will seem that not only in your product, but in
- 21:15the character of your company, as well, you briefly kind of
- 21:18mention that some of your wholesale clients are coffee
- 21:21stands. And I would say coffee, V kiosks
- 21:24are like a uniquely Pacific Northwest phenomenon.
- 21:28Like you just don't see that in the same amount of quantity and
- 21:32popularity in other places in the United States.
- 21:35But traditionally and stereotypically, you wouldn't
- 21:38say that they would be craft coffee kiosks for the most part,
- 21:41like a local roaster like you or Evans, Brothers or Doma, or
- 21:45someone like that might be, if you are trying to meet those
- 21:48standards, as a coffee company, I assume you're also trying to
- 21:52elevate the product that you're giving.
- 21:53Your wholesale clients on these white labeled products that
- 21:56maybe don't have your name on them.
- 21:58How do you convince those clients?
- 22:00That it's a good thing to pay more for what they're, what
- 22:04they're putting out when traditionally they haven't had
- 22:07to sure. You know, I think my answers too
- 22:10cold, my being a smaller business and I don't have the
- 22:13amount of employees that these are the businesses have and
- 22:17still life overhead can be a little bit less than those other
- 22:20companies. And, you know, instead of Of
- 22:24keeping my price the same as my competition to know I'm going to
- 22:28pass some of those savings on to my customers and so I think that
- 22:31you know being a smaller operation and just being at a
- 22:34particular you at the future that you partner with your able
- 22:37to offer them, a very competitive price for specialty,
- 22:42coffee for practicing, I think the other side of that is, you
- 22:46know, a little bit of Education. We know what to look for.
- 22:56Whatever it is and just kind of introducing them, your customers
- 23:01or your future, customers to your coffee, and why taste a
- 23:05little bit better working with them on, you know, maybe they
- 23:08had a roast that they really loved and they want to match
- 23:10that but support a local business.
- 23:13So just working with them to see what their desires are to get
- 23:16out of that Rose. And then put together a roast
- 23:19profile blend that would meet their expectations.
- 23:23And there is what they desire to serve out of the shop.
- 23:28It's not all the time. What I would choose to serve
- 23:30either Shop, but you know, if I can create a custom quality
- 23:35product, that means damn happy. And you know, be able to support
- 23:39another local small business. And I know that all that coffee
- 23:42comes from sustainable transparent sources, you know, I
- 23:47think everybody needs that point and everybody wins.
- 23:51I'm happy to know that a good place to be me.
- 23:55The speaking of everyone winning you have recently, I believe or
- 23:59are turning five or have turned five as a company.
- 24:03And you mentioned earlier that you don't necessarily have these
- 24:05huge strategic growth plans, you're kind of making decisions
- 24:08as you go and and so far it's been working but Woody, what is
- 24:12next? Maybe in the the immediate
- 24:14future for you and Wilder coffee and and what phase of the
- 24:18business? Do you see yourself in right now
- 24:20where where, what's happening on the horizon?
- 24:23Yeah. Also, congratulations on turning
- 24:26five. That's a huge milestone.
- 24:28Yeah, yeah, I've been told that like, oh cool.
- 24:33It's been kind of a blur. I've had a bunch of businesses.
- 24:37Not turn five. Yeah.
- 24:39So okay, yeah, good news. Yeah, super thankful, super
- 24:43thankful for 35. And, you know, it's been a blur.
- 24:48I think that pandemic has helped out a little bit, you know.
- 24:53So you've been to our store bar and some people do find it on
- 24:58Yelp or Google or whatever. A lot of it's word of mouth.
- 25:01Sometimes they have a little sandwich corn out there, but it
- 25:03kind of has this this feel of this little Hidden Gem.
- 25:08Almost, you know, when I went out this big start from, we
- 25:11don't have any flashy advertising.
- 25:14I remember, I went to New York City, a few years back and
- 25:19missing before I had my own business, and I just saw a
- 25:21little child porn sign. An espresso and an arrow, you
- 25:26know, and it's like, 7 a.m. and I was going for a walk.
- 25:28And so I just turned down this little Alleyway, and there's
- 25:33this little, I think it doubled as some sort of a nightclub, but
- 25:37in the morning, is your Nespresso and it was amazing.
- 25:41This awesome roots, that beautiful machine, exhale cup of
- 25:44coffee. And I remember thinking like I
- 25:47if I didn't see that little sign out of never know.
- 25:50No, you know, and so I think any of us when we find that
- 25:54restaurant or a coffee shop or Art Gallery whatever it is it's
- 25:58just that you know that Hidden Gem.
- 26:00So I think that's that's something that I try to bring to
- 26:03our business and as we have turned five and we now have
- 26:08somewhat of a reputation just letting that kind of take off
- 26:12and grow into what it's going to grow into.
