In Massachusetts’ so-called “Happy Valley”, things just got a little happier for lovers of fresh-roasted coffee and community both. With a spirit as bright and lively as their packaging, Share Coffee is a CSA-modeled roaster startup in Hadley, Mass., boasting the best of all worlds with a state-of-the-art tasting room situated right off a scenic rail trail, in all the woodsy goodness of the region. This subscription-based company just opened its doors to the public mere weeks ago at its roastery and tasting room. Let’s learn more.
As told to Sprudge by Patrick McCaughey.
For those who aren’t familiar, will you tell us about your company?
The name Share is an homage to the concept of community-supported agriculture. Here in Western Massachusetts, there is an incredible abundance of local farms that produce some of the best food in the country, many of which also participate in the model of selling customers weekly “shares” of produce, meat, flowers, or value-added products (sometimes a combination of all of these). Because we are—at our core—a subscription-based coffee company, we wanted to emphasize the fact that coffee is an agricultural product, and is best enjoyed when fresh and in season. We will be featuring fresh crop coffees roasted and shipped the same day for weekly shareholders.
Can you tell us a bit about the new space?
The 1000-square-foot roastery has a 30-foot high ceiling and a huge garage door that looks out over beautiful Hadley farmland. We originally designed the space to be a purpose-built roastery. During the buildout process, we came to realize that not only do we have all of this amazing brewing equipment, but we are next to a highly trafficked bike path, and are going to be spending a lot of time in the space, so why not also have a tasting room? We will be serving espresso, filter, nitro cold brew, and flights of our super fresh coffee Monday through Friday from 8am to noon.
What’s your approach to coffee?
We roast the kind of coffee we like to drink: properly developed, in season, and fresh. We want to taste the coffee, not the roast. We also think great coffee doesn’t have to be challenging to the consumer. We are dedicated to dissolving the perceived boundaries around specialty coffee that a lot of would-be customers have. A world-class cup of coffee, whether made at home or by a professional, is one of the most affordable daily luxuries.
Any machines, coffees, special equipment lined up?
3-barrel Probat-ish sample roaster
Probat UG22 (late 50’s, refurbished, and tricked out with VFDs for extreme adjustability)
Custom-built Inproheat 720,000 BTU thermal oxidizer
10L Marco EcoSmart boiler
FETCO CBS-2131XTS
Kees Van der Westen Mirage Duette (Bastone model—first in the States)
Kegerator for cold brew & sparkling water (and potentially other seasonal drinks down the road)
AeroPress/Pour-over
Mahlkönig EK-43
Custom-built 6ft diameter oak cupping table
What’s your hopeful target opening date/month?
We are now open! We don’t have a sign on the building yet so it’s been fun watching our friends and customers drive back and forth across the parking lot looking for us.
Are you working with craftspeople, architects, and/or creatives that you’d like to mention?
John LaValley: master of all trades, builder of amazing furniture.
Jeff Pickering & Sons: all of the other stuff
Ron Sheppard: electrical
Eric & Nancy: interior design/paint selection
ATW/Kevin Alves: design
Jo Chattman: photographer
Leland Marshall: photographer
