Olympia Coffee Entrepreneur and former Evergreen student Oliver Stormshak (left) with employee. Photo: Shauna Bittle

Editor’s Note: See the full post on Olympia Coffee Roasting Company at Inside Evergreen, the Evergreen Photo Services web log.

It’s been a big year for Sam Schroeder ’04 and former Evergreen student Oliver Stormshak, owners of Olympia Coffee Roasting Company. This summer the young company opened a third cafe and was named the 2013 Roaster of the Year by Roast Magazine. Take a photo tour, courtesy of Photo Service’s photographer Shauna Bittle, and add this location to your list of great places to visit in Olympia.

“Greener Blend,” a specialty coffee created by Batdorf and Bronson Coffee Roasters especially for Evergreen and for sale only on the Evergreen campus.

Greeners seem to flock to coffee, whether it’s cultivation, the roasting and brewing, sustainable farming or the social justice issues around fair trade, coffee brings out the best in many alumni.  Always close to the Evergreen heart is Batdorf and Bronson Coffee Roasters, located in downtown Olympia since 1986. Batdorf and Bronson has flourished in part because of the energy and entrepreneurial spirit of many Greeners who have worked at all levels of the organization over the years.

No mention of the coffee industry would be complete without tipping our hats to Lindsay Bolger ’91, Director of Coffee Sourcing and Relationships for Green Mountain Coffee in Vermont, who by the way, got her start at Batdorf and Bronson where she worked while a student at Evergreen.  The coffee company likes to brag about Lindsay.  Here is an excerpt from their web site:

“As the equivalent of a celebrity superstar in the coffee world, she is recognized around the globe for her ability to distinguish the most subtle characteristics of specialty coffee.”

What’s your relationship to coffee?  Let us know so we can all celebrate a great, Greener network around a good cup of coffee.