- 26:15And so by can kind of right now, right now, something like that.
- 26:19And, you know, Not necessarily advertise myself as something
- 26:24that I'm not or something that I want to be, but not advertise
- 26:28myself as something that I necessarily want to be, but you
- 26:33know, to be authentic and be true to what I'm doing.
- 26:37Now, I think that's that's our game plan for now.
- 26:41And as we go into 2023 and continue to bring our community
- 26:48and ER, Online subscription customers this quality copy.
- 26:55And, you know, I sound like a broken record but you know not
- 27:00having a strategy is kind of my strategy and playing it by ear.
- 27:06You know, I think that turning Vibes, like you said it is a
- 27:10milestone. And, you know, I think for us I
- 27:14can see results, easily going another five years and having
- 27:18just as much fun as As we had passed by the you know we get
- 27:22more efficient we get more excited about some of the
- 27:25companies that we see coming down the line.
- 27:27And yeah, I'm just real thankful to be where I'm at and a not not
- 27:34too I don't feel too ambitious but I am excited to discontinue
- 27:42what I do and do it well and do it.
- 27:44Love for the people that my customers.
- 27:48This is meant to be a compliment and I don't think it's going to
- 27:51sound that way. But talking with you now is
- 27:54making me anxious because I feel like you should have more
- 27:57anxiety about the future because I am constantly anxious about
- 28:01the future. So I am envious and I mean that
- 28:05as a compliment, if it didn't come off, that way.
- 28:08No, thank you since those beginning days when you were
- 28:11drinking, what ultimately, our delicious iced mocha coffees
- 28:16because milk And cream and sugar.
- 28:19And coffee together is just like ice cream essentially.
- 28:22Yeah, in a good way. What is it that you're drinking?
- 28:24Now, if you were to be out on the road with the family and
- 28:27stopped to get a cup of coffee? Yeah, really.
- 28:35Well that hits the spot but a lot of times, you know, if I'm
- 28:39going to another roaster and down, you know, we like to
- 28:42support the fellow Roasters here in town, see room, it shops
- 28:46around town, and hang out. And We all kind of know each
- 28:49other and so it's a cool Community to be a part of, but I
- 28:53love seeing what their debuting, as batch, drip, you know, I
- 28:57think that batch coffee can be really surprising.
- 29:01Sometimes it how delicious it is, you know, I think you're in
- 29:05San Diego right now. I see your shirt, says
- 29:07Escondido. I was born in Escondido, so
- 29:09that's awesome. But my family and I try to
- 29:11frequent San Diego as much as possible.
- 29:14We're actually heading down there now.
- 29:16And I love going to Bird Rock and modern times.
- 29:46Something in the morning, but most the time you and your
- 29:49family, you know, you're getting pastries and you're sitting and
- 29:52you're having a good time and so I'll get something a little bit
- 29:56larger drink than the expensive not super into, you know, drinks
- 30:01right now, you know, the lattes and cappuccinos and they
- 30:04definitely have their place. But you know, when I spend most
- 30:08of the week roasting and testing and calibrating espresso, when I
- 30:13go out, you know, I want something a little bit different
- 30:15from a picture. Sure.
- 30:17Well, there are plenty of great new coffee places to try when
- 30:21you come down to visit. I want to give you one man or
- 30:24one. I want to be the last chance.
- 30:25I'd like to give you a chance, if there's anything that we
- 30:27didn't cover today that you'd like to just to say about
- 30:30yourself or about your company or about your thoughts about
- 30:32coffee. Yeah, I think if I had to
- 30:36describe all of that in a word, it would be thankful coffee is.
- 30:43It's probably because I'm addicted to it, but I'm very
- 30:44thankful for it, you know. And how it Changed my life and
- 30:49you know, brings people together and just the community it
- 30:53creates and is a matter where you're at.
- 30:55You can find a cool shop and usually, there's more people
- 31:00there. I'm thankful for my customers
- 31:03and just support. Mm-hmm!
- 31:05Me and the trust that they've given me to deliver them
- 31:10products week in and week out. Yeah, I think that, you know, I
- 31:15would encourage people to stop by the slo-mo.
- 31:17Learn if they're ever in Coeur d'Alene but there are like you
- 31:20said, there's a ton of coffee or seized up here, and we have a
- 31:23lot of great coffee. And so I would just ask that.
- 31:26People find good coffee and start drinking good coffee.
