Welcome to the Amateur Coffee Guy
I remember the first time I had a cup of coffee very vividly. It was my junior year of high school, December 19th, 2019. I got out of school early because of midterm exams, and I went over to the Shoemaker’s house. We were just hanging out for the afternoon, but when we got there, Nikki made coffee and put stuff out for hot chocolate. I decided to make my own version of a mocha….8oz of hot chocolate and 8oz of black coffee….and I never looked back.
Since that first cup of coffee, I’ve had hundreds (maybe thousands) more and visited a lot of different coffee shops. I’m by no means an expert when it comes to coffee, but I’m definitely a lover of coffee and coffee shops, and I love to share that love with others. That’s what the Amateur Coffee Guy is for me: an opportunity to share my love for coffee with my friends and family, and the greater online community.
This may seem like a tangent, but bear with me for a second….not only do I love coffee, but I’m an avid outdoorsman, and I remember something someone said to me when I was going hunting in junior high school, “I’d rather be in the woods, hunting, thinking about God than in church thinking about hunting.” As a youth pastor, my faith is a crucial aspect of my life, and I’ve always felt the presence of God while in nature. There’s nothing quite like a sunset over the ocean, an early morning sunrise in the woods, or the views from a mountain overlook. I’ve always felt most connected to God when in nature. Until recently.
In the last few months, I’ve been taking some time to read back through some of my old journal entries, reading my prayers and thoughts as I was spending time with Jesus over the last six years of my life. It was in the pages of these black Moleskine journals that I discovered another place where I’ve found an intimate connection with the Father. Coffee shops.
After I graduated from high school in 2021, I attended Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, IN, for one year. While I was at IWU, I fell in love with Jesus like never before, and one of the places that happened was at the tables of McConn Coffee Co. (the campus coffee shop). Throughout my time at IWU, I probably spent more time at McConn than in my dorm room, and no, I wasn't doing homework. I spent, sometimes, hours a day at McConn, pouring over my Bible and journaling-growing closer to God in every minute. I had countless conversations about life, Jesus, and even death with friends around McConn tables. My time with Jesus at McConn changed the trajectory of my life and forged an unshakeable passion for coffee at the same time.
I didn’t return to IWU after my freshman year, but moved to Ohio State's main campus, where I pretended to be a college student for two years while working full-time. While living in Columbus, OH, I immersed myself in the Columbus coffee scene and began to learn more and more about the art and science of coffee. The same intimate moments with God that I found at McConn shaped my exploration of the Columbus coffee scene…I visited Boston Stoker Gradview, Staufs Victorian Village, One Line Coffee High Street, Roaming Goat Coffee Co, Red Hen, Coffee Hall and Creamery, The Coffee Vault, Sweetwaters, numerous Starbucks, ORBCxRoosevelt Coffee House, and more. A week didn’t pass that I wasn’t in a coffee shop somewhere in the city.
Following my wedding in June 2024, I moved away from Columbus, but continued to fall in love with coffee. I explored new coffee shops and grew my knowledge of home brewing methods. I began to learn the science of the perfect pour over (I’m still not there yet), and saw firsthand what a missional coffee shop could look like. I even became a barista for the first time.
Now, today, I live in Georgia and am continuing to learn more and more about coffee. I can’t escape the pull that coffee has on me, as much as my wife may want me to. I’m currently working as a barista part-time here in Thomaston, GA, and diving further into the art and science of coffee.
The Amateur Coffee Guy is a new kind of adventure for me. One that involves sharing a part of myself through words, and one that involves all of you. Coffee is a thing of community. And I believe coffee can’t happen without community.
Coffee beans are grown in community
Coffee beans are roasted in community
Coffee beans are brewed in community
Coffee is enjoyed in community
So I’d love for you to be a part of the community.
As I share some of my favorite coffee shops and roasters, go support them. If I don’t know about your favorite shops and roasters, please tell me - just last week a friend introduced me to a new place in Columbus that was just fantastic, and that shop introduced me to a new place in Atlanta that I’m excited to try.
And if nothing else, grab a cup with someone you love, it may just change your life.
