kelly mccullen: larry larsen is a guy youcan ask for coffee lesson. he owns larry's beans, a pioneering north carolina coffeeroasting company. larry larsen – i've had days recently whereit's like, “i've been in this thing for almost twenty years. that's kind of a longtime.†but, i don't think of myself as a pioneer but, when i slice and dice it, i guessi kinda was. i wasn't the first person doing
used commercial coffee roasting equipment, it but i was certainly one of the first. kelly mc: larry launched his business in 19-93.his team never rests on recipes, coffee blends and discovering a better brew of coffee topush the brand. kelly mc: is it the name that gets out there,that you define success by, it's it your own
personal pallette where, one day, that beanwill pop out of that roaster and it's going to be what larry was looking for all theseyears? larry larsen – no, i've never been lookingfor that one bean because i think that doesn't exist. a lot of people do that. i don't thinkthat's true. your palette today is a function of your life experience. it's a function ofthe stresses in your life. so, maybe that one bean was perfect before but you weren'tready for it. natural sound of larry's beans larry larsen – that constant experimentingto find that sweet spot we're looking for is part of the fun of roasting coffee.
kelly mc: some people call that “fun,â€other people call it frustration. stability. no choppy seas in this journey. larry larsen – well then, so coffee roastingwouldn't be right for you. kelly mc: kelly mc: art versus science. what's the balance? brad brandhorst: that's hard, that's reallyhard to answer. sometimes it's fifty-fifty, sometimes it's a swing up to eighty-twentyin one direction or the other. kelly mc: brad brandhorst is larry's beans'chief roaster. brad brandhorst – we do tend to experimenta lot, play around with the coffees. over
the course of a year, you know, sort of tweakthe recipe here and there, try to get it to taste as good as possible, you know? we'renot just hitting for the same target. we're constantly tasting coffee, constantly evaluatingit. kelly mc: larry larsen says his coffee makesa statement beyond the flavor of his roasts. the company features a sustainability expertwho makes sure the coffee larry buys comes from environmental conscious growers and thatthe farmers are paid a guaranteed rate for raw coffee. sammi grover – i think sustainability makesthings more interesting. you know, the old way of doing business was to simply throwmore fossil fuels at things. throw more energy
at things. throw more resources at things.doesn't matter. throw it away. and that's kind of just stupid. it's dumb. it's boring.it's much more interesting to be inventive, to be innovative and try to find ways thatactually make sense. kelly mc: you're making political statementswith your products. is there a risk in that? larry larsen – yeah, there's definitelya risk in the political statements but, you know, we come short of making a politicalstatement. we don't really support one part or the other. instead, my political statementis more about what's right and what's fair. what's right for the planet? kelly mc: larry says he's not an environmentalistbut directs his company with environmental
concerns in mind. after all, larry's beansis about the coffee and part of the growing north carolina coffee industry. tanya andrews – we're poised to be, i feellike, the next big coffee destination. i mean, they've got it in the northwest and we mightbe next. kelly mc: tanya andrews demonstrates coffeemaking techniques at larry beans. we talked coffee philosophy over a custom-brewed pot. tanya andrews – coffee is one of those thingsthat really brings people together, you know? it invites the community in, they sit around,they talk, they enjoy themselves. they really get to know each other. it's one of thosethings i love most about coffee is that it
brings people together. even right now, we'vejust met and we're going to have a good cup of coffee. kelly mc: the secret is getting good coffeeinto the hands of drinkers who've never tasted locally-roasted beans. larry larsen – the first time you have agood cup of coffee, you're like, “i can't believe it! how have i been drinking the stuffin the blue or red can all my life? how did
grandma do that? and this like real coffee?â€no wonder coffee consumption has gone done the united states because this stuff is soterrible. so, you give somebody a good cup of coffee and, all of a sudden, instead ofdrinking one cup a day, you're drinking, like,
fifteen cups a day.