- 31:30A lot of people skip over that, you know, but I think that the
- 31:34more people we introduced to get comfy, the more people will
- 31:38enjoy it that much. And I think, as we continue to
- 31:44grow as a community here, I think that's just going to bring
- 31:48more opportunity for us to share as makers as Artisans as
- 31:54producers. You know, to share our product
- 31:58with new faces, new people and just build pretty cool
- 32:02Community. Very well said Spencer, thank
- 32:05you for joining the show. I really just appreciate your
- 32:08time and and finding a spot in the coffee shop that we can
- 32:11chat. And I'm looking forward to my
- 32:14next visit to Coeur d'Alene as well.
- 32:15Hopefully, we can have a cup of coffee then.
- 32:18Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me.
- 32:26Okay? To recap drinking an iced white.
- 32:29Chocolate mocha with raspberry syrup.
- 32:31Can push you through a coffee, Gateway into a future in which
- 32:35you not only roast your own coffee, but you own and operate
- 32:39a coffee, roasting business and Cafe.
- 32:42I think the lesson is that it doesn't matter what gets you
- 32:44started, it's where you go with it.
- 32:47There's only one official Wilder coffee roaster Cafe at this
- 32:50time. It's a small slow coffee bar
- 32:53inside of the fern plant store in downtown Coeur d'Alene.
- 32:57I love this Cafe. It is one of the very few places
- 33:00that I made a repeat visit to while traveling earlier this
- 33:03year. That was not only because of the
- 33:06really good cup of coffee in service I received from
- 33:08Savannah. It was also because walking into
- 33:11the plant store. It was like taking a B12 shot
- 33:14The Greenery. Lifted my spirits and inspired
- 33:17me to spend the day happier than I might have had.
- 33:20I not gone. There are all kinds of green or
- 33:22Eco therapy opportunities including gardening or Forest
- 33:26bathing or just going for a walk in the woods that can make you
- 33:29feel this way. Spending time Outdoors has been
- 33:32shown to improve mood, promote relaxation, and calm anxieties,
- 33:36not to mention improving people's productivity, and
- 33:38increase their creativity. Basically going outside or being
- 33:42surrounded by plants is good for you and going outside and
- 33:45drinking. A cup of coffee is great for
- 33:47you. At least, it is for me and
- 33:51disclosure, this is not a medical podcast and I am not
- 33:53giving you medical advice. I'm just advocating for
- 33:56drinking, coffee outside near some plants.
- 33:59The trajectory of growth that Wilder is unplanned.
- 34:02Despite learning the old adage that if a business isn't growing
- 34:05it is dying. Spencer has chosen a different
- 34:07path to quote him I do what's right for me and my family and
- 34:12what's right for my customers and if there's ever like a
- 34:15disconnect with that then I just walk away from that situation
- 34:19for him. The best strategy has been not
- 34:21having one and finally in breaking down his experience as
- 34:25a coffee preneur Spencer finds himself being in a word.
- 34:29Thankful. As for you, if you are in
- 34:32northern Idaho and you find yourself needing a cup of
- 34:34coffee, check out Wilder Coffee Roasters in downtown Coeur,
- 34:37d'Alene, you can order coffee from Spencer online at Wilder
- 34:40Coffee Roasters.com. And of course, be sure to follow
- 34:44at Wilder Coffee Roasters on Instagram.
- 34:47While you're there, you should follow this show at roast West
- 34:50Coast. You can find those links in this
- 34:53podcast show notes, wherever you may be listening or in this
- 34:56edition of the newsletter which you can find and you should be
- 34:59subscribing to on roast westcoast.com.
- 35:03It's free to listen And subscribe but if you want to
- 35:06join the upper echelons of cool, namely people that help grow
- 35:09this show. All you need to do is choose the
- 35:12paid subscription option in the newsletter.
- 35:15Thank you for your support and for drinking good coffee.
- 35:19It's roast West Coast supporters and our industry partners.
- 35:22That ensure the show gets made every week and helps us continue
- 35:25to grow. This shows industry Partners
- 35:28include Cafe litter. Most, your coffee company.
- 35:31Study, State coffee, roasting Camp, Coffee Company, coffee
- 35:34cycle, roasting ignite, Coffee Company.
- 35:37First light whiskey, Maria coffee, Cape Horn coffee,
- 35:40importers and Ascend coffee roasters.
- 35:44Check out the recent Bean Journal Edition featuring a send
- 35:47Roasters and a shout-out to moisturize Ryan.
- 35:49Sullivan who gave a rousing talk at Coffee Fest.
- 35:51La earlier this week, this episode of the roast West Coast
- 35:55coffee podcast is was has been written produced and recorded by
- 35:59me Ryan Walt. As always, I hope this episode
- 36:03is found you happy healthy and with at least enough sanity to
- 36:07make it through the day, always tip your Baristas and be sure to
- 36:11drink a coffee. Oh no, it's almost gone.
- 36:52Need another coffee.